A Year-by-Year Cedar Maintenance Schedule

Cedar is low maintenance, not no maintenance, and the difference between cladding that lasts decades and cladding that needs replacing is almost entirely about small, regular attention. Here is a schedule that works for most Wellington homes.

Twice a year: clear what is holding water against the timber

The single most useful habit. Twice a year, ideally in autumn before the wet months and again in spring:

• Cut back any shrubs, climbers or garden growth touching the cladding, and keep a clear gap so air can move.
• Clear spouting and check downpipes. A blocked gutter overflowing down one section of wall is the most common cause of localised rot we see.
• Clear leaf litter and debris from anywhere it collects against the boards, including behind downpipes and on top of horizontal trims.
• Check that garden beds, bark and soil have not built up against the bottom boards.

None of this involves a ladder for most of it, and it takes an hour.

Annually: wash the cladding

A gentle wash once a year removes salt, dirt and the beginnings of mould and lichen. On coastal and harbour-facing properties this matters more, because salt holds moisture against the surface and accelerates breakdown of the coating.

Use low pressure. High-pressure water blasting on cedar drives water into the timber and can raise or damage the grain, which does more harm than the dirt it removes. If mould or lichen has taken hold, it needs treating rather than blasting.

Annually: walk around and look properly

Once a year, take twenty minutes and inspect. You are checking four things:

• Colour. How much has the sunny side faded compared with the sheltered side?
• Water. Splash a little on a few areas. Does it bead, or soak straight in? Soaking in means the protection is spent.
• Texture. Run a hand over the timber. Smooth is fine. Rough or fibrous means the surface has started to break down.
• Trouble spots. Bottom boards, under sills, around joinery, the tops of gables, and anywhere shaded.

Write down what you find, with the date. Two or three years of notes tells you your own house’s rate of change, which is far more useful than any general rule about intervals.

Every few years: recoat, on the evidence rather than the calendar

How often depends on the product on the timber, the exposure of each elevation and how sheltered the house is. A west-facing gable in the wind may need attention while a south wall is still fine, and doing the exposed elevations more often than the rest is a perfectly sensible approach.

Book it when the annual inspection tells you the coating is thinning, not when it has failed. Recoating a surface that is still sound is a wash and an application. Recoating one that has greyed involves sanding back, and the cost is several times higher. Our note on oil or water-based cedar stain covers what recoating involves for each system.

Deal with small repairs immediately

A split board, a lifted fixing or a failed sealant joint lets water in and keeps it there. These are cheap to fix in isolation and expensive to fix once the surrounding timber has softened. If the annual walk-around turns up three small things, get all three done at once rather than waiting for a bigger job.

What to avoid

• High-pressure washing. As above, it damages the timber surface.
• Painting over mould or lichen. It grows back through.
• Letting it go grey before acting. This is the decision that turns maintenance into restoration.
• Switching coating systems without checking what is already there. Putting a penetrating oil over a film-forming product does not work.

A realistic year

Autumn: clear growth and gutters, walk around and inspect. Spring: wash the cladding, clear growth again, book any repairs. Every few years, on the evidence: recoat, exposed elevations first.

If you would like us to inspect your cladding and tell you where it sits, get in touch, or read more about cedar restoration and cedar staining.