I have to install some cedar shingles on a dutch gable. The customer ( my wife) would like to maintain the ‘fresh cut cedar look’ – essentially don’t allow the cedar to turn gray. What is the best finish available? Bear in mind this dutch gable will get very little direct sun, as it faces northeast. It is a relatively small area of less than 200 sq ft.
Thanks.
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Replies
Can't offer a particular product....but I will tell you that unless you are planned on sealing it regularly, it will weather rather quickly...direct sunlight, or not.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
You are in search of the holy grail
When you find the formula, let me know
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He could double dip em in 70 bucka gallon marine varnish. That'd last maybe two yrs.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
But evcen that darkens the wood away from that pretty blonde colour to an auburn heartbreaker
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doesn't exist..
The exterior of my house was done with all black walnut.. real black walnut and I hoped that 4 carefully applied coats of a marine spar varnish would do the job.
Well it didn't. The very best marine varnish (Eppiphanes) which is insanely expensive didn't last 4 years before the wood faded so bad you can't tell it's black walnut..
Anyplace where the finish actually failed has turned dark grey. I did a little test anding and I have to remove more than a 1/4 inch in some locations to get back to the original color..
MY next move will be to paint the black walnut in an attempt to protect it..
Now I would almost cry if put walnut siding on experienced what you did frenchy. Walnut must be more available where you are, it would cost me a helluva lot of money for siding like that here.Anyway, I told my wife before we got into this not to get too hung up on the brochure photos because they are likely taken the day after the install is complete. Cedar will not maintain that look unless you want to put on a fresh coat of sealer spring and fall and even then good luck. I told her the rest of the house is Hardie Plank, lets put up Hardie Shingle.
And now the rest of the story.
I stopped at a sawmill to sell themn some equipment and I noticed these giant piles of Black walnut planks and timbers..
Turns out they had been getting black walunt cheaper and cheaper because the then rush was on the blonde woods. Maple, Birch etc.. They had actually been cutting up black walnut trees and selling them off to pallet plants and for railroad ties because the market for black walnut totally disappeared. (this was 1998/99)
Just for information pallet plants pay about 17 cents a bd. ft. for solid hardwood and railroads pay $20-22 for a 9"x7"x 8 1/2 foot hardwood railroad tie.
They had these stacks and I asked if I could buy them for that price.. Suddenly I was their best friend..
Wood direct from a sawmill is soooooo cheap you can't believe it..
(few can)
In the end I wound up buying 50,000 bd.ft of hardwood for $25,000 that's enough to build a 5500 sq.ft double timberframed house. (timbers inside and outside with SIP's in between)
Things have changed though.. the chineese came into the wood buying market and have standing orders for all the black walnut available.. prices are now over $3.85 a bd.ft. and even if you're willing to pay that price all of it is committed to the Chinese.
IF you'd like to see my place click on 85891.1&94941.1 over in advanced search off to the left.
It's fun to build a house with such fantastic hardwoods right at your fingertips.. And so cheap!
PS there are still deals to be had.. I can buy all the thins I want for $20.00 a pickup load.. (about 1000 bd.ft.) they can be any wood such as cherry, maple, walnut, etc.. and vary in thickness up to slightly less than 1 inch..
What I do is sort them by 1/4 inch thickness and plane them to that thickness. 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and use them in various ways.. (a lot cheaper than sheetrock even if it is more work)
If someone orders something and fails to pick it up I usually get a shot at it..
Last time it was 5/4 thick ash for 15cents a bd.ft. Time before that it was 4/4 fiddle back maple for 10 cents..
I also get unique woods like tamarack, boxelder, hackberry, etc. etc.. Woods they don't saw enough of and have little market for so they normally go to the pallet plant.. after they make railroad ties out of the center..
You ought to find your local sawmills and see what they can do for you..
Haven't done it myself, but the two products I'm going to try on some sample shingles for the front of my shop;
Sikkens, which makes a bunch of deck and siding preservatives, has some light shades that might be close to what you're looking for.
Highly recommended to me by a few people is Mesmer's, also a deck stain/preservative, not sure if they make a product for siding or not.
I would second the opinion that regardless of what you use, be prepared to re-do every couple years. RC requires more maintenance than anything short of wood decking material, if you want to avoid them turning black eventually.
Bing
Sikkens, SRD (siding, rails decks) finish is IMHO the best exterior finish for what you're after and will give you many years b4 graying.
THere's a natural, and a cedar color. I like the cedar, little darker. Both are translucent.
You're better off with a manufactured shingle of the color the customer wants.
"Happy wife means happy life"
You are looking for primarily for UV protection and the the best clear coating for that is Penofin. Even it only provides 95% protection, so as Piffin said unfortunately there is no holy grail. Sikkens gives a nice cedar color to the shingles but darkens and because it is partially a surface treatment can peel leaving you with the almost impossible task of scraping shingles.
there is no product that will give that looknone..i like your idea of the hardie shingles... only stain them so they will look like the newly installed shinglesalso.... you used the generic term "cedar shingles"... but it makes a big difference wether it's WC or RCMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore