Cedar Siding

[Anonymous]

What are the advantages/disadvantages to using cedar siding? What is involved in the maintenance?

[Rich]

Grumpy is probably the best one to answer this.. but I've put up some cedar siding before. Cedar by itself does pretty well as far as weathering - but you will probably need to spruce it up with a coat of protectant every so often.. maybe every 5 years.
Is that about right Grumpy?

[grumpydasmurf]

Well cedar as compared to what? I will assume vinyl. Vinyl is easier to clean and requires no painting.

Cedar is very strong and is a better insulator than vinyl. Cedar won't crack in the winter. Cedar wont split if hit with a ball or hail. Cedar will last just as long as vinyl, even longer with proper maintenance. Cedar is more flexible if changing the color scheme of your house.

Now cedar can be purchased pre-finished from the factory with a 15-year color warranty. Figure the first 10 years with very little maintenance then some minor touchups every 5-7 years thereafter.

[grumpydasmurf]

I'd like to update my post. Cedar will last longer than vinyl even with minor neglegence. We've all seen 100 year old houses with cedar siding and 5 coats of paint. Hmm 100/5=20

That's 1 paint job for every 20 years and very little rot.

[jjcold]

When my dad repainted our very old house many, many years ago, he sanded down to the bare wood on each and every piece of siding. Then, he put two coats of linseed oil paint (he mixed it himself and went very heavy on the oil!) on as a primer. Finally, he covered it all with oil based paint. Man, it was MESSY and smelly. But, it held up well. Years after his death, my mom had the house repainted professionally and they sprayed one coat of cheap latex on there and it was peeling off within 4 years.

[grumpydasmurf]

Hmmm First off I am not a painter. I have been told by a floor refinishing contractor that you shouldn't mix latex based and oil based when refinishing because they sometimes fight. Refinishing the floor is just like painting a wall except your quite often on your hands and knees.

I'd never allow anyone to spray any paint on my exterior. Maybe interior, but not exterior. The second point I'd like to make is Your father really loved his house :)

[KWallis]

Hi -- It could be that I should be posting this under horror stories of new construction, but I hope not. My contractor is ever so close to finishing my new residence, but there have been a few problems. The most recent one (so recent that I haven't had a chance to talk with him yet), is that the cedar board siding that has been in place for about 6 months has started to crack. (The cracks are vertical, run along the grain, and appear to go all of the way through the board.)

The boards were prestained before they were installed (and were kiln dried before they were stained). Does anyone know what could be causing the cracks? Should I have my contractor replace the cracked boards? (Does this bode poorly for those boards that have not cracked?) Any ideas?

Many Thanks!

[Rich]

Grumpy probably has a spot on reason for this. But I'll give it a shot. Did the prestain go on all sides or just the visible side? It could be that, if on only one side, that the climate changes are affecting the front and back differently. I've seen this type of thing on millwork that wasn't finished on all air-contact sides. The only other thing I can think of is that the nails were driven too deeply and isn't giving the wood enough room to contract/expand. Grumpy????

[grumpydasmurf]

This is something that would be covered under a typical warranty. You said the cracks were verticle with the grain? Do you have verticle siding or am I picturing your siding wrong in my minds eye? Can you take a pic for me?

Rich I know when WE get the prestained siding it's on all sides. My first thought is that there was no expansion gaps left at the ends of the boards. It's more than likley an expansion issue due to weather conditions like you said Rich.

I could diagnose better if I had a picture of the actual damage.

[Rich]

Yeah.. the only way I can think of functional vertical siding is a board and batt. I've always purchased it pre-stained also - but some friends of mine bought raw cedar and stained it themselves. They dunked it in a trough so it wasn't an issue.

[grumpydasmurf]

Rich a channel lock is pretty functional too, for verticle applications.


LOL did your friends really save any time or money staining it themselves?!

[KWallis]

Hi there!

Thanks for all of the replies to my posting, sorry that I haven't had a chance to get back on-line before now to read them all. I will be back at the house this weekend and will take some digital pictures and send them on. The house is sided with cedar board and batten. I am not sure about whether we prestained on both sides of the boards, but I've got some extra boards stacked under a tarp (handy if I'm going to be replacing some) and will double-check that as well.

Thanks again!