Factory Prefinishing

• Low Maintenance Solid Colors

• Beautiful Semi-Transparent Stains

• Bleaching Stain (accelerated weathering)

Western Red Cedar is an excellent base for paints and stains. A properly applied factory finish can last just as long on cedar as it does on artificial siding products. Real time testing of western red cedar, prefinished with a solid color, was rated "good as new" after 20 years of exposure to typical conditions.

Paints and stains perform best when applied in a controlled environment, before the shingles have been exposed to sunlight and environmental contaminants. Exposure to sun, rain, and high or low temperatures, during finishing or curing, compromises the quality of the finish. Ecoshel shingles are kiln dried to the ideal moisture percentage before finishing.

Factory prefinishing coats all surfaces, front, back, and edges, to prevent the shingles from absorbing moisture. Back priming significantly increases the life of the finish, and also provides greater dimensional stability, which helps prevent cupping and curling.

Ecoshel uses premium quality Sikkens / Proluxe PPG stains. Shingle-strips are immersed in the stain, and then power brushed to drive the finish into the wood.

Prefinishing all surfaces uses much more finish than painting in the field, but, typically, still costs less. Ecoshel Shingle-strips are ideal for prefinishing because they require very little cutting and handling, so touch-up after installation is minimal.

Solid Color Stains

Solid Colors – Stock colors shown below.

Ecoshel will match any solid color.

Semi-Transparent Stains

Custom colors developed specifically for Western Red Cedar Shingles.

Ecoshel sidewall installations will last for decades, with or without paint or stain. The primary maintenance concern is how long the finish will last, and how the finish affects the color of the wood.

While solid color stains will look good as new after 20 years, the challenge for a semi-transparent stain is to provide enough protection from UV rays to prevent "graying" of the wood beneath the finish. Ecoshel uses  finishes that include high quality trans-oxide ground pigments and UV blockers, to provide the best protection from graying.

Generally, darker stains like Walnut, will block UV much better than lighter stains like Cedar Naturaltone. Clear finishes are not recommended because the wood will begin turning gray within a year or two.

You should plan on re-coating lighter ST stains in 5 - 7 years. Darker ST stains could last twice as long before they need to be re-coated. The stains will fade and weather over time, but that can be a nice quality. Like an old pair of  jeans, semi-transparent stains are a work in progress that will develop character over time. If you think of your house as a canvas, and you're willing to manage the evolution of the finish, semi-transparent stains enable you to create a true work of art with exceptional character.

Semi-transparent stains are easily renewed  by adding another coat, or washing with special solutions that will restore the new wood coloring. Because Ecoshel uses stains rather than paints, there is no film to crack or peel when the finish fails, so re-finishing is relatively easy. See the maintenance section for information on restoring semi-transparent finishes.

Solid color stains can always be applied over semi-transparent stains, so if you really want a very low maintenance finish, you might still consider starting with a semi-transparent to enjoy the beauty of the wood, and then top coat with a solid color when it's time to refinish.

Semi-transparent stains are shown in 3 different color groups, Naturaltones, Weathered Grays, or Colors.

NOTE: "Tannin bleeding" may occur with semi-transparent finishes. The tannins that give cedar it's color sometimes migrate to the surface and form a stain. If tannin stains do occur, they can be easily washed off. See the maintenance section for more information.

Semi-Transparent Naturaltones

Sanded Western Red Cedar has a wide range of wood tones, from blonde to dark brown, that provide beautiful color variations when finished with semi-transparent stains. This chart shows each stain color on Western Red Cedar shingles with different tones.

Light Cedar

Cedar Naturaltone

Cedar Sunset

Sierra

Red Cedar

Dark Cedar

Butternut

Fawn

Weathered Brown

Russet

Chestnut

Walnut

Oxford Brown

Hickory

UV-5 Naturaltones

UV-5 stains use a penetrating hybrid acrylic / oil base with trans-oxide pigments. These stains enhances the tonal variations in the wood, providing more contrast than the semi-transparent finishes above.

Cedar Ridge

Cedar Coast

Canyon Light

Semi-Transparent Weathered Grays

Sanded Western Red Cedar has a wide range of wood tones that provide beautiful color variations when finished with semi-transparent stains. This chart shows each stain color on Western Red Cedar shingles with different tones. For a natural weathered gray appearance, also consider using the Bleaching Stain finish shown below.

Cape Cod Gray

Riverbed

Harbor Mist

Harbor Gray

Beachwood

Willow

Quail

Nantucket

Driftwood

Stonehedge

Blue Granite

Stonewood

Charcoal

Cinder

Semi-Transparent Colors

Natural Redwood

Navajo Red

Cottage Red

Spruce

Forest Green

Adirondack Green

Bleaching Stain

Bleaching Stain accelerates the weathering process, changing the color of the wood to the same beautiful weathered gray that would normally require many years of weathering to achieve. The finish includes a temporary semi-transparent gray stain that is designed to weather off as the bleach in the finish changes the color of the wood.

One advantage of using the Bleaching Stain is that there is no finish to maintain once the process is complete. The process also eliminates any concerns about tannin bleeding that could occur with semi-transparent gray stains that simulate the weathered appearance.

Bleaching Stain is a great solution for customers who want the look of weathered white cedar, but the greater dimensional stabilty of clear vertical grain Western Red Cedar. We recommend using Ecoshel Premium CVG #1-A Shingle-Strips for bleaching stain applications

One disadvantage of bleaching finishes is that you have less control over the gray color than when using a semi-transparent gray stain, although you could always finish with a semi-transparent stain, after bleaching, to achieve a specific gray. Most customers are very happy with the natural gray color that develops..

In some environments, a second coat of Bleaching Stain, applied in the field, may be required to achieve the desired level of weathering.