Cedar & Natural Wood Siding

Thirty years and well beyond is achievable, but only with a rain screen, six side sealing, good clearances, and a finish that gets renewed on schedule. Cedar nailed straight to sheathing and then left alone can start failing inside a decade here.

Stain shows the grain, wears by fading rather than peeling, and is far easier to renew because there is little to strip. Paint gives a crisper, more uniform look and lasts longer between coats, but when it fails it peels and the prep gets expensive. Most cedar we install gets a semitransparent stain.

Every three to five years on exposed elevations, longer on protected ones. Refinishing on time is a wash and a recoat. Waiting until the wall is grey and open is a strip and rebuild, which costs several times as much.

The material costs more, the install takes longer because of the sealing and the rain screen, and it carries a maintenance bill the other materials do not. It is the most expensive wall we hang over its life. People choose it anyway because of how it looks, which is a completely legitimate reason.

Often the smartest way to buy it. Cedar shingle gables over fiber cement or engineered wood lap gives you the character where it is visible and keeps the maintenance down to a small, reachable area.

It is a furring cavity that holds the siding off the weather barrier so air can move behind the boards and dry the back face. In this climate, on cedar, yes. It is the difference between a wall that dries out after every storm and one that stays damp all winter.