Clean Cedar Siding Before Staining

Though it may be more time consuming always clean your cedar siding by hand.

Clean cedar siding before staining.

Department of agriculture s forest services laboratory recommends cleaning cedar shingles with an oxidizing bleach as opposed to a household bleach to avoid damaging the wood. Do not attempt to power wash your cedar siding. Cedar siding after mold removal cleaning and brightening. After you have washed it wait for it to dry before applying any stain to the cedar.

Before staining replace rotting or decayed wood and remove loose stain and eroded wood fibers by sanding scraping or power washing the problem surfaces. While you can use household bleach to kill mold and algae it tends to make the cedar shingle s surface fuzzy because of the excessive pulping reaction when using it. Prepare your cedar siding by washing it with soapy water to remove any dirt or dust if any has accumulated. In the past he had used oil based wood stain products but found the mold and mildew returning within a few years each time.

Only difference between cleaning new and old wood is new wood does not require much cleaning as old discolored wood sometimes does. Power washing can damage the wood and bleach can damage a power washer. Now the cleaned and brightened cedar wood siding is ready to stain. Staining the restored cedar siding.

Dealing with surface contaminants once the surface is in good condition re inspect for dirt mildew stains cedar bleed chalkiness and other foreign substances. Use a thick brush when staining. Cedar shingles can also grow moss and algae or develop iron staining which requires periodic cleaning.