The success of an exterior siding finish mostly depends on how well the surface is prepared. However, equally important is the choice of stain itself. Using high quality stain, matching them to the material of your siding and weather condition, and conducting regular maintenance will surely extend the time between coatings.
Homeowners typically use stains when they want to add some natural features to the wooden sidings and to let the wooden siding shine through. Like paint, there are so many choices with stain. Stain mainly comes in latex and oil-based versions.
Three Most Common Types of Stain:
Clear Stains:
This type of stain is totally translucent; you can easily see the wood underneath the stain. You need to reapply this type of stain as often as every two or three years. Clear stains also come in quite few varieties, based on their appearance. For experiment, you can apply various clear stains on a piece of scrap piece to choose your favorite stain. Over the time, the wooden surface under the clear stain will star to discolor, forcing you to choose other variations of stains.
Semi-Transparent Stains:
Semi-transparent stains are popular among many homeowners since they offer more protection and longevity than the clear stains. Although they are semi-transparent, they contain a little hint of pigment. It is true that the color choices for semi-transparent stains are not as much as those for latex based paints. However, you can still have a number of options available. You can reapply semi-transparent stains in five to six years.
Opaque Stains:
Another most popular stain choice is opaque stains. These stains actually work like traditional paint and offer maximum protection. Opaque stains also hide the wooden sidings original color,but still allow the siding texture show through. You can have many different options available for opaque stains. However, you need to choose stains carefully. With opaque stains, you need to sand the entire siding surface if you want to change stains next time around. Typically, opaque stains last more than 10 years, provided that you apply the right quality stains and have appointed qualified Armonk Painters NY to complete the stain job.
Stain is a popular element to be applied on exterior siding since they don’t require extensive surface preparation as the way traditional paint does. One can just wash and scrape any cracked stain and let it dry before applying a new coat of stain. Unlike paint, you don’t need to apply primer before applying a fresh coat of stain on the siding surface.
