The finish on my original red cedar shingle siding has failed nearly 100% on 3 of the 4 sides (house was built in 1972 and is located in eastern Massachusetts). My options are to either strip and refinish the siding, which will cost between $16,000 and $19,000, or reshingle. On the reshinglinging front I’ve been considering factory stained Maibec white cedar shingles. They carry a 7 year warranty and the cost is approximately $23,000-$26,000 installed.
I’ve spoken with at least 9 or 10 professionals (coating company technical reps, painting contractors, GC’s and even a forest product scientist), and most of them tell me that stripping and refinishing is the way to go. One of the best GC’s in my area told me that I wouldn’t be compromising at all if I decided to strip and refinish vs. have him reshingle. My concern is that if I spend the money on stripping and refinishing I might experience another finish failure down the road, their assurances aside. Semi-transparent stain looks awful on my red cedar shingles, so I’d have to go the semi-solid or solid stain route. However, I’m told by some experts that the shingles available today aren’t as high quality as those that I currently have (even though there is substantial cupping on many of them). Moisture readings fall within normal ranges.
The stripping and refinishing process would be as follows:
• Mechanically Strip Front And Sides Of House
• Prep And Sand All Surfaces
• Spot Prime All Knots And Stains With B.I.N Shellac Base Primer
• Apply One Coat Of Oil Base Primer to Bare wood (California Troubleshooter)
• Finish All Sides With 2 Coats Of 100% Acrylic Sikkens Rubbol
If I go the reshingling route I have a few concerns about the Maibec shingles. I read on a contracting forum that some contractors and homeowners have experienced substantial movement, cupping and curling on newly installed factory-stained Maibecs, especially on sides that receive significant sun exposure, even with a 4 1/2″ or 5″ exposure (3 of the 4 sides of my house are exposed to strong sun). A forest product scientist advises me to reshingle with white pine shingles if I do reshingle, but I’m not sure such a product is even readily available or what the benefits and drawbacks may be vs. white or red cedar. The scientist also told me that any factory stained shingles should first be treated with a stain-blocking primer, and I don’t think any are (including the Maibecs). He also told me that the thicker and lighter colored the shingles the better.
My questions are:
1. Given what I’ve described, what route would you go and why?
2. What would give me a longer finish with a lower risk of finish failure: stripping and refinishing as described above or reshingling with factory stained shingles?
3. If I do reshingle, what are the highest-quality shingles available (and are they eastern white, western red or white pine)?
4. Any other feedback would be GREATLY appreciated. This is far more confusing than I ever thought possible and I don’t want to make an incredibly expensive mistake whichever route I go.
Thanks.
Replies
You're leaving one factor out of your price equations: fire insurance. Considering how wood shingles burn so well, you might realize savings if you replace the cedar with a fiber-cement look-alike.
Insurance premiums
Renosteinke,
That's a good point, but I checked with my insurance company. They said that there would be no premium difference if I used concrete fiber siding vs. cedar shingles because it's still a wood frame structure. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. Even if it was a stone or brick facade, I'd still only be saving $50-$75 a year or so (vs. the $8k more it would cost to have HardiPlank installed vs. new cedar shingles).
Thanks for the feedback.
Stop talking to the "scientist" and others, they are just confusing you. If they are such experts, ask them to take you to a job like yours that they did recently, then you'll see how expert they are. There is no difference between a #1 blue label red cedar shingle today than the ones in 1972, same with other grades. White pine shingles? never seen them, clapboards, yes, shingles no. No exterior finish is going to last more than 5-8 yrs. factory dipped or not. You don't sand shingles.
Take some pictures and contact this company. We can't make a meaningful recommendation without seeing the existing circumstances. In the majority of cases, a wash or strip and recoat is all you should need.
http://www.opwdecks.com/
refinishing shingles
Very well said. Subject closed.
Ha?
The subject is not yet closed. I'll defintely contact you folks with some pics as you recommend to see what you advise, but bear in mind that the technical representative from AkzoNobel (manufacturer of Sikkens) recommedns that 3 of the 4 sides be mechanically stripped to bare wood because the existing coatings have failed all the way down to the original finish. If I just do a conventional powerwash/scrape/sand/prime/finish job without removing the existing coatings then he assures me that I'll be looking at another finish failure. He has seen the job and has conducted moisture readings.