How Often Do You Have To Treat Wood Siding

Which finish you choose is mostly an aesthetic choice.

How often do you have to treat wood siding.

A house with wood siding is most vulnerable to water infiltration where siding butts against windows doors and corner moldings says frank lesh. You may only need to treat every 3 7 years on more protected area s of the building. Wood siding likely has some joints that could potentially let water in behind it. In fact you can pay extra for.

Cedar is a versatile wood often used in exterior applications such as decking siding and outdoor furniture. How to clean wood siding. When used indoors cedar is most often used to line. To prevent leaks use a quality 50 year exterior caulk made from silicone or polyurethane and fill in each of those gaps before you do any painting.

Cedar siding is very durable against the elements but still requires regular maintenance and depending on the climate should be restained every few years. Any exposed wood is susceptible to the elements that cause mildew swelling splitting and cracking. Painting requires a base coat of exterior oil based wood primer followed by a latex based exterior wood finish coat. Bear in mind also that because the material naturally expands and contracts throughout the year homeowners with wood siding often need to redo the caulking around exterior window and door trim.

To prevent rot and prolong the life of your wood siding you can treat it with oil stain or paint. If you want to enjoy the aroma of varieties such as western red cedar and incense cedar leave the wood unsealed. How to treat cedar interiors. With a new installation of cedar shake siding which can cost around 5 a square foot you shouldn t need to do any prep work before staining or painting.

The design of the structure has a lot to do with how often you need to recoat as well. If you re using cedar for an outdoor project give it a light seal coat to guard against moisture and sunlight. The most damaging element to cedar siding is moisture. Expect to pay 200 300 to replace a damaged siding panel or two.

Cedar treatments should last 5 7 years high quality paint or stain properly applied should last five to seven years and as many as 10 depending on weather conditions and if you maintain the siding. Unless you have the skills hire a professional carpenter or siding contractor. If the overhang is quite wide or you have covered porches the frequency of the maintenance coatings will be less.