I am about to start staining cedar shingles which will be used for siding. I’d like to dip them to be sure the back and sides are all completely coated and protected before installation.
Can anyone clue me in on techniques which will work for doing this? What kind of container to dip in? How to dry them? Hang them? How?
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Replies
sally , if it's not too late... i'd get them from the factory pre-dipped..
if it is too late.. a five gallon bucket with about 3 - 4 gallons of stain in it ..hold the shingle by the tip.. dip & flip onto a blue tarp.. after you have about a square... flip them onto a 2d tarp and drain the first tarp back into your bucket..
then flip another square onto the first tarp .. and flip the 2d tarp shingles onto a third tarp... when they start to look dry you can start putting them into boxes..
some people also flip them onto a chicken wire frame or a netting frame for the final drying..
this is a lot of work.. and it is always cheaper to have the factory do it unless you value your time at zero
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
build a string shelf or shelves in your garage I've run nylon strings 12' long 8"s apart front to back and every 10"s in hight like a book shelf if you have enogh room you can do about 3-4 squares at a time
dunk, brush off eccess into the busket, lay on strings and let dry over night
wear a resporator it takes a while and we don't need you getting sick.
good luck the result is worth the pain of doing it
nothing easy is ever worth doing!!!!!!!!!
b
last time I seen this done , the painter first dipped them in the stain, then put those in five gallon pail, while those were draining he picked up more and dipped those, and put those in another pail, then took out the first set and.....tossed them in a pile..., now he had an empty pail for more shingles, so on and so forth, when he had four loose piles in a room, he went on to something else, next day, the piles were stacked up, started routine again. Every now and then he drained the stain that collected in the pails back in the stain container. A little eventually dripped down to the floor below from the piles.
listening for the secret.......searching for the sound...
You REALLY should ave asked before buying them.
Everybody I've ever seen doing this had that haunted look in their eyes that said, "IF I ever get this finished, I swear to the mighty cedar that I'll NEVER try doing it again!"
Excellence is its own reward!
Had a long length of gutter and a 5-gallon drywall bucket filled with stain. Gutter was pitched to another empty drywall bucket. Dipped, set them in the gutter alternately leaning this way and that. Excess dripped off and ran down the gutter into the empty bucket.
When the gutter was full they were flipped on to chicken wire that was laid over a tarp.
When I built my house, I was going to order pre-primed cedar claps. Cash was tight, so my wife volunteered...actually insisted...that she prime them. Six days to do 5500 linear feet of 6" claps. When she was done, she even started applying the first coat of stain.
"Put down the brush, honey, and step back from the sawhorse."
Truly the sign of a quality gal...<g>
Sally,
Build a box like so,
Approx 4'x8'
1x10 #3 or #4 (cheap stuff) for sides
Chicken wire for bottom.
loosely cover bottom with 6 mil poly.
Add legs so 5gallon bucket will fit under drooping poly.
Dip shingles in one 5 gal. bucket of stain and lean them against sides of box.
after you get a bunch of shingles in the "rack", excess stain will pool in the center of the poly.
Place a second bucket under the low spot of the ploy and punch a hole so stain flows/drips into bucket.
when bucket #2 becomes full or #1 gets empty switch them or use a third bucket to transfer drippins back to bucket #1.
When the rack gets full, Fling the "dripped" shingles onto a sheet of poly to further dry.
DO NOT stack them or they will stick together.
If you are using an oilbase stain add some Japan dryer to help speed up drying.
after the flung shingles have dried for a day or so you can put them in boxes to make it easier to carry them up the staging for installation.
Any shingles that are two wide to dip in a bucket should be sawn anyway as they are more prone to split after installation tha narrower ones.
Hope this helps
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
I have 19 squares to pre stain this winter for spring use. I was told my my supplier to use a long clothsline or two and dip, brush off the excess and hang to dry.
I am going to try this method but I'm not looking forward to it. Pre stained were $ 420 a square compared to $240 unstained. My time is worth $0 so I'll be ahead and just slightly crazier.
Roy
>> My time is worth $0 ...
That's hard to believe. Do you walk everywhere you go because it's cheaper than driving? Make your own bread, clothes, shoes? Heat your house with scrap lumber scrounged from building sites? Dig in garbage cans for food?
The question is not what your time is worth, but what you would rather do with your time. With all winter to get it done, I'll bet you can think of something you could net $180 on and enjoy more than dipping 19 squares of shingles.
Look at it this way...he's going to pay himself $3500 this winter to not sit on the sofa and watch TV.
Instead, he can stand in front of a dipping tank and watch TV.
Plus, think of the stories he'll be able to tell.
Dip on, Rupert!
Oops! I missed the "per square". Dipping shingles might indeed be the most enjoyable way to save that much money.
The "deal" is my wife is the dipper..........we'll see. I just started putting my windows in tonight so I have plenty to do and to save $ on this winter.
R.R.
Finishing shingles
Sorry all but I spray finish everything, I have shop for that. A solid pigmented stain and an airless sprayer. No dipping for this guy.