Cedar Stain Restoration Project in Boulder, CO
Boulder’s mix of modern new builds and charming old homes is the perfect combination for LIME’s capabilities. This popular metro city is one of our up-and-coming territories to service.
Assessment: This beautiful cedar home in Boulder hadn’t been stained for over a decade. The home was treated with linseed oil a couple years prior to LIME servicing it, but linseed oil is merely a temporary preservative. We noticed that the tone in the cedar was inconsistent, as the UV rays had discolored the wood, especially in areas of heavy sun exposure, such as the south side and areas not shaded by trees. More importantly, there were a number of areas on the home that exhibited dark mildew stains from extensive water exposure. We noticed that these black areas were all below areas that had no gutter to protect from water flow. LIME was confident we would be able to remove some of the stains, but it wouldn’t be until the prep phase that we could identify the depths of the stains.
Advice: As with all LIME projects, this home was first prepped with a thorough power wash, which was necessary to remove the surface level dirt, dust, and mildew. LIME utilized a deconcentrated tip when spraying the exposed cedar to prevent damage to the wood. Application of trisodium phosphate and bleach would be the remedy to the dark mildewed areas. LIME brushed the areas with a wire brush and lightly sanded to remove the dark areas. Once the area was prepped, we used a premium oil-based stain to protect, treat, and tone the wood. Our choice was the Sikkens SRD one-coat system stain in a natural cedar tone which deeply penetrates the wood and dries with a protective barrier. When applying the stain, LIME used a spray method and followed up with brushing the more porous areas into the wood. The result was a beautiful mountain cedar home!
