Painting Exterior Timber Cladding: Products, Prep and Costs

Exterior timber cladding can be coated in three broad ways, and each one ages differently. Opaque exterior wood paint gives a solid colour and the most protection against UV, but when it fails it flakes and needs scraping. Translucent or semi-transparent stains let the grain show and tend to wear away gradually rather than peel, which makes recoating easier. Oils soak in and look natural, but need topping up most often.

There's no single right answer. Modern, contemporary homes often suit solid colours in dark greys, blacks and greens. Rural properties and garden buildings suit stains and oils that show the grain. If the cladding is on a high gable that needs access equipment to reach, choose whatever will go longest between recoats.

Softwoods such as redwood, spruce and treated pine take paint well once they're dry and primed. Larch and Douglas fir are resinous and can bleed through light colours, so they need a stain-blocking primer on knots. Western red cedar and oak are tannin-rich and can stain pale paint brown unless they're properly sealed. Thermally modified timber is stable but often left to silver naturally.

Many people choose naturally durable cladding precisely so they don't have to paint it. If yours is already silvered and you're happy with the look, leaving it alone is a legitimate choice. Once you paint it, though, you're committed to maintaining that paint.

Cladding fails at the ends of boards, along the bottom edges and wherever water sits. A painter will typically:

Brushing remains the most reliable way to work coatings into the grain and the overlaps of shiplap or tongue-and-groove boards, though spraying is fast on large, flat elevations with good masking. Two coats of paint or stain are normal, sometimes three on bare, weathered timber. The coating must cover the underside edges of the boards, where water drips and UV doesn't reach, otherwise rot starts there.

Timing matters. Avoid painting in direct, hot sun, which dries the coating too quickly, and don't paint when rain or overnight dew is likely before it's touch-dry. Late spring to early autumn is ideal – see the best time of year to paint a house exterior.

Prices depend mostly on access, the condition of the existing coating and the type of board.

Wash cladding gently once a year to remove dirt and algae, check the bottom edges and end grain each spring, and touch up any small failures before water gets in. South- and west-facing elevations will fade fastest, so you may find those need recoating a year or two before the others. Darker colours absorb more heat and can move more, so a quality, flexible paint is worth the extra cost.

For more on exterior woodwork, see painting woodwork and water-based vs oil-based paint. You can get quotes from local exterior painters who'll assess the cladding before pricing.