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Exterior Woodworking Paint

Cedar Beams Stained Too Dark of a Red

5 years ago

I wanted our cedar beams to be a natural looking orange/red tint stain. I have a side by side attached. The left is what I shared with our painter/stained. The right is how it turned out. It’s soooo red. How can I lighten it? Will I have to sand it down? How much? And will it hurt the cedar at all? I’ve included a picture of the cedar in raw form. It’s wrapped but you can get the look. Thank you!

Featured Answer

toxcrusadr

5 years ago

It should. This kind of stain probably has a fine powder suspended in it (aka pigment, as opposed to a dye, which is dissolved). As a result it may not come off very well with a stripper. Sanding off the surface seems like the best way.

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Comments (12)

Laila Down
Original Author
5 years ago
Any insight is welcomed!!!!
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Bri Bosh
5 years ago
What he gave you is actually pretty close to the beam in your inspiration photo, IMO. You can sand down and seal with a natural finish, it won’t damage the cedar but will take some elbow grease!
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Bri Bosh
5 years ago
Also wanted to add that you should wait until all the finishes are done. It may just look too red next to the white building wrap.
User
5 years ago
Looks like he used a deck semi solid or solid stain. He probably used that type for longevity of the finish---less fading/darkening with age and exposure.

If you sand it off, you will wind up with a situation where the wood needs yearly treatment to stay 'natural' looking.
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rwiegand
5 years ago
Wait a little while and it will be lighter.

The match actually looks awfully good based on your photos.

Have you got something between the concrete and the bottom of the post to stop water from wicking into the end grain?
Diane
5 years ago
On my screen it does appear red in comparison to the more orange of the inspiration photo. Can you take the can of stain and photos to your local paint store to see if they can offer a way to get closer to what you want?
toxcrusadr
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I don't think it looks close at all. Agree with Handymac, they used a solid stain instead of transparent that showed the grain. I don't see any grain or knots on this. It's been completely covered. But it is difficult to get the effect you want without constantly putting more penetrating wood treatment on it to keep it from weathering to gray.
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PRO
Sombreuil
5 years ago
Your inspiration needed only a clear finish on western red cedar to realize.
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Laila Down
Original Author
5 years ago
They suggested sanding the stain off. Will that work?
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Kaleah Garrison
2 years ago
What did you end ip doing? ive got cedar posts that have gotten darker and darker and i would like to lighten them
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forkliftdriver
2 years ago
yep same thing happened to my cedar post that are gables on the house.. used a non red based stain but the post were so uneven in colors it looks pretty ragged. I am so disappointed.. new house construction and I just wreaked my gables.. It looks nothing like the stain sample and we tested it in the store but each piece was so different ... ugh.. white wraps might have to happen.. I wanted the oak look and I get red.... disgusted..
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