Wood Siding Maintenance

Wood siding installed on your homes exterior can dramatically increase the curb appeal as well as your homes overall value.  In order for wood siding to last many years and prevent costly repairs due to water damage, it requires regular maintenance.

Regardless of the type of wood used to fabricate the siding, a painted or stained finish, regular maintenance to protect and water seal is required.  Wood expands and contracts due to temperature and humidity.  Because of this, the caulking at the seams or joints will often separate, producing holes or gaps that will allow water to enter.  Paint will also chip or crack  with the changing environmental factors.  In order to prevent wood rot, or expensive water damage, a home with wood siding requires new caulking, water sealing and paint every three to five years or when deterioration occurs.

Staining the wood instead of using paint as a finish can be a good option.  Stained wood allows the wood grains to show, providing a beautiful display of the exterior of your home.  The stain requires less maintenance, as it doesn't crack or chip in the same fashion as paint does.  A stained finish on wood siding is generally less expensive than a painted finish to install and maintain.  The prep work involved, and the maintenance frequency is significantly less.

When it is time to maintain your homes exterior finish, you must determine what products and methods you will use.  The first step is to clean the siding surface to remove stains and dirt.  If your siding is already painted or stained, utilizing the same finish is most logical.  It is very difficult and labour intensive to remove all the paint and then stain with a professional looking finish.
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Cleaning Wood Siding

Part of regular wood siding maintenance is to clean the surface areas.  Cleaning the cladding or siding will not only beautify the material, but it will also help prevent mold and mildew.  Mark a date on your calendar sometime in the Spring for a yearly siding clean.

​To remove stains and dirt from the surface of wood siding, the easiest method is power washing.  For a thorough clean, follow these four steps.

• We wash the surface area using warm water soap, and a soft bristled brush.
• To treat mildew, clean the infected area with a one to four ratio of bleach to water.  There are also mildew products you can find at your local home improvement store that will offer the same or better results.
• To remove rust stains, you will need to apply a oxalic acid or a product with this acid to properly treat and remove the stain.
• Blasting off the surface with a high powered pressure washer will provide a strong clean as well as remove chipped and flaking areas as well as rinse off other products in the earlier mentioned cleaning process.​

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Caulking Wood Siding

If wood cladding was initially properly installed, the horizontal seams should not be caulked or sealed.  Having some ventilation in the horizontal seams will allow for airflow and will reduce the likelihood of mold, mildew or premature cracking.  Vertical seams as well as seams around windows, doors, or other fenestration points should be caulked.  Caulking alone is not the answer to water proofing.  Fenestration points, and materials should be engineered and installed to have a functioning water tight system in place.  Flashing and other materials and installation processes should be utilized in conjunction with caulking to effectively water seal.  If there is not an adequate flashing, or water shedding system in place, installing caulking may be a last resort

Using a quality caulk that will allow for expansion and contraction, as well as stand up to the elements is essential.  We advise spending a couple of dollars more per caulking tube initially, as you will save much more on maintenance and repairs in the long run.  We really like LePage Quad Max water sealant.  This product is resistant to bubbling and cracking and has no shrinkage.  The caulking comes in a variety of colours, or can be later painted to achieve a desired colour.

• First clean the areas that you will be applying caulking to.  This will help the caulking to adhere to the surface properly.
• Install painters tape on either side of the area that will have caulking installed.  This will help prevent the caulking from getting on unwanted surfaces and provide a clean looking finished line.
• Insert the caulking into a caulking gun and cut the end on a 45 degree angle with the size adequate for the width of the area you will be applying it to.  A long drill bit can be used to puncture the foil on the inside of the tube.
• Apply the caulking in a slow controlled motion to the area.  Tilting the caulking tube at a 45 degree angle toward the direction you will be caulking (away from what you have caulked) will allow for smooth installation.
• For a good bond, and nice looking finish, either run your pinky finger over the newly installed caulking, or use a dampened dowel.
• Carefully remove the painters tape and clean any areas you may have accidentally gotten the caulking on.

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Wood Siding Water Sealers

​Water sealing your exterior homes wooden surfaces can be done utilizing paint, stain, or a variety of wood water sealers.  The extreme temperatures in Canada and variance in cold winters and warm summers limit the duration of maintenance products.  Paint will generally last 3 to 5 years without requiring maintenance, where as a water sealer should be applied every couple of years.  Water protection maintenance applications of paint or water sealants should be applied in the warmer months of Spring or Summer.


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Replacing Damaged Wooden Siding

Wood siding can become damaged from temperature cracking, thrown rocks from a lawn mower, woodpeckers, or various other culprits.  To properly replace a wooden siding panel without damaging surrounding siding, Professional carpentry skills are required.  If you are hiring a Professional to replace a wooden siding panel, expect to pay two to three hundred dollars per panel.  This cost includes removing the damaged panel, preparing the surface area and new panel, installing the new siding panel and painting, staining and water sealing it.
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Restoring Wood Siding

Restoring old wooden siding on your homes exterior can freshen up the exterior of your home, and provide water prevention maintenance.  This project can be labour intensive, time consuming, and costly.

If you have painted siding, and want to restore the siding, the labour-ess task of removing the paint will be required.  You will need a heat gun to to remove the paint.  After the paint has been removed, the wood rough areas will need wood filler applied, and the surface areas sanded.  Even after doing all this work, it is very difficult to remove all of the old paint.  It is practical to restore the wood siding and surfaces with paint.  At least 2 coats of paint applied to the wooden surfaces will be needed, more if red is your colour choice.
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If you would like to remove old paint, and stain the siding, you will likely have to remove all the old siding to properly refinish it.  If restoring your homes wood siding is not practical doing it yourself, or is not feasible to your budget, you might want to consider installing alternative siding options.  

Other siding options options include:  Engineered Wood Siding, Vinyl \ PVC Siding, Fiber Cement, Fiberglass, Metal, Brick \ Stone, Brick \ Stone Veneer, Stucco & Synthetic Stucco.  All the various siding materials have various costs, life expectancy, maintenance requirements and overall curb appeal.

If you would like to learn more about siding, have other home related inquires, please visit our website at www.homeservicepro.ca
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