Hi @klem1, thank you for the advice! I had a conversation with one of the paint stores to find out how diluted they could make the product. They said they could use the "semi-transparent" version and go down to 25% pigment. Is that roughly what you had in mind as well?

I loved the more rustic look when I first had the siding put on and the blue tint of the stain just showing irregularly. Now, after two more coats brushed on in the last 15 years it just looks too blue to me. Though I have to say that Cabot's stain is amazing, the shingles all look perfect, totally even, not bleached out irregularly or water damaged. That's pretty awesome overall!

Thanks again for your advice!

I should tell you I believe working with colors using pictures on the net is a fool's game. Paint companies warn customers that colors don't come true on a computor screen and advise using a chart for making decisions. With that said,here I am violating my own belief.

Is it possible something other than Spruce Blue was applied last time? Looking at the sample,the origional picture look's close enough but the recent picture look's like a brighter color was applied. I don't see how a dozen coats of Spruce would make that much difference. At this point you need someone with color savy at your side. I believe they can "kill" some blue by using one of the semi-transparents in the orange familey to calm the intensity of blue. I think they call it value which is the amount of gray shown in a color. That's about as far as I feel comfortable sticking my toe in the water for now.

BTW,that's a great looking home and those flowering shrubs are perfect as complimentary color.

Hi @klem1, thank you again so much for additional input! I spoke with someone at Cabot this morning, which added more good data.

1. It is not a good idea to put down a coat of their semi-transparent product if you have previously applied semi-solid. He recommended sticking with the same product.
2. He also added that there isn't any clear product you can just apply as top coat. Stick to what you have used previously with the pigment in it.
3. He asked me to do a "bead test"or "splash test", by pushing some water against the siding to see if the wood soaks it up or if it beads off. Interestingly, on the non-weather side I saw beading. But on the South side (the weather side here in Seattle), the wood just soaked up the water.

So I'll go ahead and just have my painter apply another coat of the same semi-solid stain of spruce blue. Some years down the line I might do the "stripping" and restarting, but for now, I'll just protect what is there.

Many greetings,

Christina

If you want to go yo the original color they need to go through the restoring process first. Which will bring shingles to a bare base and will let you get back to the original color. Applying two coats of semi solid will get you to a solid coat

Olympic semi transparent dark ash.