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Remodeling Design Dilemma Exterior

Cedar Siding Alternatives - Tongue & Groove

6 years ago

Will be starting a renovation - would very much appreciate advice on Siding. I am concerned about maintenance of Cedar.

Current plan/details:

Contemporary exterior with Cedar Tongue & Groove siding, paired with Smooth Stucco.
We live in San Francisco, our house is South Facing

My Questions:

How often do you think I would need to restain and what would be aprox cost?
Are there good fiber cement alternatives in the same price range that look close to cedar without the maintenance? (Brands & pics would be great)
Also any pictures of how the cedar will look after 4-5 years before a re-stain?

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Comments (5)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
So I love natural oiled cedar , yes it requires some maintenance but IMO worth it to have this look. If you leave it it will turn a silvery gray which IMO always looks ratty. These are 2 examples one oiled one not . I think it is important to decide the look you wants 10 yrs from now.
byac thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
smbaldwin99
4 years ago
What did you end up doing?
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I don't know anything about this firm, although they look like they have a helpful and informative web site. I am curious about one thing: Are you talking about installing the cedar inside or outside? The reason I ask is that, although cedar is a good building material, it's not what it used to be in terms of weather resistance. That's because most of the stuff currently available is second-growth wood which is softer and somewhat less rot-resistant than what was commonly sold 40 years ago. The appearance is still fine, but you might want to ask them about where they get their cedar. I live in the Pacific NW (rain country) and have used a lot of cedar for my home projects (siding, shakes, fence); in my recent experience, the cedar brought in from Canada tends to be higher quality than from U.S. sources. I'm not trying to discourage you from using cedar, as even second growth cedar has good qualities. I'm just trying to provide a little info. Good luck.
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Our lumberyard sells the Sierra Primed Shake Deep Groove in 20 board bundles at $168.30 per bundle, which breaks down to approx $8.40 per 8' board. We did price out the pre-finished in Maple too...$259.25 per bundle or approx $12.96 per board. Those prices are with a 15% discount that they very kindly offered since we're OBing. :o)
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Thanks for all responses. Glad to hear this should work as long as installed correctly (which I suppose is always the case). Also, the longest length I'll have is 20' (and only one board at that). Since 20' boards are available, I should be able to do this without any butt joints (except at the ends, of course). Btw, here are posts that had me worried. The second one especially seemed to have knowledgeable people questioning the use of exterior T&G. But I suspect improper installation may be the real issue (T&G appears to be less forgiving of that). Any comments on these are welcomed. Thanks! http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2336663/tongue-and-groove-for-exterior-siding http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Buckling_TongueandGroove_Siding.html
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byac
Original Author
4 years ago
I went with the cedar siding with a semi transparent butternut stain and I am so glad that I did. It turned out so beautiful and even better than I thought. We decided to just go for it and deal with the maintenance in 2 to 3 years. Our rationale was that if the maintenance became too burdensome, we could always paint it to lower the maintenance or as Patricia noted leave it to be silvery gray. Overall, I agree with Patricia and think the look is worth the additional maintenance.
ess455
4 years ago
Byac, how was cost going with cedar and staining it? we are also looking to do the front of our home with contemporary style cedar siding, im looking at the different options..... Its only about 300 sqft but we definitely want that modern look.
Moni Friedman
4 years ago
What stain brand did you use?

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