Should I Use Paint Or Stain For This Exterior

Miniroller

This exterior is "rough side out" cedar. It has been previously been coated with an oil-based exterior stain and is now a severe mildew magnet. The many sprinklers and the house being on the salt water probably doesn't help matters any. I have powerwashed, bleached, scraped, power/hand sanded, sealed every freakin knot and primed this trim with Cabot problem solver oil primer. I was going to put a semigloss acrylic paint on but now i am thinking an acrylic stain (with mildewcide added) may be a better option. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Brushslingers

I did a few townhomes not too long ago here that had the cedar plank and soild body stain deal... I primed and painted them. Whatever you decide, just keep in mind that mildewcide only covers paint film, not underneath the film. Here in Tally we have so much tree cover and humidity, combined with 20 mile away salt from the coast... everything rots in a year, even plastic.

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Jon F

To me, this should be an "appearance" decision. I think Cape Cod, I don't think shiny paint, I think solid stain. That's what I'd do. Geez, I'd recommend the Cabot product I'd use but they have so many I cannot even remember. Solid stain will give A LITTLE more transparancy than paint......allowing the cedar grain to show a little.

Miniroller

What would fight the reappearance of mildew better, stain or paint? Also, will acrylic stain help stop the cedar bleed? I have painted maybe 25 exteriors, all of them on Cape Cod and I have never seen mildew problem as bad as this. Fortunately , the mildew growth is on the exterior of the trim. Some is underneath the finish, mainly on the window crown. Nothing I can do about that so maybe I'll seal the mildew stain in and buy some time. Thanks for the input.

P.S. Brushslinger, are you telling me that the PVC trim rots within a year? As easy as that stuff is to paint I depise working with it.

Brushslingers

That stuff could take a few years.. heh, I meant a plastic bucket left outside will fall apart in your hands in under a year. This town is right on the border of the apalachicola nat forest, and in a valley... so we live pretty much all year with half shade, sea breezes, high temps and 90ish% humidity. Carpenters make a killing repairing wood rot, building crickets and etc.

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slickshift

Moving the house to North Adams would be the best way to fight the mildew




How's the yard look? Lot's of trees and shrubs?
Any of them touching the house?

And it's not clear, is the mildew on the siding or trim?

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

Miniroller

North Adams? There is no mildew in North Adams but plenty of beer and pretty college girls and that may be enough for me.

Yes, there are trees and shrubs and lots of sprinklers. All the trees have some sort of green lichen or moss growing on them. None of them touch the house. This house is 200 feet away from a salt water river.The house is stained shingles (factory acrylic). Most of the shingles are holding up well with relatively no mildew. The trim is the problem area. I am hoping to put a finish on that will slow any new mildew growth and be easy to clean. Last year, I refinished their decks, railings, and balusters. Had to take most of them down to bare wood again, the previous painter had used oil stain on the balusters and they were black with mildew when I showed up on the scene. These were all smooth finish and I used Ben Moore SoftGloss on balusters, Sikkens on rails and decking and it came out great. The trim that is in question is very rough (cedar plank?). This is a great account and I want to make these people happy so I am trying to go that extra mile.
I dont have much experience with acrylic stain but i figured if there ever was a case for it this would be it.

slickshift

In this situation, I'm not sure one is going to be more mildew resistant than the other
All the moisture naturally around here (The Land Of Rust And Mildew), all the trees blocking the sun's UV rays, all that pollen from them for food and the sprinklers
It's doomed

I think the best way to keep the mildew at bay is regular maintenance
(and re-align or ditch the sprinklers, cut some trees...)
They need to have that place powerwashed and powerwashed properly and often

With that in mind, I think your original plan is a better idea
I'd go with quality paint with the additive
That place itself is a mold/mildew factory
I don't think anything will hold off the green/black stuff w/o regular maintenance

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

bob14-0

Did a search and this thread couldn't have been more timely. I demo'd the old railing system on small deck in Michigan where the exact (above) scenario was occuring; site-built cedar spindles, stained with Ben Moore oil based solid stain (contained meldicide), medium yellow color. By the end of 3 consecutive summers, the bottom and top rail, and the spindles were pretty well invaded with green mildew. Talked to folks at Ben Moore; advised me to remove mildew, sand and recoat with solid latex solid stain. Same occurance of mildew with latex solid stain. Question: with the new railing system I plan on installing this spring, should I prime the cedar first; not use cedar; avoid oil based solid stain? I really like the look of solid over semi stransparent, as does the customer. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this project starts real soon. BTW, the deck in question faces south and gets plenty of air flow.

Thanks, Bob