u/rachelgolm

Please help me with my decision paralysis. I don’t know what the right move is here. This is my house, it has Cabot oil stain on it. It’s not my style and I want to have a more modern black house. Some things I’ve learned are not to sand this wood as it is rough sawn cedar and you really have to stick with the same product if you’re applying over the top of it. I don’t want the look of paint I like a semi-transparent more natural look with woodgrain showing through. I could…

1. Apply the semi transparent Cabot oil stain over the top of this in the black color. That’s what this watch is and it was just put on so it should become more matte. I was quoted 15k to wash the house and apply this.
2. Strip the house with a chemical wash let it dry and apply a new product (either oil or water base). Was quoted 30k plus from one Contractor and 20k from another.

My house doesn’t get much direct sunlight it’s a pretty forested area. I’m really torn on what would be best. House is 2000 square feet greater Seattle area.

I want to restain my house this summer and am going for a matte charcoal color. I want it to look natural and show wood grain. The house was built in 1999 and I believe the wood is cedar with an oil based stain. I was looking at c2 guard carbon and sansin onyx stains. Will a chemical wash and wood brightener do the trick to strip this? From my research these types of stains are ideally applied to raw wood. Any advice or warnings are much appreciated!