Cedar Siding Stain Colors

10 years ago

I have a small 1232 sf ranch house mostly in the woods (woods in front, small yard in back, then more woods out back and to the sides). The color is currently approximately the cedar color (http://www.sherwin-williams.com/home-builders/color/find-and-explore-colors/stain-colors/details/SW3034/). I've always felt my house looked orange, and my mom agrees (hard to show in the pictures, and hard to understand since wood is orange, and I like wood, but I've never really liked the color of my house for some reason, lol), so since it's long overdue for a re-staining, I'd like something that's not orange. I got four samples: two slightly darker and two lighter. The lighter colors I determined were too light and would get dirty too easily. One of the darker colors is pretty close to the current color (second next to the roof and on the bottom, first next to the window; http://www.sherwin-williams.com/home-builders/color/find-and-explore-colors/stain-colors/details/SW3035/). I'm not sure if it's too close to the current color, I won't be happy. The other color looks nice with my red window trim, but it's quite different, so I can't know for sure how it will look on the whole house (first next to the roof and on the bottom, second next to the window; http://www.sherwin-williams.com/home-builders/color/find-and-explore-colors/stain-colors/details/SW3017/). With houses in the woods, I prefer darker, blending in with the trees, as opposed to being a light color that sticks out. I have pictures, attached, but none of them really do the colors justice, as it's hard to take pictures of colors =P The roof is relatively new (just five years old), so that won't be replaced or changed color in a long time...

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Comments (7)

walleygirl
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I know exactly what you mean about the orange tint. We have a couple houses on our long country road like this, and I don't want my siding to end up the same (we're building a new house and using board and batten western red cedar milled from our property). In your samples, I like the one on the far left in the first photo, and the second from the top in the middle and bottom photos. It looks a bit grey here, and that fits with the natural colour that cedar becomes when it weathers.

With that said, my own choice is for something lighter, almost a bleached look. I love this one, and how it contrasts with the dark trim. It's western red cedar with no stain, but I would use a clear stain in my area (rainy northwest coast).
Vineyard Home · More Info
I also like this one, though it's hard to tell if it would look this shade in broad daylight:
exteriors · More Info
One more that I like:
Rustic cabin on family compound · More Info
Jen Herter
10 years ago
I like the 2 lighter shades you chose. It's a nice contrast with the roof and trim.
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ubergigglefritz
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks. That is the color I went with =) I didn't want to go too light, because I live in the woods and I don't want it to get dirty really easily, which would increase maintenance costs. I LOVE the new color. My neighbor's house is the same, and we used to match, so I can look from theirs to mine and virtually see the before and after (though they have green trim and I have red). The color goes beautifully with the red trim. I need to post a finished picture =)
ubergigglefritz
Original Author
10 years ago
Jen, just saw your comment as well (see my comments in what I just posted about why I was leaning towards darker, or at least one reason). I will take a picture the next sunny day and try to get a real accurate representation. I like it, but for houses in the woods, I prefer them to "blend in" =) As opposed to houses on more open lots, it's nice when they pop.
ubergigglefritz
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh, I actually was really concerned at first that it was WAY too close to the roof color, before the paint fully dried. I wasn't happy (and this was a concern of mine for choosing the color). It's still pretty close, but I still love the color. The good thing about solid stain is that you can change the color every time it's time to restain ;-) That was what I told myself to take some of the pressure off. But I think I'm going to keep at this color, and if I'm at the house long enough, maybe I'll change the roof instead! ;-) But that's even harder to try to figure out what would look good =P At least with paint, you can put up samples, lol.
kmschaefer628
10 years ago
ubergigglefritz do you have an after photo? We're exploring stain options currently and we're totally stuck. Thanks!
ubergigglefritz
Original Author
10 years ago
kmschaefer628, it's not new cedar siding is it? I was happy with the color, but not happy with the quality of the paint job. I'm dreaming of new cedar siding and keeping the more natural look =P But gosh that'd be expensive...