O.K., So I’m brand new to this gathering of wit and wisdom; but here’s my problem(s): I have Cedar facia and window trim on my home thats about 9 years old and I have washed it twice and used CWF with a Cedar tint and I’m wondering if there is other products that any of you have used with success. The cedar looks dried out and cracked and I also have a problem of large bees boring into the wood to make comfortable summer homes.
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As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
I take it all the boring goes on the south side of the house?
If you are wanting to keep the clean cedar look some folks recommend coating with a borate solution.
Sometimes a sacrificial uncoated board left in the area will draw them instead of to the coated trim boards and you can then more easily deal with them.
For some reading on the subject you can scroll up in the upper left corner of your screen where there is an advanced search function that will take you to a page of instructions directing you to previous threads dealing with whatever you type in the search bar.
If you type in 'bees', 'carpenter bees', or other keywords of the subject matter you'll get a supply of data from those old threads.
Cheers
Where is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
-Thoreau's Walden
Edited 6/20/2007 8:14 pm ET by rez
Thanks for your thoughts Rez, the bees are enjoying the north and east sides as well, which is understandable since the views are better. I'll check out the other threads and see if I can figure out how to relocate the little critters.
Those are carpenter bees. Dust their holes with an insecticide dust and plug 'em with caulk.The bee's move.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
- Psalms 109:30-31
that CWF should be a pretty nice product esp for use on areas besides say flooring / decking
it is kind of a "homeowners" rendition of other products Flood ( the makers ) offers
washable w/ water is a huge bonus for marketing
my anal compulsion would be to buy their oil base product in clear & cedar stains - do two coats leading w/ the clear then you will not get too much colorant in that 2nd coat of cedar stain
That seems like a reasonable approach; I too suffer from the compulsion to do things better than best. I've not had any problems with the CWF and all cedar products require re-application every few years; I hoped that there were new products and procedures that were superior. Thanks for your input.
You can't keep cedar or redwood "natural", except maybe in the arid southwest -- it's better to stain it with a good quality semi-transparent stain. This might (or might not) help with the bees.
I beg to differ with you on the 'can't'.
An oiled redwood siding will hold well with applications every several years in a northeast environment.
Where is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
-Thoreau's Walden
Edited 6/20/2007 9:36 pm ET by rez
I'm in the north mid-west and the cedar is holding up o.k., amd I'm alright with the every couple years approach to maintenance, if I'm dealing with a quality product. Any thoughts on oils?
If they're doing the other sides as well I'm thinking yer in some deep doo-doo.
While back I replaced 2x6 redwood trim on a cedarshake house with cedar trim and cut up the redwood
to find that with only a few holes per board, each board was filled with many tunnels up and down the whole length of the boards
enough that one was amazed at the lightness of the lumber. After intensive insect spraying they left the cedar replacement alone and went somewhere else.
Hope some others here will be able to recommend an oil as what I had been using which was a linseed oil compound with UV inhibitor /antifungal agents added has been reformulated to some type of waterbased product which I won't use again.
Depending on what your definition of 'natural' is involving the siding. The oil will darken the wood somewhat even without a pigmented stain but will keep the accents of the woodgrain.
Where is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
-Thoreau's Walden
Edited 6/20/2007 11:22 pm ET by rez
You won't preserve the "natural" look.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
okWhere is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself.
-Thoreau's Walden
"I also have a problem of large bees boring into the wood to make comfortable summer homes."
Good luck with that! I recently replaced a bunch of facia on my southern exposure that was loaded with years worth of carpenter bee tunnels. Uncanny how round and neat those holes are -- those bees must use some nice drills. Have to get me one of those. ;-)
I figgerd I'd outsmart the buggers by using Azek. But last weekend when I was painting the stuff I'd put up last fall, I noticed that they've been at it again. A bunch of 3/8" holes -- only about 1/16" deep, but they're tryin'!
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA