Should I replace my vertical cedar siding?
 

Attached is a picture of my home. The left side is a former small modular 3 bedroom ranch. The right side is an addition I had done 25 years ago. At the same time I did a complete re-model putting in all new anderson windows along with western red cedar vertical siding over 1/2" foam board. I am now thinking about doing a makeover mainly for curb appeal but also to get away from the maintenance of cedar. Everything is in good condition and has held up very well over the years. Problem is cedar requires maintenance. Power washing every few years and re-staining. Along with that woodpeckers have become a problem (seems to be a new national problem that is getting worse each year). Insects and bees also are attracted to cedar which requires treatments. I am thinking about replacing the cedar with some other type of siding. Possibly Hardiplank, maybe even vinyl or stucco. I am not sure how my house would look with horizontal siding. I could add a small dormer type roof over the front entry to hide the contemporay look somewhat. I am going for a more modern craftsman type look (I think it's called). I could even cover the small roof added roof with a stylish metal roof. Anyone know of any software or website that may help visualize this? Any other thoughts? Maybe I should just power wash again and stain with a solid cedar stain and hope it lasts longer than the semi-transparent I have been using over the years. Maybe even paint. Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.
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Cedar can be high maintenance . But it looks sweet. Its up to you. Vinyl you could just go over it. Not sure on Hardi. Stucco my neighbor did his house in stucco. They put Styrofoam sheets over the clapboards and then stucco over it. Now it does take some time. I would think cheapest vinyl over the cedar.

High maintenance is my biggest reason for thinking about getting rid of it. If I do replace it I am pretty sure I will first pull all the cedar off. It is tongue and groove cedar over 1/2" foam board and blind nailed in the grooves. I think it should remove fairly easy. I may just try a solid color stain on it first to see if it lasts longer. I always wondered why I would often see a very nice natural cedar house and then see it painted years later. Now I know.

That's a good looking house imo, not sure why you would think vinyl or hardie would add curb appeal.

So what does it take, a weekend or two every few years to keep the cedar looking nice? It's a pretty small place after all.

Not sure why you think vinyl or hardie is no or low maintenances. You still have to paint the hardie and there's nothing better than vinyl siding for breeding fly's and other insects.

You have a nice looking yard there btw, how many hours a year do you spend on it?

What's next on the maintenance free list, astro turf and plastic bushes?

"Maintenance free" is a marketing elusion but if you truly don't like the look of your home then by all means change it.

Solid stain or paint is just fine imo but getting rid of what many wish they could have is .....

Just my 2 cents.

Your house is sharp. Solid color stain.:thumbsup: I really like the way a dark colored stain looks on cedar. If your thinking of hardi. Get it colored from manufacturer. I think they give a 10 year warranty on the prepainted.

ps. I like cabots. Solid color stain. Something like bark(actually color name) I've seen some cedar houses stained in a dark color they are sharp.

My picture of the front of the house makes it look smaller than it actually is and it was pressure washed and stained about a year before the pic. Here is another pic of the back. You can see it is much larger and this is how the Cedar gets just before I pressure wash and stain (about 5 years since staining)
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If that's how it looks after only a year of being stained then I can see why your fed up but it's not the woods fault.

There's a lot of stains on the market that are just pure junk. What have you been using?

At this point I'd be looking at a solid stain. SW WoodScapes would be my first choice.

Whether you paint or stain quality products along with proper preparation and application is the key.

Always read and follow the information provided on the "product data sheet" that's always available on the manufactures website and usually has much more info than is printed on the can.

Don't buy into the box stores marketing hype. Sure they may have the top selling brands but that's only because they spend the most money convincing you that what they sell is what you need but in reality most of the stuff on their paint shelves is junk.

I would definately not remove the cedar. I would use a high quality penetrating stain, or maybe even paint. I used a stain called Moorewood on redwood many years ago on a project and it still looks good. Benjamin Morre I think it may be the quality of the stain you are using.

Check with Pratt and Lambert and see what they have available. It is my understanding that they make the best exterior finishes today.

Horizontal lines would destroy the looks of your home In my opinion.

sorry, I guess I wasn't very clear in my explanation. The front pic was after 1 year. The back was just before I pressure wash and stain so that pic was at least 5 years after staining. Also the back gets direct sun.

Thanks for the clarification :) but what stain have you been using???

Cedar came factory stained with Olympic semi-transparent cedar stain oil based. This was almost 30 years ago. I am sure that formula is not the same anymore. I also used it one more time after that. This stain was the best. After that I used Wolman F&P and also Wolman Raincoat. They were ok. Also tried Olympic Maximum at one point. I have been following the Consumer reports long term stain tests and they are not really impressed with any of the semi-transparent stains. Solid does a little better.
Anyway after discussing things with my wife we decided we like the natural cedar with semi-transparent stain look too much to change. So the current plan is to pressure wash down to new cedar and do semi transparent again. We just have to try and pick the best brand this time. Only difference is this time I will add a coat every other year and see if this makes it last longer.
As far as the woodpeckers go, I will keep them at bay using my many woodpecker deterents (owl, shinny items, electronic woodpecker distress calls, etc)

Well I'm happy to hear that your focus is now on saving the Cedar.

Before you commit to any products or methods I strongly suggest that you start a new thread in the painting section of this site. There are a couple/few "true experts" that post in that section almost daily (that never post in this section).

Tell them what's been done in the past and what your goals are (with pictures). I have my own opinions on the subject but I'd like to see what they have to say.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will head over there right now.