DIY cedar maintenance: How hard can it be?

 

A must-read for cedar homeowners

Cedar clad homes are relatively common around Bream Bay, especially on the coast. They have a beautiful look and blend in with the environment like nothing else.

The challenge for cedar homeowners, although they may not realise it, is that the sun dries out the cladding, which can quickly lead to damage – cracking, cupping or in extreme cases splitting the timber.

Just like our skin, the cedar needs protection; it’s own sunblock so to speak.

“The days of ‘Mate just let it silver off’ are gone,” says TimberTECH GM Rolf Petersen. “It was bad information. Cedar is a low maintenance timber not a no-maintenance timber.”

“Cedar is thirsty at this time of year. It’s often super dry and crying out for maintenance, but it’s really not a quick DIY job. The truth is it’s a technical process that is easy to get wrong and very expensive to correct. I have dealt with my fair share of distraught DIYers over the last 20 years.”

Other common mistakes mentioned by Rolf were putting off maintenance for as long as possible (Rolf likens that to trying to go as long in the sun without sunblock as possible. Once you realise you’re burnt, the damage has been done); and another common mistake is some cedar homeowners cannot distinguish between stain and oil. 

“Oiling prolongs the good looks and weather resistance of your cedar by penetrating deeply through the cedar’s open cellular structure, replacing the natural oils lost over time,” says Rolf. “Traditional stain on the other hand sits on top of the timber and acts as a barrier to the elements without replacing the lost oils.”

So both oiling and staining are effective, yet work very differently.

At the end of the day here’s the take away from all this. Call the professionals in to assess your cedar home. The guys at TimberTECH are a good place to start. Some things are better left to the experts.