*
Does anyone have any tips on priming cedar shingles prior to installing? I have about 1200 decorative red cedar shingles that my contractor will be installing with the pre-primed regular cut ones. My local knowledgable hardware/paint guy sold me some Cabot primer and thinner so I can dip them. I do not have a lot of time, I don’t want to delay my contractor, any experience out there?
Many thanks, Rick M.
Replies
*
Hi Rick,
Last year I shingled my daughters house. I decided to dip every shingle but didn't know the easiest way to to it so I researched everywhere. I read of so many ways to dip shingles that were described as simple to do by the authors but when I thought about actually doing it in the ways that were suggested it didn't seem easy or practical at all.
Here's the way I did it: I bought five runs of plastic gutter at the HD and several plastic buckets.
The gutters are not expensive and you can buy them in lengths that are easy for you to work with. The buckets are the kind your great-grandmother probably did her wash in. You will also need two or more saw
horses or some other means of slanting the gutters into the buckets. Simply lay one end of the gutter
on a horse and the other end in the bucket. Then start your dip directly from the five gallon bucket you bought your dip in.
Of course the shingles must have a wall to lean against, so be sure to get some plastic sheets for
protection against drips,
At your leisure you can remove the first row of dipped shingles from the first gutter you have filled
and stack them for as ready to go for your contractor. You can also empty the drippings from the wash buckets back into the five gallon dip bucket
at your leisure.
We dipped a lot more shingles than the 1200 you have
to do and it was a breeze.
Bit of advice, make sure your contractor has a small
can of your preservatice/stain with him on the staging. Whenever he planes and fits a shingle, he should brush on the preservative/stain on the bare wood he has exposed.
Good luck! Let us know how you made out.
*Rick,Rick,I forgot to mention that you do need a good pair of long vinyl/rubber gloves. Long is better! Also, you can dip more than one shingle at a time. It's faster. And, be sure you dip the entire shingle!!!Jim
*Jim,I will be in the same boat as Rick in about 2-3 weeks. I was wondering if you were ever concerned with drips drying on the shingles and did you ever consider following the diping with brushing? I will be using a solid color stain (2 coats) and this has me a little concernedTim
*Rick,I dipped >24 square for our house.1. Dipped right into the 5 gal bucket (clear preservative)2. Gave shingle a quick swipe with a wide brush to wipe sloppy excess back into bucket.3. Laid shingles flat to dry on a "skeleton" of thin wood strips that were supported by sawhorses.Found that the side of the shingle supported by wood strips did have discolored spots, so put it up with this side to the wall. This turned out to be an effective, but slow process. About 1-1.5 hr / square.
*Rich, As has been described, you are out of luck if you don't have much time. So quit reading and get busy boy.
*One extra tip, hang the dipped shingles from a clothesline - works great
*Tim McGovern,I used Behr preservative for the priming. Had no problems drips congealing. Thhought about using a brush after we dipped but considered it too much work and it wasn't necessary anyway. If you have the gutters at a steep enough angle most of it runs down to the tubs. Try it you'll see.It's easy and inexpensive enough to try it with onebucket and one gutter. You will not lose anything and you might be pleasantly surprised.Good luck.