I'm preparing to replace some "raked" cedar shake siding on my house. After application the siding will be painted. The siding will be done in a double course method. I went to my local Home Depot to rent a pneumatic nailer and buy the appropriate nails. Home Depot had a "siding hammer" for rent and "electrogalvanized" siding nails. I noticed that the nail box had a notation that the nails should not be used on cedar, treated lumber, or any exposed use, due to the potential for discoloration. The employee helping me didn't really appear to know what he was doing and I could find no other "siding nails" that weren't "electrogalvanized". The warning said that acid content in cedar made the "electrogalvanized" inappropriate. The nails will not be exposed to the elements. I thought one of you guys might have the experience my Home Depot friend lacked. Thanks.

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SWCA #1917

Use aluminum nails, stainless steel nails, or at a minimum couple hot dip galvanized nails. Anything less and you will have nail weep marks and ruined paint.

Ok, thanks. Guess I'll have to look a little further than Home Depot.

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SWCA #1917

I used square drive ss screws for a cedar fence. Since you'll be painting the exposed area of the nails I wouldn't worry about weep stains. You'll have to use a primer sealer to make paint stick so the nail head should be protected by at least a couple layers of sealer. The sq drive ss screws are great. Super sharp so no need to pre drill and the square drive wont slip or strip.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Why paint cedar, and if you are going to paint, why not get something a whole lot cheaper that likes paint? Or something that is already finished? Flapjack.

I'm replacing the siding on one side of my house (so. side). The rest of the siding is in good shape but the years have taken a toll on that side. I want to get it back to original condition and repaint the entire house. I have the material here and ready to go, just ran into this fastener problem. I guess I'll probably end up buying some ss or aluminum siding nails tomorrow and doing it the "old fashion way", by hand!

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SWCA #1917

Looks like I might end up doing it by hand so I'll check into the idea of using screws, thanks.

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SWCA #1917

Prime and possible 1st coat before installing,all sides,use a bucket to dip them and then brush of extra.Stainless nails.Kenna

Happily I got that part right. I bought primed shakes. The difference in price was pretty minimal considering the time and work saved.

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SWCA #1917

Two coats of the Behr purple can primer (water based) or the blue can primer (oil based but takes a while to dry should seal the tannins in the shakes.

I never had a customer tell me the Behr primer sucked. The Glidden Gripper had a few complaints and the rest people crabbed some here and there. Prep is the hardest past our bundles of shakes looked like they were dug out of a pit. The better you clean them off the better you will be. I see a lot of work but great results if done right. They make special cleaners you can use on them.