The Cedar Oil vs. Cedar Stain Debate

Cedar needs to be recoated every 2-3 summers to protect the timber from New Zealand’s harsh UV rays.

By applying an oil or a stain, the boards are protected by a coating that takes the brunt of the UV rays, but over time, it will break down and needs to be reapplied.

Knowing what signs to look for will help you stay on top of maintenance before small issues turn into larger, more expensive problems.

1. Discolouration

Discoloration is often the first sign that your cedar needs attention. It happens when the UV rays begin to break down the existing coating, allowing the natural colour of the timber to come through.

A generously applied oil will fill the pores of the Cedar and leave a protective tint on the surface. This dual action helps the wood resist moisture and absorbs the worst of the sun’s rays.

With oil, you can tell if the Cedar is dry by spraying water onto the surface. If the water beads off, the boards still have a reservoir of oil. If the water soaks in, you probably need to recoat.

Stains work similarly, creating a barrier that shields the timber. Over time, the stain will oxidise and erode by design – this means it’s doing its job by absorbing the UV damage – resulting in a patchy, uneven appearance with lighter and darker areas.

2. Fading or silvering

Silvering is caused by exposure to UV rays, which fray and loosen the top cells of the Cedar and cause the surface to become bleached.

While some people prefer this aged appearance, it can be a problem in warm, damp climates. The roughened surface of the wood can trap moisture, dirt, and bacteria, causing the Cedar to turn black.

If you like the silvered look, you can get protective oils with a silver tint that will give you the aesthetic you want while still protecting your Cedar from the sun.

3. Patchy or uneven colour

Patchy or uneven colour on your Cedar can be a sign of a few things. The previous coating might have been applied unevenly, or it could be breaking down faster in some areas than others for a variety of reasons.

A well-maintained Cedar home should have a consistent colour across all its walls. If your home hasn’t been maintained in quite some time, the faces of the house that gets more direct sun exposure will fade faster than the shaded faces.

Reapplying an oil or stain not only enhances the colour but also helps replenish the wood’s natural oils and fortify its anti-fungal properties, restoring its vibrant, like-new appearance.

4. Mould and lichen forming

Mould and lichen often grow on the damper areas of your house away from the sun. Mould can appear on the surface coating or might be ingrained in the timber if it’s been left for a while.

The first signs of mould are small black spores that look like spots or splatters, and as it gets more severe it will get more obvious, turning black, green or red.

Signs of mould and lichen are not always a big concern. Get a professional to look at it, and if you catch it early enough, you might just need a clean without having to recoat the timber.

5. Cracks, or worse

Look for small cracks appearing, either in the coating or the boards themselves. Those little cracks are allowing moisture to get into the boards and create a toehold for mould, mildew and lichen to get established.

If nails are popping out, or you can see warping, this is a sign that the boards are moving a lot. This usually happens on the north face, or any area that is exposed to the sun and doesn’t have any protection against the wet-dry-wet effect.

If your boards are starting to cup, it doesn’t mean the boards are beyond repair. Often the structural integrity of the boards is still good, we just need to clean them up and replace the oil to reduce the surface tension and repel water.

Final thoughts…

Knowing the signs that your Cedar needs attention helps you make an informed decision about when to invest in its health.

If you’re unsure, it’s always best to have a professional take a look.

We offer a free, onsite Cedar Assessment across Auckland and Northland. One of our Cedar experts will provide a genuine assessment of your timber and offer advice to keep your Cedar protected and looking beautiful for years to come.

One of the most common questions we get asked is “Can I get my Cedar maintained in the winter?”

Absolutely! With winter, comes rain…but not as much as you might think.

At the height of the wet season, there are 19.1 rainy days in June and 20 in August. In summer, there are 14.1 rainy days in December and 9.8 days in February. That’s only 6-10 days difference.

Yes, Auckland is a rainy place! But we’ve been looking after Cedar for 12 months of the year, for over 30 years, and rain isn’t as big of a problem as you might think.

This comes down to the unique properties of Cedar and how we care for it.

Oil and Stain Are Not Paint

The statement above may seem obvious, but the idea of paint drying is so fixed in our collective minds that people often make the comparison.

Aside from both being applied to walls, they couldn’t be more different products.

Paint is applied by building a film on the surface of another film, which then must dry and cure.

Stain and oil penetrate into the pores of the Cedar and start providing protection against moisture almost immediately.

You could even spray the boards lightly with a hose 20-30 minutes after application and it would make no difference to the finish.

How Wet is Wet?

Similarly, in most people’s minds, when a board gets wet, it is wet the whole way through. This is only what our eyes are telling us.

In truth, it’s only the surface that gets wet (usually the top 1mm), the rest of the board stays perfectly dry.

To apply a Cedar coating, we only need the surface of the board to dry out. Depending on exposure to the sun, wind and air temperature, this can happen anywhere between 5 – 30 minutes.

You can feel whether Cedar it is dry or not by touching the boards. If the surface is too wet, we simply do not apply the coating.

Mark likes to use the analogy of hanging out washing. If you are happy to put out your washing to dry, you can coat Cedar.

And if a spattering of rain does get onto the surface, the oil or stain is already working to create a barrier against moisture.

What Happens if it Does Rain?

Every morning, the Senior Technicians assigned to the job will look at the weather and work with the Production Manager to make the call. In most cases, the decision has been made the previous day.

Our scheduling team also looks at the weather in advance and plans accordingly. If rainy weather is on the way, they will book in other work such as washing or adapt the scheduled work to the conditions.

If the weather is inclement, the technicians can focus on areas of the house away from the wind and rain.

If the weather is coming from the north, we can coat the areas on the south, or undercover areas.

If rain is truly setting in, we can wash the Cedar in preparation for coating. During periods of persistent rain, there can be a gap of 1-2 weeks between washing and coating, but this could be left up to 6 weeks without any issues.

So, When is the Best Time to Coat?

The answer is always now. If you ask us in 6 weeks or 6 months, the answer will be the same.

We are battling the sun here, and the sun always wins. New Zealand’s harsh UV rays are constantly sucking the natural tannins from the boards and they need to be coated to protect against the wet-dry-wet effect.

If left longer than the recommended 2-3 summers, the surface can begin to roughen and create a toe-hold for mould and lichen, resulting in an unkempt look.

This isn’t scaremongering. If you leave them for another 6 months, the difference is almost indiscernible. But that doesn’t change the fact that there is no “best time” for Cedar maintenance.

The best time is always now. You just need to pick your days.

Final Thoughts

We have been doing this for over 30 years and know our way around a bit of rain.

If the boards are dry, we can coat them. Once we get to the point where the boards are wet and will not dry, we stop. Simple as that.

Don’t let the idea of rain put you off getting your Cedar maintained and protected. Winter is just as good as summer, and autumn is just as good as spring. The sun never stops and neither do we!

Time to answer the million-dollar question: how much does it cost to maintain or restore a Cedar home?

Thankfully, the answer is nowhere close to a million dollars! Looking after Cedar is often a lot more cost-effective than people assume, and that cost just goes down with regular maintenance.

Naturally, all homes are different, and no single price will fit the huge variety of Cedar homes across the country. The prices given here are a range, based on Mark’s experience looking after Cedar homes for 30+ years.

To cover the widest range of homes, we have categorised the pricing under 3 different eras, with some variables at the end.

Late 80s to late 90s

Cedar homes from this era are stained in a distinctive shade of reddish brown. There were only two types of stains available, and they were both brown.

To change the colour of the boards will be very costly, as you would need to strip off the stain before applying a new stain or oil. Most people go for a light rinse and a recoat using one of the new waterborne stains.

The boards themselves are often still in great condition. The Cedar from this era was milled from slow growing trees, making the boards denser and more stable.

Cedar homeowners were also more likely to maintain the Cedar themselves, so the Cedar often has multiple coats of stain that further protect the boards from harmful UV rays.

Standard maintenance, or a combination of maintenance and restoration, will cost between $5.5k – $8.5k for a single-story home, and $8.5k – $10k for a double-story home.

Early 2000s to 2010

Cedar homes from the early 2000s often used Cedar as a feature, installed up high, to enhance the look of weatherboard and solid plaster houses. There are very few houses from this era that are clad entirely from Cedar.

20 years on, most of these houses have had nothing done to them. The culture of maintaining your own Cedar has diminished due to busier lifestyles and more focus on health and safety, resulting in Cedar on sun exposed faces looking shabby and tired.

This scenario usually requires restoration over maintenance. Restoration involves washing the house, removing any organic matter, stripping back any old stain, and then applying a new coat of oil.

The cost of restoration will depend on volume and aspect: how much Cedar was used as a feature and which direction it faces. If it’s northerly facing, you will need to do considerable restoration work. If you have a feature on the south face, it might still be in good condition and only require recoating every 10 years.

If the Cedar can be accessed by ladder or mobile scaffolding, the standard cost of a restoration is between $3.5 – $5.5k. Fixed scaffolding will add considerably more to the cost.

2010 – Present

Since 2010 onwards, Cedar has only grown in popularity. Homes are trending away from brick and tile, towards new townhouse developments, or architecturally designed properties.

Cedar is still a premium building material, but the price has come down in recent years due to faster growing methods and better exchange rates. As a result, we are back to building whole homes in Cedar.

The downside is that the faster growing timber isn’t as dense as the old boards. It’s still an incredibly robust cladding but requires regular maintenance to keep stable. If neglected, the boards will start to cup, and at some point, begin to pull the fixings through the timber.

Single-story Cedar homes cost $6.5k on average for a wash and recoat. Double-story Cedar homes are upwards of $8k – $10k. Large architectural homes are $15k – $20k.

Pricing Variables

• Fixed scaffolding

Where possible we work from our own mobile scaffold towers and extension ladders, which are safe and fast, and keep costs down. Fixed scaffolding is often required when you go from 2 to 3 stories.

Scaffolding a large house will cost an additional $7.5 to $10k home. Scaffolding a smaller home, but still 2 story with high areas, will be $4k-$5k.

• Access issues

These are houses that are built on steep hillsides or have very high walls. There will always be additional costs when our team must access hard to reach areas, but it’s not often a huge expense. The areas that need rope and harness are usually limited, and it’s all part and parcel of what we do.

• Size of the house

The bigger the house, the more time, stain and oil it requires.

Additional stories on top of that will always be more expensive, and when you go from 2 to 3 stories scaffolding is required. If you have 2 stories, but there is very little up top, the extra cost will be minimal.

• Time passed

If you haven’t maintained your Cedar in the last 3-5 years, it’s going to be very dry and require a lot of product.

• Restoration vs Maintenance.

If the Cedar has never been touched, the boards will require a deep clean and oil. If they have stain, we need to strip back the broken-down stain. These are two very different treatments, with different costs associated.

Final Thoughts

No two houses are the same. There is a good reason why our team travel out to every house before we send a quote. There are a lot of variables in pricing a quote (and many of them can work in your favour!), so it’s always best to call our team for an onsite assessment.

We never push Cedar maintenance if it’s not needed and prefer to look after the best interests of our customers over the lifecycle of their homes.