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My neighbor's comment about my cedar fence made me feel silly
I spent like 3 weekends staining my fence last summer with this expensive oil based stain. Then my neighbor Bob, who's been a carpenter for like 40 years, just casually mentioned that I should have used a water based sealer instead because cedar breathes differently. He said 'you basically sealed it in plastic wrap, it'll crack in a couple years.' I didn't think about it at the time but now I'm looking at a few spots where the wood is already splitting. Has anyone else messed up with oil vs water based stains on cedar? I'm wondering if I should strip it down now or just wait until it gets worse.
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tylerlane7d ago
Everyone has that one neighbor who knows everything right after you learn it the hard way. Kind of like how I painted my deck one summer and then found out you're supposed to let pressure treated wood dry for like six months first. Part of me thinks these little mistakes are just how we build up a mental library of stuff not to do next time.
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ward.mason7d ago
Oh man, I don't know if it's that deep lol. I mean yeah you learn stuff the hard way sometimes but half the time the "right way" is some overblown internet rule that doesn't even matter. I painted my fence right after I built it and it's been fine for like three years now. People act like the world's gonna end if you don't wait six months but really it's just wood. You're not building a spacecraft, you know?
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