Hello pandang81,

Part of the issue might be the type of stain. You have a choice between transparent, semi-transparent, or solid stain. Do you know which one you are using?

I've attached an article for you. The color may be correct but the saturation may be off for what you want the final result to be.

https://www.paintingdenver.net/uncategorized/important-tips-painting-or-staining-cedar-wood/

The good news is: Cedar FADES very quickly. The other question becomes which TYPE of cedar are you working with? Red Cedar or Yellow Cedar?

The other problem with cedar (either species) it has TANNIN PULL...which means anything you put ON IT will change colour because the colour INSIDE the wood will PULL to the surface to leave it looking either redder (red cedar) or yellower (yellow cedar).

If you want the washout out brown, simply leave the cedar a natural finish. It will fade out to that washed out ash tone within a summer. Yes....today it will look "bright" but in a single season, it will tone down VERY quickly. It will drop HALF of the colour after 1 summer. It goes ashy brown and stays there for years (until you power wash it and then add new finish/stain).

I would leave it (with a natural finish) and let the sun/weather do the work for you. It is the easiest way to get this to work.

Good luck. The natural fade of cedar will look fantastic - tomorrow.

Cabot has a weathering oil that makes the cedar look a year aged. And it is very good on rough sawn surfaces so may work for you.

I also agree I would just use natural cedar without stain. It would look great with your rock.

I’m curious if you ever found a good solution? I’m trying to find a medium brown stain that allows the grain to show on a rough sawn cedar gazebo we just had put in. Anything medium brown on the smooth cedar looks like a solid dark brown on the rough.

I m literally asking the same question you are. We got med brown stain and it looks so dark. I have seen two houses where the color is what I want. I guess I just need to go and ask them. Hahaha.

Tfx

Following...only our cedar is going to be a smooth finish. We need to make a decision soon :)

Did anyone find a nice color to stain their cedar?

I tested a bunch of stains. I like the Defy Butternut color on our rough sawn cedar (#8, lower right corner) but on the smooth cedar it looks a little red/orange. I think we will solve that by keeping the ceiling of our gazebo natural w/ a poly coat and do the outside and pillars with the defy butternut. Second picture is our gazebo (upper left) and two inspiration pics of the color I am trying to get. Bottom right are my samples, Defy Butternut is the closest I found.

you are going to get a lot of red tones in red cedar when you stain, best to use a medium walnut gel stain and if it's to light, coat it again. or use a pre sealer and then stain with a dark walnut. I use minwax. I also use a toner after stain the get desired look.

We used sherwin William's weathered teak from a designer's suggestion came out looking black on rough cedar any way to lighten it up??,?

Lori, what is the stain brand/color of #7 on your picture?

It is Defy - Light Walnut. I would get a sample of you can. When the painter applied our stain it turned out much darker than my samples.

Lori Urban, do you remember what color your #2 sample was?

Trying to stain cedar trim a medium brown and was getting orange every time. I was intrigued by the concept that Gel stain doesn't sink in (and hoping it doesn't draw out the tannin) and found a can of Minwax Gel Stain in Chestnut I had bought for another project and it worked perfectly. No orange pull at all. I'll probably put two coats on since it will fade. but it was the medium brown I was looking for.