Exterior · West and northwest Twin Cities metroCedar siding staining and sealing

The difference between semi-transparent and solid stain

Semi-transparent stain is a penetrating finish with a little pigment in it. It soaks into the cedar, lets the grain and color variation show, and does not form a film, so it wears away gradually rather than peeling. That is the look most people want on a cedar house, a fence or a timber-frame entry, and it is the easiest finish to maintain, because the next coat goes right over the old one after a cleaning. The trade is that it needs recoating sooner. Solid stain has enough pigment to hide the grain and look like a flat paint, while still soaking in more than paint does. It lasts longer between coats, hides old sun damage and mismatched boards, and is the usual choice when cedar siding has already been solid stained or painted, because once a film has been on the wood you cannot go back to semi-transparent without stripping. There is a middle ground called semi-solid that hides more than semi-transparent and wears more gracefully than solid. We bring samples and brush them on the least visible wall so you see them on your own wood.

• Semi-transparent: grain shows, no film, no peeling, shorter recoat cycle
• Semi-solid: hides more, still penetrates, middle cycle
• Solid: hides grain like paint, longest cycle, hard to go back from

When to stain cedar siding instead of painting it

Cedar that has never been painted is a candidate for stain, and on that wood stain is the better product. Cedar moves with the seasons, and Minnesota gives it a lot of seasons. A penetrating stain moves with it. A paint film does not, so paint on bare cedar tends to crack along board edges and peel in sheets after a few freeze-thaw cycles, especially on the south and west walls. Stain fades instead of peeling, and fading is fixed with a wash and a coat. Where paint wins is cedar that has already been painted for years, cedar that is badly weathered and patched with mismatched boards, or a house where the owner wants a color that stain does not come in. You can paint over old stain with the right primer. You cannot stain over old paint without stripping it to bare wood, which on a whole house is rarely worth it. A reviewer with hail-damaged redwood siding described the prep this way: "They were careful and deliberate, and went above and beyond in siding prep so that the final project turned out beautifully." (J. V. E. · Google review). That job was stain, chosen because the wood had never been painted.

How we prep cedar before staining

Stain only works on wood that is clean, open and dry, so most of a staining job is getting the wood there. First we wash the cedar with a cleaner that lifts mildew, algae, dirt and the gray layer of dead wood fibers that the sun leaves on any siding that has gone a few years without a coat. On heavily weathered or previously stained wood we follow the cleaner with a brightener, which neutralizes the cleaner and brings the cedar back to its natural color so the new stain reads true. Then we wait. Cedar has to dry to under 15 percent moisture before stain goes on, or the stain sits on top of the water in the wood and fails within a year. We check that with a moisture meter, not by guessing, and in a wet June that can mean two or three days between the wash and the first coat. Any split or soft cedar we find during prep gets replaced and left to weather so it takes stain like the rest of the wall. While the wood dries we mask the windows, any trim that is staying a different color, the roofing at the drip edge and any stone or brick, and we cover the plantings, because stain soaks into masonry the same way it soaks into wood. Then the stain goes on by brush and pad, back-brushed on siding, with a wet edge kept along each board so there are no lap marks.

• Wash with a wood cleaner to lift mildew and gray fibers
• Brighten to neutralize and restore the cedar color
• Dry to under 15 percent moisture, measured with a meter
• Mask, then brush and back-brush with a wet edge

How often cedar stain needs a fresh coat

Stain lasts a shorter time than paint, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling. Semi-transparent stain on vertical cedar siding in this climate is typically good for a few years before the south and west walls start to lighten, and a fence or a timber post in full sun goes sooner than that. Solid stain lasts longer, closer to paint, but still needs attention before it wears through at the bottom edges. The upside is that a recoat on stained cedar is a small job: wash, let it dry, one coat. There is no scraping, because there is nothing to peel. Homes that stay on that cycle keep looking new indefinitely. Homes that skip two cycles end up gray, and then the prep is back to cleaner and brightener and two coats. A recoat is also the time to adjust the color. Going a shade darker is easy with a semi-transparent stain, since each coat adds to the color already in the wood. Going lighter usually means moving to a semi-solid or solid stain, and we will show you that on a sample before you commit. We keep a note of when we stained your house and which product and color went on, so we can call before it gets to that point, if you want us to.

Why homeowners hire us for cedar staining

• Semi-transparent, semi-solid or solid stain matched to the wood and the look you want
• Wood cleaner and brightener before every stain job, never a pressure wash alone
• Moisture checked with a meter, under 15 percent before the first coat
• Windows, brick, roofing and plantings masked or covered before any stain goes on
• Back-brushed with a wet edge so every board reads even, no lap marks
• A documented recoat cycle so you can plan maintenance

Our cedar staining process, step by step

1. Walkthrough, samples and written estimate

   We look at the cedar, check whether it has ever had a film on it, test moisture, and brush stain samples on an out-of-sight wall. The estimate lists the surfaces, the product and the coat count.

2. Clean and brighten

   Plantings are wet down and covered, then the cedar gets washed with a wood cleaner and brightened to neutralize the cleaner and bring the natural color back.

3. Dry, then stain

   We wait for the wood to read under 15 percent on the moisture meter, mask the windows and masonry, then apply stain by brush and pad, back-brushed on siding with a wet edge kept along each board.

4. Second coat where the product calls for it, then walkthrough

   Solid stains and some semi-transparents get a second coat once the first has soaked in. Then we walk the house with you and note the recoat cycle for your records.

What does cedar staining cost in the northwest metro?

Staining is priced from the same walkthrough as painting, and the same things move the number: how much cedar there is, how high it is, and what condition it is in. A house that was stained a few years ago and needs a wash and one coat is at one end. A gray, mildewed house that has gone a decade without a finish needs cleaner, brightener, dry time and two coats, and sits at the other. The product matters. Solid stain covers in fewer coats on old wood than semi-transparent does, but semi-transparent goes on faster on clean cedar. Fences and timbers are priced by length and size. Trim that stays painted while the siding gets stain adds masking and a second set of brushed cut lines, and that is on the estimate too. The estimate is written and the walkthrough costs nothing.

• Square footage of cedar and how much of it needs staging
• Condition: recently stained versus gray and weathered
• Whether the wood has ever had a paint or solid-stain film on it
• Semi-transparent, semi-solid or solid, and the number of coats
• Trim and accents in a separate paint or stain color
• Fences, timbers, gates and trim included in the same visit