staining cedar siding

[CrappieAttitude]

So our house is in need of being stained again and I am confused on which route to go. We have been in the house for about 10 years and it was stained prior to us buying it. The color is a darker brown and I am not wanting it to be much darker. I have cleaned it and am now forced with the dilemma of going with a semi solid vs a solid stain. My overall goal is to make the whole house to blend together. After washing it, I have some spots that are lighter than others and I am thinking that anything other than a solid stain would be visible in those areas. Is my thinking correct? Also considering different brands of stain. I am not looking to get bargain pricing on stain, I'm looking for a great product that has a good track record. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

CA

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Read the posts about deck stains. I would think the same info would apply for staining a house.

[leechlake]

the deck thread is a start but mainly the issues shows there where due to a deck being horizontal and getting traffic on it, you're going to have a longer life with siding.

I hear you on wanting the semi vs solid. If I'm getting your drift I'd really test those spots that you're concerned about and see if you can get by with a semi transparent. You may need to do a fairly large section to get good visual on it working or not. I'd bet this isn't the way you want to go and neither would I. If it isn't right you're wasting money on a gallon of stain and you may have to power wash to remove.

Another thought is that the spots that didn't get as light where due to the grain of the wood really picking up the orginal stain so it was harder to remove and actually stayed in the wood. Potentially the next stain will not be absorbed as well in those areas because it has some stain under the surface. Kind of a roll of the dice which you don't want either.

Either way and hopefully you get some better suggestions, besides semi looking better (in your opinion and mine at least) it is way less prone to "peeling" down the road like solid.

Finally, I've seen homes and cabins that look great with the stain they were covered in and they make me jealous. I've never achieved what I've wanted perfectly. A little too light, way too reddish, I even stained our pretty good sized bunkhouse and I think it looks like baby [PoorWordUsage] yellowish/brown. Getting exactly what you want is tough but being patient and not giving in to mediocrity will help the battle.

[JeremyCampbell]

I paint and stain houses for a living.Your right,keep it a solid color stain.If you want to keep the same color then you take a sample of your stained house and have it computer matched .I USE WOODSCAPES solid color stain at Sherwin W.Usually it lasts around 8-10 yrs depending if there's heavy sun or what the tree and mold situation is on your lot.I would recommend you to hire a pro before you get yourself in a big head ache but if your confident then Good luck.

[CrappieAttitude]

Thanks for the responses guys. I have heard other good things about Woodscapes stain. My lot is a wooded lot that has 3 sides pretty shaded. I am hoping that I would get 6-8 years out of anything I put on. I am contracting it out, and don't really want to have to do it again in another few years. I am getting the stain myself and want to make sure I get the right stuff. Others have told me that I may need a primer as well. They are going to be doing two coats with whatever I choose, so would a primer be needed, or are there some stains that already have a primer in them.

CA

[JeremyCampbell]

Woodscap.. Is self primeing.You just need two coats of it.Ask your contractor how they are applying the stain.Make sure they are back brushing it weither there rolling it or spraying it.It needs to be backbrushed for a superior look and quality adhesion.If you got shade on three sides it's possible you can get 9-12 yrs out of those sides.The sunny side can be maintenance if needed around 5- 8 years depending on your lot and it's surroundings.