Cedar house trim

ladeede

We are looking at a house considering purchase its a very dark cedar and brick. The brick is earth tones but has a gray to it which I like . I would like to paint the cedar some form of a lighter gray . The house needs windows which are a great size so they will probably be white , the replacements. Any thoughts? can I paint cedar (or a professional not me)

joecaption

Yes it can be painted.
But in my opion a stain would hold up much better. Stains can be mixed any color that paint can be mixed.
Might want to cheak out Sherwin Williams.
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/home...lear-topcoats/

ladeede

Outside of house has been neglected so the stained cedar is very very dark, brown. I read no way to lighten once its already dark, is this true? and thank you for the link

ToolSeeker

Yes cedar can be painted but I would suggest a primer like BIN or talk to your SW rep. Cedar has tannins whice bleed thru regular primers and paint. Since yours are old you may not have this problem. But I don't think I would take the chance.

joecaption

Sure it's not an old failed stin that was applyed?
Cedar turns gray not brown as it ages.
May want to try a deck brightner in a test area.
Bad time of year to be doing any type of outside sealing. May want to hold off until warmer weather.

ladeede

oh yes sorry its an old stain , they stained it dark to begin with , some of it is in need of repair too, rotting etc around the outset windows

pomlady1

Hi, first off I have to say that we live in Canada with cold winters, so there is quite a difference in temperatures between Summer and Winter time. So it might be not as extreme where you live?
We have an all cedar house tongue and groove outside and in. We painted the outside of the house ourselves with Behr Cedar Gloss Rawhide years ago when they had a oil based one, which I really liked. To make it last we painted all the way around the boards before putting them up outside (letting them dry first of course), then the ends where they were cut and joined where painting putting them up. Then another 3 coats on top when it was put up, just to make sure it was sealed properly. It held up for years but finally our garage especially needed doing, which I must say wasn't done all the way around like the house was, just the 5 bottom boards, the rest was just 3 coats over top once applied. It was looking darkly stained in spots and other parts faded(which I knew could never look brand new again and had to be covered!), so I called Behr and they said it could be primed with latex and then stained. Well we did that this past Spring, sanded it all first; quite the job! Most places did stick but there were a few places that we had to resand and go over that bubbled. Right now it is looking quite nice I must say!
I am not sure how long the stain on our garage will hold up, so far, so good and it is winter time now, will see this Spring I expect.
After the fact using stain, which is suppose to soak into the wood, I kind of wonder if that was a good idea or should we have gone with a paint instead. But since the Behr rep. said it was okay, that is what I bought as I have dealt with paint before outside on our first house and that was always sanding and repainting after a few years and was trying to get something that would be cheap to do and last a few years, if possible.
With the house, I have resanded and used the Behr Cedar Gloss latex replacement for the oil based, since they don't sell the oil based anymore. Hate the latex stuff, smells weird and not the real nice colour of the oil, more like a yellow tone, but so far that is what I have used and yes it does blend in, kind of.
This coming Spring, after 25 years on this house and constant repairs of sanding here and there, trying to keep outside wood looking nice we are going to put Hardy board on the outside of the house and just keep the cedar decks going with Sikkens. Less work for me!
So this is my tale of working with cedar outside and if some of your cedar is rotten, maybe you should just replace the siding with a product that you will never have to fix up again? Just my opinion.

ladeede

You sure did a ton of work. The house isn't ours, deciding to take it on or not, it needs so so much. I think it could look wonderful BUT. My husband said some of the boards are rotten, I am for the siding but as I said the house needs so much work which translate to also $$. Its a neat house

pomlady1

If you are considering buying the house, I guess it depends how old the house is, what kind of work it needs, does it need to basically be torn apart inside to get half decent insulation in the walls where you live, etc. That is a big job, you are basically tearing down the walls and starting from scratch inside. The first house we bought was an old house, looked really nice from the outside, all red brick. Inside we thought was neat too, but it had railway ties inside the walls with no insulation, just gyproc nailed and finished over that. We found that out later when we were sitting in the bathtub and it felt cold no matter how high the heat was put at. It was always a cold place in winter time. The attic had no insulation either when we bought it but we put some in ourselves right away. We did a bunch of renos on that house, fixed the chimney for the fireplace as it was on the outside wall and always cracking (not a good move! water was constantly running down the bricks and freezing in the winter time), redid the roof, renoed inside quite a bit and then decided to sell it and build our own in another province. We built and sold and built again. Each time the house improves , but yeah we have worked on our houses for 40 years now, so have learned things through trial and error at times.
So guess the best is if you are considering buying it to check the foundation first, make sure nothing is cracking and/or sagging, then try to check as much else wrong inside and out as you can, does it need a new roof too as if you aren't doing that yourself, that cost a lot. We have done everything, well hubby has with me right beside him helping him . So you have to decide for yourselves if you want to take on a project or buy something newer. Hubby always says he wouldn't buy a really old place, it is a money pit and if you are tearing out and redoing most of it, well you are doing double work, unless you really really love a heritage house and don't mind and have the money and time to put into it.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.

noquacks

BIN alcohol is not recomended for exterior. Last I understood, that is. Ext oil base primer/sealer is what I use. Forget water base primers here.

__________________
Alexander Pope: [a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing]

chrisn

Not on a whole exterior, it can be used for hitting knots and such but not for the whole house

Cover Stain would do it
Cover-Stain® is an all-purpose oil-base stain-killing primer-sealer. Ideal for interior and exterior applications. Recoat in only one hour. Great for cedar bleed.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

ladeede

It needs a lot, all rooms are papered, bathrooms are good thats a big plus, kitchen is awful, needs gutted, all new rugs and or flooring up and down. Windows are awful as well as door to outside. BUT I love that it has a ton of windows, they are big and the door is a triple door. Roof is good about 4 yrs. The house has a lot of potential. It also is half brick , which is nice but the cedar part is way too dark. I would like to put a shower in the main level bathroom it has the room to do so. We are older though so the paper is on drywall, I am afraid of that , damaging the walls taking it off. Although its almost coming off by itself in some locations.

ladeede

In my haste to post I forgot the best part its a fairly level 1/2 acre lot it sits on, on a wonderful street. Taxes are a little high though , the schools there. We when looking are all about the lot, I don't want to be really close or tight in, we are now where we live. And at the same time I want to be not out in the country or anything.

KD PAINTING

Cedar tends to bleed through, so be sure to use an oil based primer on this one to block bleeding. Zinsser Cover Stain (oil based) works great for this and offers excellent flexibility and penetration making it ideal for exterior wood siding and trim. Cover stain dries fast and should cover in one coat.
Good Luck!

http://www.kdpaintingct.com