By EA Paint & Light Carpentry7 min read
At a glance
- Solid stain
- Recoat about every 5–7 years
- Semi-transparent
- Recoat about every 3–5 years
- Paint
- Longest between coats; most prep
- Hard to reverse
- Paint or solid stain is hard to undo
Is it better to paint or stain cedar shingles?
For most cedar shingles, stain is the easier long-term choice. Semi-transparent stain shows the grain and wears away rather than peeling, so recoating is simple. Solid stain hides the grain but stays thinner and more breathable than paint. Paint gives the widest color choice but builds a film that eventually peels and needs scraping.
Your four options for cedar shingles
Cedar is one of the best woods for siding because it is naturally resistant to decay and stays fairly stable as it gets wet and dries. That gives you more choice than you have with most siding. The question is less which finish is best and more which look you want and which kind of maintenance you are willing to do.
Natural weathering
- Look
- Silver to dark gray, varies by wall
- How it wears
- No film to fail; color goes uneven
- Upkeep
- Lowest, but watch for mildew
Semi-transparent stain
- Look
- Color with the grain showing
- How it wears
- Fades and erodes; does not peel
- Upkeep
- Recoat more often; light prep
Solid stain
- Look
- Opaque color, grain texture shows
- How it wears
- Thin film; can peel, less than paint
- Upkeep
- Moderate; some scraping
Paint (over primer)
- Look
- Opaque, widest color and sheen range
- How it wears
- Builds film; eventually cracks and peels
- Upkeep
- Longest between coats; most prep
Leaving cedar shingles to weather naturally
Unfinished cedar turns gray in the sun, from a soft silver to a darker brown-gray depending on the species and the exposure. Eastern white cedar, the traditional shingle of New England, tends toward a lighter silver; western red cedar often goes through a darker, more uneven stage first. With nothing on the surface, there is nothing to peel, which is why so many shingled houses in New England were simply left alone.
The tradeoffs are color and moisture. Walls weather at different rates, so a south wall can be silver while a sheltered porch wall stays brown for years. Shaded, damp walls grow mildew and moss, and wood that stays wet wears faster. Some homeowners use a clear water-repellent or a bleaching oil to even out the weathering; read the label for how often it needs reapplying.
Semi-transparent stain: color that shows the grain
A semi-transparent stain soaks into the wood instead of sitting on top of it. It adds color and some protection from sun and water while letting the grain and texture of each shingle show through. When it wears, it fades and erodes rather than peeling, so recoating is mostly a matter of cleaning the wall and applying another coat.
The catch is frequency. Semi-transparent stain needs recoating more often than solid stain or paint, and it only works on bare wood or wood that has previously had a penetrating stain. It cannot go over paint or solid stain, because it has nothing to soak into.
Penetrating stains come in oil-based and water-based versions. Both can work well on cedar, but they do not always go over each other, so if your shingles already have a stain on them, check the new product’s label or ask the manufacturer before switching types.
Solid stain vs paint on cedar shingles
Solid stain and paint look similar from the street. Both are opaque and hide the color of the wood. The difference is in the film. Solid stain is thinner and flatter, so the texture of the shingles still shows and it tends to wear more gradually. Paint over a proper primer builds a thicker, tougher film that usually lasts longer between coats but, when it fails, peels and has to be scraped.
Cedar contains natural extractives, called tannins, that can bleed through light colors as brown or orange stains. Whichever you choose, a light color over cedar generally needs a stain-blocking primer first, and the product label will say which primers the manufacturer recommends.
Tip: Ask for a test patch on an inconspicuous wall before committing a whole house to a light color over cedar.
Can you go back once shingles are painted?
Not easily. Once shingles have a film of paint or solid stain, a semi-transparent stain or a natural look is no longer an option without removing that film, and stripping paint from textured shingles is slow, messy and rarely complete. On a house built before 1978, the old paint may contain lead, which makes stripping a lead-safe job as well.
In practice, homeowners in that position either keep painting, switch to a solid stain over well-bonded existing paint, or replace the shingles on a wall when they reach the end of their life. If you are choosing a finish for bare or naturally weathered shingles now, that is the decision to think hardest about.
Cedar shingle maintenance in a Massachusetts climate
Central Massachusetts is hard on any finish. Long, wet springs and shaded lots keep north walls damp. Snow sits against the lowest courses. Freeze-thaw cycles open small splits, and ice dams can drive water behind the shingles at the eaves. The finish on a sunny south wall and on a shaded north wall of the same house can wear very differently.
That is one reason penetrating stains are popular here: they forgive a little moisture behind the wall better than a thick paint film does. It is also why split, cupped or missing shingles should be replaced before any finish goes on, rather than painted over.
The finishes differ less in how much work they need over the life of the house than in what that work looks like. Penetrating finishes ask for small, frequent jobs; film finishes ask for larger jobs less often.
- Natural: an occasional gentle cleaning, mildew treatment on shaded walls, and replacing split or rotted shingles
- Semi-transparent stain: wash and recoat when the color fades, the most often of the four, but with little scraping
- Solid stain: recoat less often than semi-transparent; some spot-scraping where it has worn or lifted
- Paint: the longest gap between coats, but scraping, spot-priming and more prep when it does fail
Tip: Whichever finish you choose, the sunny walls set the schedule. Many owners recoat the south and west sides a year or two ahead of the rest.
Back-priming and new cedar shingles
When shingles are replaced, how they are finished before they go up matters as much as what goes on afterward. Back-priming means coating every face of each shingle, including the back and the edges, before installation. It slows the uptake of moisture from behind, helps reduce cupping and splitting, and limits tannin bleed.
Many suppliers sell shingles that are factory-primed or pre-stained on all sides, which does the same job more consistently. Some builders also install shingles over a drainage mat so the backs can dry. Bare shingles left in the sun for weeks before their first coat weather at the surface, which can weaken the bond of a film-forming finish.
What to ask before you choose
Ask the painter to look at the shingles before recommending a finish: whether they are bare, stained or painted now, how many are split or rotted, and whether the wall stays damp. A good estimate names the product, says how the shingles will be cleaned and prepared, and lists any shingle or trim replacement separately so you can see it. If the shingles need carpentry as well as finish, it helps when one crew can handle both.
It is also fair to ask why a painter recommends one finish over another for your walls. A good answer refers to the current finish, the condition of the shingles, how damp each side stays and how you want the house to look, not just to habit. If two estimates recommend different finishes, ask each painter to explain the maintenance that follows.
Talk to a local crew
EA Paint & Light Carpentry is a painting and light carpentry company based in Northborough, MA. If you would like the house looked at, call (508) 466-5846 or request a free written estimate. Related services: Exterior Painting, Light Carpentry & Wood Repair.
