What to use on cedar windows and weatherboards?

Trying to work out what finish to use on cedar windows and weatherboards for cottage in NW Tasmania (high rainfall and UV). Intergrain? Sikkens? Maddison Oil? Organ oil? Lanotec? Some of the windows are high up so ideally I'd like to get 2 or 3 years between re-coating. Can anyone help?

I have used the Feast Watson, woodshield, oregon colour, as recommended by Hansson's Joinery, Margate, who are the largest manufacturer of cedar window frames in Tasmania. It should only be applied if you are keen to recoat each 12 months on north facing windows. Most people give up after a few years and paint them with a similar toned colour, which is a shame, nothing beats the natural appearance. Hope this helps.


http://www.feastwatson.com.au/ExteriorWeatherboards.asp

Many thanks. Really helpful. I'll probably go with that. If I WASN'T keen to recoat every 12-18 months, are there any options I should consider between this and the dreaded paint?

Yes, the other option is to do nothing at all. Cedar wont rot or warp. It's not actually necessary to put any finish on it. There are a few houses here that have used cedar weather boards and windows with no finish whatsoever. It goes grey of course.

BTW Stegbar recommend Intergrain Door, window and decking finish or Sikkens HLS.

They do recommend applying a finish. I used deck oil on mine. Two coats. Apparently it needs to have a pigment in it to protect the finish from UV.

Thanks all. So the recommendations are:

1. Feast Watson woodshield (BTW, why oregon colour and not some other colour -- like redwood -- or clear?);
2. Intergrain Door, window and decking finish;
3. Sikkens HLS;
4. Deck oil (any particular brand?).

How do I decide between these? How did you go with the deck oil?

Thanks again.

Decisions, decisions....

Have you approached the supplier of the windows to ask if they recommend a product?

I used deck oil because a mate of mine used the same stuff (Feast Watson I think from memory) but that was about 6 years ago, I sold the house 12 months after, and there are more products on the market these days. You could probably do better, although I suspect that there is not really a huge difference.

One thing that seems clear from what I have read and heard is that you should use a pigmented finish, rather than clear, because it will last much longer as the pigment protects the finish from UV. Naturally this will change the colour of the windows. I found with my merbau deck that using a merbau stained deck oil evened up the colour though, as there is a lot of variation between boards. Cedar is the same.

Many thanks. I think the window people recommended Intergrain, though I'll double check. Trouble is, I have a friend who swears that Intergrain is terrible. He had a bad experience with it bubbling and cracking. At least that is less likely to happen with an oil that soaks into the wood. But maybe Intergrain has changed since then? There are quite a large number of fairly small, high-up windows (not to mention the weatherboards), so whatever I use I want to make sure I never have to try to get it OFF the timber...

Obviously it is up to you to decide, the colour oregon is a bit of a mismatch to the final finish. It is the closest to the natural timber colour they have in the range. It looks beautiful. One thing to note, you will need two coats, but don't over do it. Since it is an oil, any excess on the surface doesn't dry properly and will need to be wiped off. I have heard of some people leaving them unstained, as SilentC said, there are exceptions to every rule, and I guess this suits those applications, but if you want the cedar to last say 20 plus years please protect them. The first application or manufacturer you go with isn;t that important, its the maintenance each year that really counts.

Have a bit of a read through this, it might help.

Thanks again, Notsquare and silentC. You have helped me a lot. Much appreciated. I'll let you know what I end up with and how it goes.

Please do. It helps others if you follow up with what you did and how it went. Photos are always good too :)

Hope it all goes well.

I dont know how long this will last or if its good on cedar but if you put raw linseed on as hot as is safe, it penetrates deep, its cheap and should preverve the timber and maintain colour
I.ve an old book that says this was used hundreds of years ago to preserve beams,
the trick is to keep brushing it on hot until it wont take anymore, the downside is i dont know if an oilbase primer will cover it later.
maybe dumb idea
and be careful with hot oil and its ingition point

astrid

MIL's farmhouse is cedar weatherboard 10 yo originally painted with intergrain.

The north wall is just needing a bit of touchup now.

I've gor a chainsaw carving out of macrocarpra in the middle of the bush
its about the 10yo too, same finish & still in great condition

I wouldn't go past intergrain

I have used Sikkens HLS (teak colour) on the Tassie Oak threshold/step at our front door which faces north. It gets alot of traffic plus direct sun all winter (shaded in summer but still reflected UV) and occasional rain (under cover but driving rain will still get it).

I put on two coats after stripping off the old paint, filling a few splits and sanding it back. That was over a year ago (maybe two) and it still looks as good as the day I did it. Have been meaning to slap another coat on except I have to do it when I know hubby isn't going to need to drive his wheelchair in or out for 48h :B...

I will definitely be using Sikkens finishes whenever I get around to stripping the mission brown paint off our front cedar windows.

Steph

Hi david
we are in the process of varnishing our cedar windows,we are using feast watson marine spar and applying 5 coats they come up pretty good
$100 for 4 litres at bunnings
best wishes and happy painting
greg