Cedar Siding Maintenance: How Often You Should Clean, Paint, and Replace Your Siding

If you’re looking to give your home some warmth and rustic charm, cedar siding, also called cedar shakes, can make your house stand out on the block. Maintaining cedar siding requires treating it correctly throughout its lifetime, otherwise it could discolor, soften, or decay and rot.

Here’s what to know about cedar siding cleaning and maintenance, including how and when you should treat it—and when it’s time to repair or replace it.

How to Maintain Cedar Siding

Properly maintaining your cedar siding is one way to drive down the overall cost of cedar siding, as you won’t have to replace it as often. However, all this maintenance requires a lot of work. If you are comparing wood siding pros and cons, one of the biggest drawbacks is the requirement for regular maintenance. 

With cedar siding, maintenance requires processes like nailing down any loose boards, filling in cracks and holes with putty or caulk, and cleaning the siding to remove mold and mildew.

Because these maintenance tasks involve climbing up and down a ladder and closely inspecting the condition of the siding, many people choose to hire a siding professional to do the work. 

Regularly Inspect It for Damage (and Repair the Damage)

Cedar siding maintenance starts with inspecting it every six months for damage. Of course, if you want to give it a close look more often, that’s perfectly fine. Some of the most common types of damage, and the cedar wood siding repair steps you should take, include:

• Cracking: UV rays can damage cedar shake through expansion and contraction that leads to cracking. Fill cracks with wood putty or clear silicone caulk.

• Warping: If cedar shake gets a lot of moisture exposure, warping could curl the siding or pop out the nails. Severely warped boards will need replacing.

• Rotting: Sometimes, moisture finds its way behind the siding, causing rot and decay that you may not be able to see from the ground. Fix the cause of the moisture and replace any rotted boards.

• Mold: If mold and mildew begin appearing on the cedar shake boards, this is a sign of excess moisture that could lead to rot. Cleaning the siding can remove mold and mildew.

If you don’t feel comfortable climbing a ladder to inspect and repair your cedar siding for maintenance purposes, contact a local siding company for help and a cost estimate.

Keep Away Pests

If you have damage or constant moisture with your cedar siding, pests will find the area hospitable. Regular inspections that catch potential problems early represent the best way to keep pests away from your siding. Some specific pests that frequently try to invade cedar siding include:

• Termites: Keep an eye out for the signs of termites, like mud tubes or discarded wings. If you suspect termites are eating your cedar, reach out to an exterminator immediately.

• Ants: Ants, specifically carpenter ants, can do damage similar to termites, but not as fast. Using protective treatments, such as cedar oil, can help to repel insects like these.

• Woodpeckers: If you notice birds, primarily woodpeckers, are tapping on your cedar siding, this is a sign that you may have insects. Holes that woodpeckers make can allow moisture to penetrate the cedar shakes, possibly leading to rot.

Clean Your Cedar Siding

Cleaning cedar siding is important to refresh its look and to lengthen its lifespan. Cleaning the siding once or twice a year removes mold and mildew growth that can lead to rot. 

The cleaning process also helps you spot areas where repairs and maintenance are necessary. Cracked cedar shake may look normal when covered in mold and mildew. The cracks become clearly visible after cleaning, though.

When selecting a cleaning solution, make sure it is safe to use with cedar siding. An oxygen bleach solution often works well by removing stains while protecting the wood. Some cleaning solutions include a mold and mildew killer, which you may need, depending on the condition of the siding. 

Power Washing vs. Manual Scrubbing

Some people prefer to clean it manually by spraying a cleaning solution onto the cedar, scrubbing the wood, and rinsing away any residue with a garden hose sprayer. You can add a sealer after the cedar dries in two to four days.

Using a power washer is possible for applying the cleaning solution without needing to scrub, as long as you use a low PSI setting. You can rinse with the power washer, too. Strong jets of water could knock individual boards loose or could force water behind the boards, though, leading to rot. 

To do this safely with a power washer, you may want to hire a local professional pressure washing contractor. The pro has the proper tools and the experience needed to do the job without harming your siding.

Clean Your Gutters

When you have natural cedar siding, a maintenance step you need to follow is keeping your gutters clean. 

If gutters have debris in them, it could cause water to spill over the top of the gutter, introducing excess moisture to the wood siding and increasing the risk of wood rot.

Additionally, dirt and debris in the gutter can cause standing water, which draws insects and birds. These insects may eventually damage your cedar siding, or birds may damage the siding trying to eat the insects.

Treat Your Cedar Siding

There are a few options for treating and protecting cedar siding, such as painting, staining, charring, or clear treatments—you can even use a combo of these. The cost of treating your cedar shakes will be about $1 to $4.50 per square foot. For an exact quote, contact a siding repair company near you.

Treat cedar siding as soon as you install it. For already-existing cedar shake, clean it before treating it. 

When treating cedar, you may have temperature restrictions during the application period. You also may need to wait for a time when rain is not in the forecast. Follow the instructions on the treatment product you select, including any listed restrictions.

Paint

Using typical exterior house paint on your cedar shake allows you to create a look that matches your home’s design and style. Paint is one of the longest-lasting treatment options for cedar siding.

Stain

Stain is a common choice for those who want to show off the natural wood color of the cedar. Different shades of stain are available, giving you multiple options. 

Shou Sugi Ban

Another option with cedar shake is charring the wood through shou sugi ban, which is a Japanese art form that chars the outside of cedar leaving a distinct dark color. 

Charring the cedar turns it a dark gray or black color, while preserving it. This gives you a unique look versus staining or painting. However, it is a challenging process to do safely and correctly, so calling a professional siding contractor for help is the best choice. 

Clear Seal

Simply adding a clear seal product to the cedar is another way to let the natural wood color show through with the cedar, including the wood grain and texture. Clear seal does need reapplication more often than paint or stain.

You can place a clear seal over your painted, charred, or stained cedar shake to improve weather resistance of these treatment options.

Performing Cedar Siding Maintenance and Repairs Yourself vs. Hiring a Pro

Though you can perform some maintenance on your own, calling in a local professional to help you install, clean, and treat your cedar siding will give you the best results. In fact, if you hire a contractor with experience in all things cedar siding and cedar shake roofing, they can recommend when it should be refinished and replaced.

A pro can also uncover any potential siding repair costs you may have, which are important to address early on to avoid more expensive repairs in the future.