How Often Does Cedar Really Need to be Maintained?

15 Feb 2023

The quick answer is: not as often as you might think. On a wall that is not in the intense sunshine, Cedar will practically last forever.

Apart from being stunning to look at, Cedar is extremely durable, a superior insulator and genius at taking up deep-penetrating oil. Cedar’s worst enemy is not rain, or wind, or city grime; it’s the harsh New Zealand sun.

Left unprotected, UV rays will eventually dry out the timber, leading to fine cracks and roughening of the surface. This creates a toehold for mould, mildew and lichen to get established and make the timber look unsightly.

Regular oiling will prolong the beautiful look and weather resistance of your Cedar by penetrating deeply through the Cedar’s open cellular structure and replacing the natural oils lost over time.

Keep reading to learn how often you need to maintain your Cedar, or watch the video below for a quick summary.

What Does Regular Maintenance Involve?

For most Cedar homes, regular maintenance will consist of a light rinse once per year at the end of winter, then a recoat of exposed areas every 2-3 summers.

Cladding only needs to be maintained on a face that is exposed to the UV rays. The remaining faces will also benefit from recoating, but this might only be 2 or 3 times over a 15-year period. The treatment that is required is very dependent on the level of UV exposure and other environmental factors.

Think of it like washing your car. If you don’t wash your car for 12 months, all the dust, debris and contaminants from the road will stick to the body. It’s the same for your house, but not as easy to spot as houses are usually flat colours compared to a shiny paint job.

How Much Will Regular Maintenance Cost?

It’s a misconception that owning a Cedar home means you will be burdened with expensive maintenance bills. Compared to houses that require regular painting, Cedar works out far more economical.

The cost will depend on the unique requirements of each house. The main factors will be the size of the house, how many stories it has and ease of access. A single-story bungalow with good access might cost $2-3k every 2-3 years. For a multi-level property with difficult access, you might be spending $8k on scaffolding before you even start looking at the timber.

Regardless of the cost, regularly maintaining your Cedar will always be cheaper over the long run than painting, or the worst-case scenario, having to reclad due to the timber cupping and splitting.

Having a regular maintenance plan can help to spread out the cost and give you peace of mind that your investment is protected – and will look beautiful for years to come.

New Builds vs Older Houses

Newly installed Cedar has a reservoir of natural oils and tannins, and it will take longer for the cellular structure to start to move. You may not have to do anything for 5 years, but eventually the Cedar will start to dry out and you will need to slow that process down with regular oiling.

New Cedar will most likely be pre-coated, or coated on-site before it gets installed. There will usually be a booklet that comes with the house telling you how the Cedar has been treated and what kind of maintenance it needs.

For a pre-existing Cedar home, the new homeowner will need to ask the previous owners what kind of maintenance plan they had in place, or what products they have used in the past. If the Cedar has been stained and the stain is in good condition, then it requires a light rinse every year and a recoat every 2-3 years, depending on the level of UV exposure.

If you are unsure about the status of your Cedar, one of our team can come around and advise you on what treatment it has received in the past, and what is required to maintain the Cedar over the lifetime of the house.

Make Your Cedar Look New Again

TimberTech are NZ’s #1 choice for Cedar protection, maintenance and restoration. Our unrivalled expertise and craftsmanship have been developed and proven over 20 years throughout New Zealand.

We will diagnose your Cedar and put together a 10-year maintenance plan, customised to your unique situation, with a maintenance schedule and a full breakdown of all the costs. There is no obligation and our goal is always to look after the best interests of our customers over the lifecycle of their homes.

To find out more, call us on 0800 298 298.

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15 Jul 2024

Best Cedar Products – Our Top Picks

Mark has been in the business for over 30 years and has seen a lot of Cedar products come and go. The products recommended here are based on his personal experience maintaining thousands of Cedar homes across the country.

These are the products we actively use today, or have used in the past, and all have been tried and tested across a range of locations and conditions.

If the product you are considering isn’t mentioned below, that doesn’t mean it’s unsuitable, only that we don’t have enough experience with the product to recommend it either way.

Always follow the manufacturers guidelines and choose the best Cedar product for your specific circumstances.

Lastly, if your Cedar has already been treated with a specific product and is still in good condition, it’s a good rule of thumb to use the same product for the best colour matching and application. If the product is starting to fail, look at the best solution for the timber regardless of what was used previously.

Best Cedar Cleaning Products

Preparing Cedar before applying an oil or stain is the key to achieving a smooth and consistent finish.

Over time, organic matter such as dust, moss and lichen will build up on the Cedar. As oils and stains are semi-transparent/translucent, any product or organic matter left on the surface will show up and look unsightly.

Which cleaning product you use depends on the current state of your Cedar.

Hit The Deck

Cedar that has no oil or stain on the surface will only require a gentle wash using an oxy cleaner or percarbonate solution to kill off any built-up organic matter. Hit The Deck by Wet & Forget works very well and doesn’t contain any bleaches or chlorine.

Dryden LiquidTimberClean

If your Cedar has been affected by the sun and started to age, you may need to brighten it back up. Dryden LiquidTimberClean is an oxalic acid-based cleaner that is effective at lightening stains and brightening timber. Be careful using this product around windows and joinery as it can tarnish the surface if not rinsed properly.

Resene Timber and Deck Wash

For general cleaning, Resene Timber and Deck Wash is very effective for cleaning hardwood and softwood timber surfaces. This wash only has a small amount of bleach and is effective at killing off anything organic. An excellent product, we use it all the time.

And avoid…

We do not recommend any products that contain a heavy solution of sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach. This often comes with the benefits of “spray and walk away” or “done in 30 seconds”. It will certainly clean the Cedar and kill off anything that’s on the surface, but it can damage the cellular structure of the timber.

Quick Note About Stains

Stains are like white paint. You can buy white paint from 20 different paint manufacturers and each one will tell you why theirs is the best.

Which stain you use is much less important than when and where you use it.

Stains perform best out of the harsh UV, on areas sheltered by trees and other buildings, south-facing, or under soffits.

If used on areas exposed to the sun, they will eventually break down. If a stain cracks, water will get in behind and delaminate the stain, lifting it from the surface.

When stains fail, it takes a lot of work to make the stained surface look good, even more than with oil. Just remember, when choosing your coating, the sun will ALWAYS win. Make sure the stain is out of the sun, and you should be fine.

Best Cedar Stains

Resene Woodsman Waterborne Oil Stain

Resene Woodsman Waterborne Oil Stain is our stain of choice. This stain is a penetrating water-borne wood oil stain that is designed to erode, rather than form a film on the surface, which is what you want. As the stain is very thin, it gives a chance for the oil to get into the timber. This stain has been around for 15+ years and we have a lot of confidence in the product.

Cabbots stain

Cabbots stain, by Dulux, is another product we regularly use. Cabbots is an excellent stain, with the slight reservation that this is a film-forming product, and it can get brittle if over applied.

Coating Remover Sea to Sky by Resene

If you need to remove a previous stain before application, use a coating remover that uses organic or citrus based compounds. Avoid methylene chloride products, which are very aggressive.

Coating Remover Sea to Sky by Resene is an organic stripping compound that contains no harsh chemicals, and is very effective at removing paints, coatings and residues.

Be careful, it’s a messy job…

Mask or cover the areas adjacent to the areas you are working on and make sure you get all the product out of the timber. Use a water blaster at the correct pressure to remove any latent product sitting on the timber’s surface.

Quick Note About Oils

Unlike stains, not all oils are made equally. As oil is the base ingredient in these products, the quality of the oil can affect the speed of penetration and dry to touch time, and the final look and feel.

Choose an oil from a reputable manufacturer that has been formulated for the specific conditions in New Zealand.

Other factors to consider include the biocide package (to keep away nasties), available colour range and the degree of transparency. depending on how much you want the Cedar to come through.

All that said, it’s always better to apply oil to your Cedar than not. You are looking to protect the surface of the timber from the harsh sun, and anything is better than nothing.

Best Cedar Oils

There are 3 different products we can recommend. Before getting to our top pick, we need to cover a little history to better understand the evolution of Cedar oil products.

CD50

CD50 (now known as CUTEK Extreme CD50) is the original Cedar oil and has been around for 40 or 50 years. The product has since been bought by an Australian company and reformulated for the Australian market. We don’t use this product much as the alternatives listed below are better suited for New Zealand conditions. Regardless, this is a quality penetrating oil with a long and storied history.

Dryden WoodOil

Dryden WoodOil is owned by Dulux and specially designed for our conditions. 20 years ago, CD50 was sold off and the manufacturers reformulated Dryden WoodOil from the old CD50 chemical makeup. Dryden WoodOil is water-repellent, non-filming, and a true migrating oil that gets deep into the timber. We regularly use this product and can recommend it without hesitation.

Wood-X

Wood-X is our top pick and the oil we recommend for most of our customers. Wood-X is made by Resene and specifically formulated for New Zealand conditions. Wood-X is a non-film forming, viscous mineral oil that is designed to penetrate exterior hardwood timbers and improve dimensional stability.

Wood-X also has an excellent biocide package, high quality and proven tints (colour tones), and uses high grade oil content that speeds its penetration and ‘dry to touch’ time.

Full disclosure: TimberTech helped to develop Wood-X and Mark has a small shareholding in the business. We are proud of our association with Wood-X and wouldn’t recommend it if it wasn’t the absolute best product for our customers.

Need Help or Advice?

If you have any questions about the products we covered, please get in touch with our team. We are more than happy to give advice and point you in the right direction.

15 Apr 2024

Buying Or Selling a Cedar Home? Protect Your Investment

In this article, we are looking at how to protect the value of your Cedar home - often your biggest asset - especially when the market is so volatile and uncertain.

The benefits of Cedar maintenance fall into two main categories: beautification and protection.

Beautification means making your Cedar look beautiful all year round. If sun exposed areas are left without replenishing the oils, the Cedar can start to look worn and tired. By adding oil back into Cedar, you are protecting it from the harsh New Zealand sun and restoring the natural vibrance of the timber.

Protection means maintaining the integrity of the timber, so you don’t have to replace the Cedar in the future. Protection can also mean protecting your investment, both to maintain the value of what you just bought, or to improve the asking price if you are about to sell.

In this article, we are looking at how to protect the value of your Cedar home – often your biggest asset – especially when the market is so volatile and uncertain.

For some additional insight into the housing market, we are joined by Rachel Readhead from Barfoot & Thompson.

Why Protect Your Cedar

People often think that if their Cedar looks tired, it needs to be maintained or restored, but that is not necessarily true. Cedar is a very resilient timber.

If not maintained in the short term, sun exposed areas will get damaged by the harsh UV rays and end up looking rather shabby. Not ideal, but not the end of the world either.

If not maintained in the long term – we are talking 20+ years here – the Cedar may cup or warp, no longer protecting the outside of the house. The ultimate cost will be to replace the Cedar cladding on sun exposed faces, which is considerably more expensive than regular maintenance.

“If the Cedar has started to warp or crack, it will raise red flags when the property report gets done. When doing a CMA [comparative market analysis] on the property, everything is taken into account,” said Rachel.

Return on Investment

When considering the cost of Cedar maintenance or restoration, there are two questions you need to consider.

What do I have to spend so that I never have to replace my Cedar?
Do I also want the Cedar to look beautiful all year round?

The average restoration price for a 3-bedroom home is $6.5k. After the initial restoration, sun exposed areas need recoating every 2-3 summers. The cost of regular maintenance comes down to around $2.5-5k, depending on the house size and build.

If your Cedar is already in good condition and you want to maintain the value over the long term, you will need to recoat sun exposed areas every 2-3 summers.

If your Cedar hasn’t been maintained in some time and you want to restore the timber before you sell the house, you will be looking at anywhere between $6.5-15k.

On houses we have worked on in the past, the valuations were around 6 times higher after we did the work. So, for an investment of $4.5k (the average price of a restoration in the past) the valuation was $24k higher.

Thinking of Selling?

If you are planning on selling your home soon, you can potentially increase the selling price by sprucing up the cladding.

At a minimum, you can stay firm on your asking price and stop people knocking you down on price due to additional work.

“First impressions count, and the condition of the cladding is usually the first thing people see when looking at a property. A lot of buyers will ask for a price reduction if there is work to be done on the exterior of a house,” said Rachel.

If you have been maintaining the Cedar regularly, you may not need to do any maintenance at all, or just some light maintenance to tidy up the sun exposed faces.

Stand Out in a Crowded Market

When the housing market slows down, buyers have more houses to choose from and have more room for negotiation.

Rachel says, “Houses are not moving as fast as in previous years, especially in the townhouse and apartment market. A good house in a good location always sells, but by keeping your house maintained you can stand out from other properties and get a better sale price – especially if it sells in auction.”

Having a record of maintenance also gives prospective buyers confidence that the timber has been looked after and won’t require work anytime soon.

Rachel added, “Many people still do not understand how affordable it is to look after a Cedar home and mistake it for painting, which can often be more expensive. Having documentation of previous work shows prospective buyers the cost of maintenance over the long term and helps to ease any concerns.”

Protect Your Biggest Asset

By investing in the maintenance of your Cedar, you are investing in the long-term value of your home.

And by regularly maintaining your home, you are spreading this cost out over many years, instead of getting lumped with a large bill when it comes time to sell. Regular maintenance also has the benefit of being able to enjoy the natural beauty of the Cedar while you are still living there!

Protecting your investment starts with a conversation. Our team can help to identify what your goals are, then put together a plan to protect your Cedar over the long term.

Rachel Readhead helps homeowners buy and sell homes throughout North Shore and Rodney. You can reach her on 027 333 4484.

15 Feb 2024

5 Reasons Why Cedar is an Amazing Cladding

Cedar is a miracle timber if ever there was one. It’s a better insulator than brick or concrete, it keeps noise out, is highly durable and - as every Cedar homeowner can attest - it looks stunning and unique.

Cedar is a miracle timber if ever there was one. It’s a better insulator than brick or concrete, it keeps noise out, is highly durable and – as every Cedar homeowner can attest – it looks stunning and unique.

At TimberTech, we genuinely believe that Cedar is a remarkable cladding material.

In this article, we want to share what makes Cedar such an effective cladding, and highlight some little-known facts about this amazing timber.

If you own a Cedar home, or are looking to buy a Cedar home, rest assured that Cedar is one of the best claddings around.

1. Cellular Structure

Cedar is designed to move, with deep pores that allow moisture in and out without damaging the stability of the timber.

This means that in the summer, when the hot sun is sucking moisture from the timber and causing it to contract, Cedar can move with minimal cracking.

And in the winter, when Cedar gets wet and starts to expand again, it does so without cupping and warping, which are problems that come with other timbers.

2. Deep Pores

Those deep pores we mentioned, they are also genius at holding stains and oils.

This is important for extending the life of the timber and keeping it looking fresh and vibrant.

New Zealand has strong UV rays that will break down any type of coating applied to a house and suck out the natural oils, eventually drying out the timber and leading to roughening of the surface and fine cracks (which is called “surface checking” in the industry).

Regular oiling will prolong the beautiful look and weather resistance of your Cedar by penetrating deeply through the Cedar’s open cellular structure and replacing the natural oils lost over time.

3. Ease of Maintenance

Like any building material exposed to the elements, Cedar needs maintenance both to protect the internal structure of the house, and to keep it looking cosmetically beautiful.

This isn’t a downside, just an unavoidable part of owning a house.

With Cedar you don’t have to constantly maintain the whole house, just the areas that are exposed to the sun.

For most Cedar homes, this means recoating sun-exposed areas every 2-3 summers. The sheltered faces of a Cedar home are very low-maintenance and will only need recoating 2-3 times over a 15-year period.

4. Durability & Insulation

Cedar is a superior insulator compared to other weatherboards, letting the house breath over summer, and keeping the warmth in over winter. It also dries very quickly because the timber is so porous and rich with pores.

On a side note, regularly maintaining your Cedar will help improve the energy efficiency of your home. Adding oil to the boards keeps them flat and stops the cold getting in, and the heat getting out. Boards that have been oiled will also cause rain to bead from the surface and keep the internal structure of the house dry.

Cedar also has its own mould and fungal inhibitors within the timber to stop rot and nasties from getting established.

5. Cedar Just Looks Stunning

Let’s put the amazing properties of Cedar to one side and talk about how good it looks.

A well-maintained Cedar home has a timeless look. As the timber ages, it will naturally weather, getting etched by the sun, rain and elements to have a beautiful rustic look.

Colour wise, Cedar can be anything from blonde-yellow to deep Mahagony red, which lends itself to a unique aesthetic quality. There are no two Cedar weather boards that are the same. Some have lots of grain, some are very plain, but when oiled, each will have a different appearance.

Because the oil is translucent, it works with the underlying tones of the Cedar. And because stains and oil come in different colours, the final colour is always a unique blend, and always interesting to look at.

Want to Know More?

To learn more about Cedar, visit our Knowledge Hub. This is a free resource for homeowners, with expert advice on Cedar protection, maintenance and restoration.

If you would like to see more beautiful Cedar homes, view Our Work.

And if you have any questions, please reach out. We are always happy to help!

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How Often Does Cedar Really Need to be Maintained?