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The Best Choice of Stain For Cedar Siding

14 years ago

I am about to restain my cedar sided house and was wondering if anyone has tried Cabots Australian Timber Oil on cedar siding before with any success? It says it's for hardwoods but I figured it might work on cedar as well. I was considering Sikkens Cetol SRD but the distributor said that SRD is for decks only. He said I would have to strip the finish when I got ready to redo it in about 2-3 years and suggested I use Sikkens Log & Siding stain which would last longer and does not have to be stripped. But it seems a bit pricy and out of my budget. Anybody have any experience with these brands or any other ideas or suggestions? What about TWP or WOODguard stains?

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Comments (3)

paintguy22
14 years ago
I have used the SRD on log cabins and it's just fine. Perhaps they tell you it is only for decks in hopes you will upgrade to the Log and Cabin. I'm not afraid of stripping either....after 3 years, it comes off fairly easily with a power washer.
heimert
14 years ago
We used Sikkens Cetol SRD on our red cedar shingles and it's working nicely after 2 years. I don't think it needs to be stripped if it's a translucent stain. Pretty sure you just put another coat over it in a few years. The Sikkens wbsite says it's suitable for shingles:

http://www.nam.sikkens.com/product.cfm?product_id=4&product_category=exterior

My view on costs is that most of the work is labor (perhaps yours?), and you're better off going with a product that you trust will work.

My dad used Cabot on red cedar siding (tongue in groove) and that worked well too, but it wasn't timber oil, just whatever their semi-transparent stain was, but that was 20 years ago, so I'm sure the formula has changed.
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I took a few of the same shingles the house was sided with over to the paint shop to have a few samples done. Sikkens RDC is what they were recommending although again being oil based it made the shingle samples look darker. The natural seemed to be the closest to what I am looking for but not really what I truly want. Other than the fact that water base finishes don't last as long or protect as well, are there other inherent problems with using one of the hybrids as suggested. Another paint shop was pushing Olympic Maximum clear (hybrid) and it appeared to be closer in color when put on as a sample. Faron, I'm not sure what back primed means, but if it means sealed both sides and all edges before installation, the answer is definitely no. And to help answer your question, I"m looking to see as much grain and as much of the original color as possible. I've heard a bit about the Log and Siding but was concerned about it producing a look which was much different to what I have now. Any thoughts? Thanks to both of you for the help. Art
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ibjammin
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. I am seriously leaning towards the Sikkens Cetol SRD. But I heard that you really have to know what you are doing when it comes to the prep work for Sikkens to work properly.

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