Three Mistakes Inexperienced Painters Make when Staining Cedar

Cedar siding is something that provides an outstanding look and feels to any house. However, as with any other wood surface, you must take some precautions to protect the cedar siding and make it look bright and attractive forever.

Staining cedar is one of the most useful ways to protect it from unwanted perils. You should begin staining cedar as soon as you see moistureStaining Cedar being absorbed into the siding. While the basic rules of staining are rather simple, cedar staining is a project that presents many potential mistakes. These types of mistakes are basically made by the inexperienced painters. Depending on the particular situation, these mistakes can be annoying and even hazardous for the life of cedar siding. Mentioned below are the three most common cedar staining mistakes made by inexperienced painters when tackling this kind of project.

Using Too Much Pressure in Pressure Washing:

Surface preparation is a key element to get the success of any paint project and you need to pressure wash the cedar deck before applying a stain. However, when choosing a pressure washing, the painter should focus on how much water pressure the system will put out. One of the common mistakes made by inexperienced painters is that they put too much water pressure when washing the cedar siding. They pressure wash the siding with high-pressure trapping moisture in the substrate. The golden rule is to apply the cleaning solution and rinse the surface gently.

Leaving Lap Marks:

When applying stain you need to keep a wet edge when working with the material. This is because stain doesn’t just instantly go from a liquid to a solid and when it’s exposed to the air, it slowly starts to dry. Therefore, if you take a break in the middle of a board, that board will dry and when you continue staining you will see a darker area, which is known as a lap mark. This is a mistake that you frequently see with inexperienced painters.

Caulking Inappropriately:

Another mistake is to caulk areas that don’t need caulking. Caulking around windows or doors is usually a good idea. However, caulking the joints between the cedar boards stop the cedar from breathing and helps to retain moisture in the wood. Also, the joints in the natural cedar siding boards are designed to expand and contract with natural elements. If you caulk the area, this will prevent their natural movement. This is the reason most experts do not recommend caulking joints on cedar siding.

Scroll to Top