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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / exterior stain ideas?
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Cowracer
Member
# Posted: 5 Jan 2016 04:41pm - Edited by: Cowracer
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So with work winding down on the interior of my cabin, I am starting to think about staining the exterior in the spring. Honestly, I probably should have done it last year, but it's one of those things I just keep putting off. The wood siding has gotten a little manky looking.



I know that I will have to pressure-wash it to get rid of the streaky gray patina that is really apparent on the upper gable ends. The storage shed at my house has the same t1-11 siding as the cabin, but years older, and a good washing got it back to looking like new.

I'm looking for ideas on the best stain/preservative to spray on it after I get it clean. Thompson's used to be really good stuff years ago, but people have been complaining that the new stuff is not the same, or as good. I remember using CWP brand years ago, but I know little about its quality now.

Some of the pre-fab sheds I see for sale around here have a lovely honey-gold color to them.



I would love to know what product and color this is. If anyone knows, please share with me. Thanks!

Tim

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 5 Jan 2016 04:54pm
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Paint lasts longer than anything transparent, translucent or clear. Everything else needs more maintenance IMO and to me, performing maintenance is not what a recreational property is for.

bobrok
Member
# Posted: 5 Jan 2016 05:11pm
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Do they still make Cuprinol stain? That was absolutely the best, available in solid and semi-transparent.

Years ago there was some dust up over EPA and air quality and it was taken off the market in NYS, but I thought it was still available elsewhere.

Anyone know?

hueyjazz
Member
# Posted: 5 Jan 2016 08:17pm - Edited by: hueyjazz
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A lot of the issues with stains and oil based paints is most states now have taken the solvent aspect out of them. They kept the old names but have now reformulated them to be water based. In most cases it didn't improve the application or the performance of the material.

I disagree with the paint comment but I mean no disrespect MtnDon . Durability depends a lot on the wood you are applying it to. Paint on aged T1-11 is going to be rough to apply. A really through clean right down to the bottom of grooves, priming of the entire structure and then painting would be require. In time it will peel. Scraping T1-11 is going to be labor intensive.

I've seen good reviews of Cabot's Australian Timber Oil. I've yet to use it but its what I plan to use on my recent built Amish shed. It uses linseed and tung oil. You can find it on Amazon if not in your hardware

URL

Solvents are what they use to be in these newer products. Nice thing about stains and particularly oil based ones is they penetrate.

I see you want to spray. I've always achieved excellent results rolling with a thick nap roller followed by a brush to work it in.

Don_P
Member
# Posted: 5 Jan 2016 11:50pm - Edited by: Don_P
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Backbrushing does help. Generally by the time you see weathering you are trying to adhere to fibers that are already loose, not a good bond. They used to tell us to let the wood age a bit and open up to accept finishes, not so anymore, the best bond is to a freshly machined surface.

Paints hold up better than stains because the UV light doesn't penetrate through the finish. A stain is aging to the bone from day one. The clearer it is the worse this happens, dirt (pigment) shades it somewhat. That said, I prefer the way most stains fail gracefully. Penetration is more a sales term, take a piece of wood with any finish and cut a cookie off, take a picture and give us the name when you see one penetrate.

I've used Cabot's timber oil... now if I can remember where. Generally boiled linseed oil is a fair finish, when combined with some heavy metals it gets better, raw linseed oil is food for fungi and is gummy rather than hard so it turns black over time. Tung oil, I'd be surprised if there was more than a dropperful in each gallon. The synthetic resins are going to be the bulk of the solids. My personal feeling is that Thompsons has always been a scam. We used to put it on plywood subfloors to protect them, the only problem was we could see it sweeping off with the first rain, but it is worse now. CWF has resulted in many dissatisfied customers. Their Seasonite is a better Thompsons replacement. Sikkens looks good but is finicky, you must follow all instructions completely. It has also sickened too many friends and it fails ugly. And the same, no disrespect, just open a can of paint and the opinions flow. I've been through many and I'm still looking. Paint salesmen put used car salesmen to shame. The longest lasting, deepest penetrating finish I've ever applied was used motor oil mixed with diesel, but the runoff creates a superfund site and the building was covered in one heck of an accelerant... although linseed and tung rate right up there.

Ah, remembered where we used the Australian Timber Oil and I saw it again several months ago. We applied it to partially seasoned oak timbers on a porch, it is right about 5 years since application and it needs a sand and recoat, the wood is weathering considerably. On the protected faces it still looks fine. The rest of the exterior is cement siding and miratec trim, both painted and the paint has a lot of life in it yet, I saw no signs of it breaking down. Those are very stable paint friendly products though.

copperhead1971
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 08:27am
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I know some people have used new automatic transmission oil on decks , never tried it my self yet but once dry they were good.

Don_P
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 08:48am - Edited by: Don_P
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This is another one that has linseed, tung... and pine rosin in a citrus oil vehicle. It looks good, smells good but is another one that would look better if refreshed annually or so.
http://www.timbertools.com/Products/LandArkWoodFinishes.html

The old Viking and northern European black finishes on timbers were often pine rosin.

I didn't mean to suggest using auto oils for a finish, they are too hard on our water and soil and probably not good for us either.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 12:08pm
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Plywood as an exterior finish is problematic because as soon as you get any surface degradation you risk delamination. For that reason I avoid plywood exteriors, but they are the economical choice. I agree with the paint-it-well theory. I think equally important to careful prep is using the best primer they have in the store. You need to stabilize loose fibers and get the best adhesion possible for longevity of the finish. I use expensive primer and cheap top coat. It's easy for top coat to adhere to primer, but how well the primer adheres to the substrate is what determines how well it protects and how long it will last.

Or, use a high solid stain, but be prepared to use it every 3-4 years.

1tentman
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 01:06pm
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When I built my cabin I looked for a long time at stains and sealers and found a product in Texas its called Ready Seal. I bought it straight from the company, a year later i wanted some more called the company they told me at that time that Home Depot became a distributor for the product. Most of the stores dont stock it but you can order it from them.I recommend you check it out it is the best stain sealer Ive found and its basically fool proof. You can brush it on and have runs or drips and when it dries it looks perfect. They offer 7 different colors I used the Pecan and I love the looks

Cowracer
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 01:56pm
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thanks for all the replies. While paint may be the most practical alternative, I do not like the look of it. Maintenance is not that big of an issue. I mean... c'mon! It's 16x16 with a couple gambrel roof ends. It's not like it would take more than a couple hours to re-coat it every 2-3 years.

I know that whatever it is they put on the pre-fab sheds, it seems to work great. Mine is about 15 years old and just now getting to need a reshoot. My neighbors shed is 7 or 8 years old and looks just as good as the day they delivered it.

Tim

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 02:43pm
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Yeah if you don't mind the maintenance every few years or whatever. Make sure you stay on top of it cause once the plywood is damaged the only solution is replacement. Nice thing about solid wood siding is it can deteriorate a bit from exposure, still hold up, and looks kind of nice.

Cowracer
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 03:29pm
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I've been reading up on the Ready Seal that 1tentman spoke about. It looks like a winner. But man... they sure don't give that stuff away. LOL. Oh well, if I wanted cheap, I woulda just parked a pop-up camper on my lot.

Tim

1tentman
Member
# Posted: 6 Jan 2016 11:00pm
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Tim it is a little pricey but I think you will really like it. What I noticed is it really soaks into the wood. I have let it set in a pail for a month come back and it hasnt evaporated or set up. It needs about a hour after applied to set up before it gets wet or rained on. It will take 2 coats. I will try to get some pics as soon as I can get my wife to help me upload them, by the way my siding is oak and I cut on the sawmill and processed it thru the plainer and table saw. You might say its one of a kind

gsreimers
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 05:08pm
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For what it's worth, I sold paint for 22 years and have been a painting contractor for 8. When it came time to stain my cabin I went water based product. (woodscapes semi transparent stain from Sherwin Williams) Water based products aren't quite as warm looking as oil but seem to last longer.

gsreimers
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 05:10pm
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2 coats, sprayed and back brushed

gsreimers
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 05:25pm
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sorry, took a while to resize the photo
resized_cabin_photo..jpg
resized_cabin_photo..jpg


Steve_S
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 06:05pm
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@gsreimers, That is a really nice colour !

How long has that been out there in the weather ?

Have you noticed differences between the sunny & shady sides as to colour and finish ?

gsreimers
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 06:30pm
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Steve,

unfortunately, I can't give you a good report yet on life as we just did it this spring. Solid color products last longer than Semi transparent. Solids will eventually peel whereas semis kind of just fade away. If I can get 5 years before I have to wash and recoat, I'll be happy with it.

I do have an advantage though. When it comes time to restain, I have a group of employees that will help me with it.

Gary O
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 07:54pm
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Gsreimers
right on, on all points, IMO.

I went with the semi-transparent stain sealer.
Liked the way the wood sucked it up.
Been ten years. Still looks good.
Dry climate here, so that prolly has some bearing.

Only thing I have against paint or anything that peels, is,
it peels.
I'll take fade any day.
Matter of fact, I like fade or 'weather'.
It's warm to me.

But

That's just me.

Bevis
Member
# Posted: 7 Jan 2016 09:45pm
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Tractor supply black fence paint. Cut 50/50 with water, put it in a sprayer then have at it...Back roll it too.

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