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Exterior Sealant for Redwood Siding

1120 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by splintergroup, Mar 8, 2016

jefflz

Discussion Starter · Mar 7, 2016 (Edited by Moderator)

Our house has had all new growth redwood siding for about 5 years . We have been trying to keep the natural color of the beautiful new wood with a clear sealant - no stain to distort the wood color. What products cod fill this requirement?

Most of what I find has some degree of stain that we don't want.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Jeff

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bondogaposis

· #2 · Mar 7, 2016

What products cod fill this requirement?

None that I know off, UV is very harmful to wood the more pigment the less UV. There are some marine varnishes that besides being extremely expensive for a whole house would fail eventually and then need to be stripped.

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ddockstader

· #3 · Mar 7, 2016 (Edited by Moderator)

The best way to insure the redwood retains its natural color is to put a large opaque tent over the entire house, making sure that no UV rays ever strike the redwood, even bouncing off nearby shiny surfaces. Otherwise you are out of luck. Even marine varnishes with UV inhibitors only inhibit the deterioration of the wood. They don't stop it. And they have to be renewed every few years.

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JBrow

· #4 · Mar 7, 2016

jefflz,

Redwood is a beautiful wood and I applaud your desire to keep it natural. Unfortunately, it is a lot of work. A close friend built a home in the 1980 and covered it with cedar. He has kept it natural over the years. About every three years he applied a maintenance coat of clear finish. The home still looks very good and it is a standout in his neighborhood. However, it has gotten considerably darker with age. I am not sure anything that can be practically done to stop this natural darkening process.

My friend uses a product called Sikkens. For siding, application of several different products in their line is required initially. After the initial coatings, a single maintenance coat is needed every few years. From my understanding, there is very little, if any, prep work before application of the maintenance coating, other than washing the surface. If a sealant has been applied to your redwood, I suspect it would have to be removed before beginning the Sikkens application.

Since I am providing second hand info, I recommend contacting a Sikkens dealer. The dealer I have dealt with seems very knowledgeable of the Sikkens product line. They are "Twin Creek Log Home Supply"

http://www.twincreeksloghomes.com/exterior-stains.html

Good luck!

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Finn

· #5 · Mar 7, 2016

Use a Latex Paint from your paint store and have them sell it to you with no color added. It goes on white and dries clear and has UV protection like colored paint does. Get the paint with the highest UV protection. #5 I think.