I’ve got about 75% of my house covered in new #1 16″ red cedar shingles. I’ve been working on it about three months a bit more than half time (yes… painfully slow with woven corners and lots of windows and trim to work around). A couple of things have come up. One is a significant change that we’ve decided to make to one wall… move a door, change two windows into one, change another window into a door, all of this requiring a new permit (30 days). The other is paying work that I can’t put off much longer unless I want to lose it entirely.
There’s really no good place to stop. Since I’m not using cornerboards I can’t just leave the east wall undone and paint everything else… I’ve got to either turn the corners onto that wall or not. I could paint most of three walls and try to blend back in later when I get the fourth done. Bottom line is that I’m uncomfortable leaving these shingles out there in the sun every day with no paint, but I’m not sure how long is too long. Who’s the expert in here?
Replies
I'd turn the corners.
Then buy enough paint for the entire house plus a little extra.
Box the paint( mix all of the paint in one container) ,paint the three walls.
When you finish and paint the final wall your cut line will be the edge
any slight variation in shading will be at 90* and not likly noticable.
I was reading about that topic on the US Forest Service website a few months ago. I don't remember where it was because I linked to it from somewhere else. But, it did state that only 2 or 3 weeks of exposure to weather before paint is applied is enough to shorten the life of the paint job by an amount that is significant enough to be measureable. Their recommendation was to paint within this time, or to sand wood to a fresh surface (which only requires light sanding) just prior to painting.
Primers can only weather for a short time, typically 30 days, before weather and sunlight degrade them.
So, I'd recommend priming and putting on at least one top coat on all exposed wood within 2 weeks of hanging the shingles. Then, when the whole job is done, apply the second topcoat all over.
Thanks for the replies. The shingles were bought fairly wet and installed that way... no way to paint them within two weeks. There are KD shingles but these aren't those. Now they seem to be fairly dry, although I should probably find a moisture meter and throw it on there.
Go the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association web-site, http://www.wrcla.org on which you will find a finishing guide. I'll warn you that you will be unhappy when you read that they recommend all-surface priming before installation. We're in the midst of a cedar siding project, around 25 square going up, pre-dipped the whole sheebang in Cabot Clear Solution 3000 Natural. took over 30 gallons by dipping the shingles and hanging them on clothes lines to dry. But they look fabulous up.
I don't think it could have been done with these shingles, as I said they were soaking wet when applied, which is basically how it's done here. I guess I'll get the painter over here to get started... see how it goes.
Just an old preference, but are you painting or staining? I would always try to stain, if its new wood it's a much better option in the long run
Amen! to using an acrylic latex solid colour stain. It will breathe enough to let them dry. Every painted shingle wall I have seen had accelerated rot in the shingles behind oil paint because the water was trapped.
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Don't dismiss the warning to prime all surfaces before installing. I have seen countless houses peeling paint after only a couple of years. Not back priming is always the culprit.
or painting instead of staining . . .