5 Tips for Staining Cottage Siding

Staining The Cottage

How to stain siding on a cottage, cabin, lake house or chalet

Staining the cottage is one of those maintenance projects that cabin owners love to avoid. However, it is important to ensure the wood siding remains protected. This also keeps the cabin looking great.

Cottage staining tips

1. Choose the right type of stain that works best for your cabin
Experts recommend using a combination of oil and acrylic. The hybrid mix makes the application easier. It is a good choice when you don’t know if the previous coat is oil or acrylic. The hybrid stain will work in both situations. Clean-up is also less stressful than when you go with oil-based stain.

2. Pick the best time to stain the cottage
A day that is 20 degree Celsius and partly cloudy would be ideal weather to stain the cabin. In most cases, stain requires a day or two to dry. As such, it is best to avoid starting the project if there is a chance of rain for the next 48 hours.

Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of waiting for a perfect day to stain the cottage.

On hot and sunny days, begin with the shaded sides of the building in the morning hours and follow the sun through the day to avoid working in direct sunlight.

Staining or painting in direct sunlight can be very uncomfortable. In addition, the intensity of the sun’s rays might impact the quality of the job.

3. Keep the job simple and efficient
Pour about 25% of the stain from the can into the bucket, pail, or can you want to use to do the work. This minimizes the mess in the event there is a spill. The strategy also enables you to use the stain efficiently.

Sometimes the remaining paint in the work can is dirty at the end of the day, so we want to minimize the amount we pour back into the original can when the job is complete.

Special tip: When multiple cans are needed, it is advisable to combine the cans before you start to ensure the colour doesn’t change. Ideally, the hardware store gets the mix exact, but that’s not always the case.

Stir frequently to maintain steady tint.

4. Use a test spot before you begin
Pick a small area that is not easily visible and do a test spot. It is better to check to make sure the siding absorbs the stain properly and the colour appears as expected.

5. Use the best staining technique
Strive to apply a consistent wet edge. Focus on two or three boards at a time. Lap marks might turn up when the stain dries if the application isn’t done properly. Start at the top of the cottage and work your way down. Stain across complete boards.

By: Andrew Walker

Advertisement




Comments are closed.