Cedar dormer cladding

raddy59

The cedar cladding on the dormer we inherited is looking ropey.
There are gaps opening up between the "planks" (if that what they're called). the bottom in some places is coming away.

I like the wood - I know it's a bit old fashioned. the quotes for new PVC are pricey

Is it worth getting a ladder up there and re-oiling it (which sounds easy enough as a first step). But the issues with the gaps and the slight warping -fixable or will I have to bite the expensive bullet & pay for new cladding?

leveller2911

Hi Raddy, You don't oil Western Red Cedar cladding as the timber contains natural oils. If the boards have decayed and are no longer weather tight you should replace.

Once you have replaced the cladding with Cedar you probably won't have to do it again as Cedar will last for 40 yrs plus.

raddy59

Thanks Leveller
Is that a DIY - I don't know what I'll find behind the current cladding and even less idea of where to go then. I'm willing to have a go tho'

leveller2911

raddy59 wrote: »

Thanks Leveller
Is that a DIY - I don't know what I'll find behind the current cladding and even less idea of where to go then. I'm willing to have a go tho'

Provided you don't find any rotten timber studwork behind the cladding it should be a pretty simple job but you won't know until you strip it off.If you do find any rot take some photos, take out the rotten studs and replace.Having taken some pix you can use them as reference when fitting the replacements.

Depending on when the dormars were constructed you may need to take off the old "bitumen" felt fit more insulation (celotex) ,then breathable membrane (tyvek) in place of the old felt and then fit the cladding. If you can ,nail the Cedar cladding on with copper nails. It may sound difficult but its fairly simple work.

cyclonebri1

leveller2911 wrote: »

Hi Raddy, You don't oil Western Red Cedar cladding as the timber contains natural oils. If the boards have decayed and are no longer weather tight you should replace.

Once you have replaced the cladding with Cedar you probably won't have to do it again as Cedar will last for 40 yrs plus.

Bang on chap, there should be no need to treat Cedar, that's it's main attraction.

But just maybe the op can delay the point/time at which it has to be replaced by a few years with some sort of treatment? ie, preservative.

Don't even know if the op can get equal quality replacement cedar cladding, I doubt it, so replacement will be either very expensive or short lived.

leveller2911

Hi Cyclonebri,
Always a good idea to expect the unexpected as you say. Western Red Cedar seems to be fashionable again. I tend to get my timber from various importers but the link below sell decent quality WRC......


http://www.brookstimber.com/productsCladding.php



http://www.goldberg.uk.com/

jennifernil

Although cedar contains natural oils and ages to a grey-ish colour, there is no reason why you cannot treat it with cedar dressing or clear Cuprinol to prolong its life if it is still sound.

There are other treatments such as Butinox or Sadolin which could also be used, but, for best lasting results, first you would be best to sand it a bit to remove the weathered surface.

New cedar cladding T+G is readily available at our local timber merchant, so I would not have thought it would be difficult to obtain.

On our previous house, about 30 years back, we fitted new brown guttering and replaced the fascias, barge boards and soffits with cedar T+G, which went well with the DG hardwood windows.

We made the mistake of driving past the old house a couple of years back, and saw that the present owners had had everything replaced......white upvc windows and white upvc fascias, soffits etc, and white guttering.......it looked terrible!

leveller2911

jennifernil wrote: »

Although cedar contains natural oils and ages to a grey-ish colour, there is no reason why you cannot treat it with cedar dressing or clear Cuprinol to prolong its life if it is still sound.

There are other treatments such as Butinox or Sadolin which could also be used, but, for best lasting results, first you would be best to sand it a bit to remove the weathered surface.


The reason people use Cedar is because it doesn't need treating.You can have a roof with Cedar "shingles" (tiles) instead of slate or clay tiles but you wouldn't get up on the roof every 3yrs to treat them with Cuprinol.You do see people sanding back the weathered surface of Cedar cladding but this is a not a good idea.
The reason being that grey weathering helps protect the Cedar below the surface.Western Red Cedar is very soft and sanding it down every 3-5 yrs will reduce its lifespan.

The only reason people need to use any coating on Cedar is to stop the greying and to do that you need to use a coating with a colouring (stain) which will then need treating every 3yrs or so to keep the colour.Not a job I would want to have to do every 3yrs or so.That said I do like the colour of new Cedar.

Totally agree with you re white Upvc ,it strips any house of all its charm and character.

iamcornholio

If the cladding has open joints, splits, cracks or cupping, then the only way to resolve this would be to remove and refix and replace any damaged boards

cyclonebri1

iamcornholio wrote: »

If the cladding has open joints, splits, cracks or cupping, then the only way to resolve this would be to remove and refix and replace any damaged boards

Ok, Yeah, that's the perfectionist answer, but in reality most folks need to know how to prolong the effectiveness, albeit reduced, of their existing protective cladding.

Scenario.

Day 1 you you clad

Expect 10 zillion year life span.

But performance degrades after a micro year

The decision is at what point does protection drop below the "value of improvement".,

Not an argument, but a different point of view, otherwise we would call all human beings at about 35 years of age, ;););)

ListysDad

iamcornholio wrote: »

If the cladding has open joints, splits, cracks or cupping, then the only way to resolve this would be to remove and refix and replace any damaged boards

+1

Once the weatherproofing goes the, typically softwood, battens begin to go much more quickly. So to get best life from the whole replace as needed.

BTW. If you do end up coating with some form of treatment and want to preserve, a product is NOT a preservative unless it specifically says 'preservative'. Its reasonably new European legislation.