Red cedar wood is one of the most widely used species for the construction of wooden cladding. In fact, this wood has both technical and aesthetic characteristics that we are going to present to you. Also, you will see the usefulness of the protection of a wooden cladding. Finally, we will talk about the most common protection products for red cedar cladding : saturators, stains, paints. Finally, we will look at how to maintain red cedar siding.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RED CEDAR WOOD ?
Red cedar is a resinous wood species. Sometimes referred to as western red cedar, red cedar comes from North America. It is a wood that is naturally resistant to fungi and insects.
This wood is very light (density less than 0.4), so red cedar is frequently used outdoors for the construction of wooden cladding.
From an aesthetic point of view, red cedar is characterised by a colour ranging from beige to red brown. It has variations in colour between the siding boards, which gives the wood a certain originality. In fact, no two red cedar constructions are identical.
WHY MAINTAIN RED CEDAR SIDING ?
As red cedar cladding is exposed to the outside, it is subject to harsh tests: UV, humidity, pollution. Over time, red cedar cladding undergoes ageing due to these natural elements. The aged red cedar then takes on a grey, dull colour.
The ageing of red cedar cladding is essentially an aesthetic problem. Despite this grey colour, your wood is not altered. Its technical characteristics remain intact.
If you decide not to maintain your red cedar siding, you will need to clean it with water once a year on average.
If you wish to preserve the natural colour of the wood, it is advisable to maintain red cedar cladding.
In addition to preserving the natural colour of your wood, the maintenance of red cedar siding helps to protect the wood. Indeed, a bare siding can easily crack and be damaged. The purpose of red cedar maintenance is to nourish the wood to prevent it from being damaged.
WHICH PRODUCT TO USE TO MAINTAIN RED CEDAR SIDING ?
SATURATORS, STAINS OR PAINTS TO PROTECT A RED CEDAR CLADDING ?
There are various products to maintain red cedar siding: stains, paints, saturators...
Red cedar stain creates a film on the surface of the wood and makes the siding waterproof. They are film-forming products. It is partly for this reason that we do not recommend them to protect wooden cladding. The use of stain will make it more difficult to maintain the siding, as the red cedar siding will have to be sanded every time you wish to maintain it. If your siding is large enough, this sanding work can quickly take quite a long time.
Paints are sometimes used to maintain a wooden construction. In general, these products are quite opaque and cause the wood to lose its natural appearance. This is advisable if you want a modern look and are not looking for the authentic look of red cedar siding.
To protect a red cedar siding, we recommend using a red cedar saturator such as the Siding Saturator SB600. Saturators are easy to use products that are applied in layers and are very easy to maintain. After applying the saturator to red cedar siding, as soon as you find that your siding becomes dull, simply apply a new coat of the product. There is no sanding required for maintenance compared to stain.
THE SATURATOR TO PROTECT A RED CEDAR SIDING
The saturator is a product that penetrates into your wood and nourishes it. When it comes to maintenance and not renovation, one coat is sufficient.
The interview will not be very complicated. On average, we see an application every 2 to 5 years for vertical surfaces. These times are given as an indication. It all depends on your requirements and the colour you wish to give to your cladding. If you want your siding to look like new, the application of a red cedar siding saturator may be more frequent.
If your red cedar siding is heavily exposed to the sun, you can enhance UV protection by applying an anti-UV primer before the red cedar saturator. We recommend, for example, Anti-UV Wood Primer PUV400, which is suitable for use in combination with colourless siding saturators. Tinted siding saturators contain pigments that provide UV protection that pigment-free colourless siding saturators do not. It is therefore important to enhance UV protection with Anti-UV Wood Primer PUV400.
Finally, we always advise you to choose water-based products to protect red cedar siding. This means that the products do not release toxic substances when applied. This is therefore an important point to take into account to protect your health but also the environment.
HOW TO RENOVATE A RED CEDAR SIDING ?
You have not maintained your red cedar siding for several years. You find your siding grey or even blackened, it is not too late. It is possible to renovate red cedar siding.
If your red cedar siding is blackened or dirty, you need to clean it. The blackening of a siding is manifested by traces or black dots that go away when you scratch your nails. These black dots can be similar to mould. To remove them, we recommend Wood Cleaner N100 or its concentrated version, the Concentrated Wood Cleaner N140.
If your red cedar siding is just grey, this is a change in the original colour due to the natural elements. In this case, there are no black marks or black spots. To remove this grey veil, we recommend the Wood Degreaser DG105. The degreaser on red cedar cladding is fairly easy to apply. You can use a sprayer, spalter or roller for application. Then you have to leave it on for 20-30 minutes without letting it dry and rinse it off with plenty of water.
Then in both cases (grey or blackened red cedar siding), the protection of western red cedar requires the application of a siding saturator.
