We have some stained cedar beams on the exterior of our house, and found that to get a consistent end product, we needed to use three different stains! Some of the cedar just drank up the stain and needed just a very light touch of color. Some seemed very stain-resistant and needed a very dark, concentrated color. And a little bit of the wood (far less than a 1/3) needed something in between. So we made up some sample boards and determined the range of color we would accept - lightest to darkest. Then started each piece of cedar with the light stain and adjusted as needed until we got into our color range. After a while, you could generally tell by looking which 'camp' each piece of wood fell into -- but I sure couldn't describe it to you. I'd definitely second the suggestion to go to a really good independent paint store to have your stains made.

I guess try a 3rd coat. Remember that semi & transparent stains do not last as long as solid so when you have to do a maintenance coat after 5 years or so you will start to get a more solid look, & eventually all black with no grain showing through. I would say that the look that you desire will not be there for the life of your house unless you strip anything existing before each maintenance coat. Good Luck!

I would suggest the TWP 200 series stain/sealer. It is much more economical and lasts longer. It does not need to be striped before recoating. I would use the Woodrich cleaner. Steve

You're not going to to be able to stain those dark shakes a light color, or "wash off the old color." You could paint them, but that will take a lot of prep and priming, and cedar shakes are notorious for bleeding through paint and for causing rusting around any exposed fasteners which will also show through the paint. I think you have the following choices: 1. Learn to love the traditional look you have 2. Paint them, spending a lot of time on prep, and hope that you don't end up with appearance problems later 3. Remove them and start over