Tim,
I live in a house which has exterior cedar siding on the upper level.
Cedar has cracked and disintegrating on the east sie due to lack of proper
maintenance by the prior owner.It also needs constant maintenance of
Staining. Shoudl I remove the siding and replace it with cement plaster or
can the contractor apply the plater on top of siding? I need help before I
sign the contract. Thanks
Natural Wood Siding Needs TLC
Summary: Wood siding can develop mildew stains, especially in wooded areas. The best water repellent stains to use contain synthetic resins. The higher the price, the better the stain. You can also clean your wood siding with Oxygen Bleach.
DEAR TIM: We live in a shady wooded area. Our house is covered with natural cedar wood siding that constantly develops mildew stains. Every few years we apply an additional coat of oil based semi-transparent stain to make the house look fresh. What products are best to use to clean the siding and to seal it? How long will a good water repellent last? Susan P., Highland Park, IL
DEAR SUSAN: It is no wonder you have mildew problems on the siding. Millions of mold spores are in the air surrounding your house. They land on the siding and once there are delighted to find out that you have provided them with dinner. Many oil based house stains contain natural resins like linseed, vegetable, tung oils and animal fat. These water repellents happen to be food that mildew thrives on. The shady conditions slow natural evaporation and help to raise the overall humidity around the siding. These conditions are excellent for mildew growth.
In my opinion, the best semi-transparent stain to use is one that contains no natural oils. I prefer to use products that are made with synthetic resins. Mildew will not eat these products. It is still possible to get a small amount of mildew growth on the siding but the food source usually can be traced to airborne dust or aerosol saps and sugars that rain down from your trees during the active growing season.
Before you apply any water repellent to the siding, you must deep clean it to get the best results. Avoid cleaners that contain chlorine bleach. You can readily identify this by looking at the product label. The chemical name for chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite. This chemical can readily bleach the gorgeous natural color from your siding. It is also highly toxic to vegetation and your valuable trees. A neighbor of mine slowly killed one of her trees by using chlorine bleach to clean a patio each spring.
A safe deep cleaner for wood siding is oxygen bleach. It is a powder that mixes with water. It is non-toxic to vegetation and trees and will not remove any natural color from the siding. You simply keep the wood siding wet with the oxygen bleach solution for 15 minutes. It will remove the mildew and deep clean the siding. Lightly scrub the siding before rinsing with clear water from a garden hose. Avoid the temptation of using a pressure washer. These devices can force water into cracks and seams. This water gets behind the siding and can travel into your home. The intense pressure from these tools can quickly erode and scar soft woods like cedar and redwood.
If you buy a top quality water repellent, it can last up to five to seven years before it needs an additional coat. These same products can be used on wood decks but will not last as long. The orientation of the siding on your home helps extend the life of the water repellent. Rain water runs off the siding. When the sunlight does hit your house the intense mid-day UV rays glance off the siding. Because deck lumber lies flat, water readily soaks into the lumber and the UV rays at high noon blast the wood with a direct hit.
Price is a good barometer for judging water repellent quality. The synthetic resins contain very expensive raw materials. When you are doing comparative shopping, look for the highest priced product. It very likely is made with synthetic resins. I have had the best success finding these water repellents at specialty paint stores and some log cabin distributors. Oxygen bleach is readily available on the Internet at www.stainsolver.com. Be sure to buy oxygen bleach that has the highest concentration of the active ingredient - oxygen bleach. Many of the oxygen bleach products contain a significant amount of fillers that simply take up space in the container. Furthermore, many of the heavily advertised oxygen bleaches are made in the Far East, not in the USA!
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from Tim: Years ago while researching a column about cleaning decks, I discovered the wonders of Oxygen Bleach. It is perhaps the 'greenest' cleaner I know of as it uses oxygen ions to break apart stains, dirt and odor molecules. There are no harsh chemicals, and it works on just about anything that is water washable. I decided to create my own special blend using ingredients made in the USA. In fact, the raw materials in the active ingredient are food-grade quality registered with the FDA. I call my product Stain Solver. I urge you to use it to help with your wood siding cleaning. You will be amazed at the results! |
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Comments:
Sukhera 24 Nov 2007, 09:29
ATB 24 Nov 2007, 10:02
I would absolutely remove the bad siding. This will give you a chance to
install the best water membrane under the stucco. You will also end up with
a better detail around all windows.
jane 22 May 2008, 08:07
My mothers house is cedar from 1951. Last staining was 8 yrs ago. The south
and east sides are sun damanged. My painter says to scrap then apply a
linseed oil/thompson water sealant to the siding. You can see some scrap
marks but it is better than the dark/black wood. What do you think?
JohnG 11 Aug 2008, 13:30
to the cedar house frmo 1951. Don't scrape cedar, use an Oxygen Bleach. I
am using it now on my cedar shigle house and it cleaned up 35 year old un
touched (black and sun damaged) cedar. After that I will use an oxalic
acid to bring the ph back to normal and bring back the true color of the
cedar.
Mar 17 Aug 2008, 23:44
My Cedar house has Raw-hide on the exterior, about 3-5 coats. Since I was
unaware of the Behr lawsuit and missed the tech talk on how to easily
remove the Raw-hide, do you have any suggestions.
Michelle 02 Sep 2008, 09:37
I built a stable last fall and covered the exterior with rough hemlock
board and batten. With the amount of snow we had this year, there are water
stains at the bottom of the walls. I haven't treated the wood yet but I'm
planning on doing that next week...
Can you recommend a product to remove the stains from the snow and another product to treat the wood? Thanks. Michelle Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
J. Leonard 23 Oct 2008, 14:36
Is there any cleaner that can be put on cedar siding that will remove years
of darkening and weather staining. I am not physically able to scrub the
siding, but I could spray something on it and wash it off. I can't afford
to hire someone to do this for me.
Roger 26 Oct 2008, 16:08
J. Leonard,
Check out this customer's review ... http://stainsolver.com/cedar_siding.html
Jackie 03 Feb 2009, 08:55
I have cedar wood in the interior of my home. We had roof damage witha
hurricane and there are some water spots that I need to clean on the
ceiling. Is there anything I can use to get these spots out without
bleaching or discoloring. The cedar has been in the house for over 20
years and has darkened with age. I think it would be very hard to get the
same color with stain if I need to replace them.
Tom Guthrie 21 Apr 2009, 19:16
I have red cedar siding on my house
it has been pressure washed & then covered with linseed oil,5yrs ago. so now naturally it is all black or dark brown, now I need advice on exactly what to do to revitalize this beautiful wood & or stain it! sure could use an inexpencive self help plan to do it my self!! Please contact me @ this E mail address given above thank you very much Tom Guthrie View all comments |
