Exterior Stain or Paint
Exterior stain or paint – I am asked this almost weekly which one is the right one to apply to your house siding. It really depends on which type of siding you have.
[ Click in the middle of the video photo below to play Mark’s video he made for you. He explains which siding needs which product. Enjoy. ]
Cedar Siding
If you have a rough sawn cedar-sided home, I generally recommend a solid or semi-transparent stain. Why I recommend these stains is due to the ability to penetrate better into the wood.
Aluminum Siding, Vinyl Siding, PVC
For a paint application, this would be for hard surfaces such as aluminum siding, vinyl siding, or a PVC product such as the columns in front of your home or back decking area. For these, we generally recommend painting as opposed to staining the surfaces, Paints generally have a much thicker coating than stains. This will give you a longer life and maintenance schedule as opposed to a solid acrylic stain.
Exterior Stain or Paint – Older Homes with Wood Siding
Now when I look at a smooth cedar such as douglas fir or redwood sided homes, which in most cases are older homes, I have found that most of them were primed with an oil-based primer and then top-coated with an oil or latex paint. So we recommend that you follow suit anytime you have peeling issues. With the smooth wood finish, you use a primer plus a paint application. Rough sawn cedar homes that were originally painted, have a greater tendency to peel because of improper preparation prior to the application of paint.
Thanks again for joining us. Send in your Burning Questions and I will put them out.
Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on getting your home’s exterior stained or painted, give me a call. My team and I have been serving the St. Charles, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield, Geneva, Batavia, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.
