Looking to spruce up the exterior of your house? A quick and easy way is to add cedar accents. This can range from wrapping columns, trimming windows and doors, adding it to your soffits, porch or patio ceilings, or even lining flower beds.
The rich look of cedar can transform any front or backyard without breaking the bank. Cedar trim comes in a wide variety of sizes so you can get what you need for your specific project. And besides looking good, cedar is a natural insect repellant and inhibitor as well as weather resistant.
After install, we recommend staining the Cedar accents with Sherwin Williams WoodScapes Exterior Polyurethane Semi-Transparent House Stain in the color Cedar Bark.
Here are a few tips I've learned along the way!
Use a rag to stain, skip out on the brush. It's much easier to control the amount of stain and it helps you avoid runs in your stain. I learned this from Shanty 2 Chic here.
Always stir your stain with a paint stick. The pigment in the stain will settle at the bottom of the can and you could get an uneven coat or the stain could be much more transparent than desired.
If the wood is raw, use a semi-transparent stain. While it may be enticing to use the solid stains after you read the cans, don't do it! In my opinion, solid stains are for older pieces of wood that need more protection. They are also harder to use. So if you are new to staining, you will probably get a better result with the semi-transparent stain anyway.
This was one of our largest remodels to date, New York. The New York house lacked curb appeal and dimension. In order to make the house stand out, we added cedar columns and a cedar accent on the front of the house. The color of the wood popped against the white siding and black tin roof.