- Q.What’s the best way
to treat new white cedar shingles to give them a gray,
weathered look?
A.Martin Obando, director
of application specifications for the Cedar Shake
and Shingle Bureau, responds: If your customer
is unwilling to wait for the natural weathering
process, new cedar shingles can be either stained
or treated with bleaching oil.
Using a gray semi-transparent stain is the
fastest way to change the color of new shingles. It
is important to choose a stain that includes a
fungicide, since fungus can cause black stains on
cedar shingles.
Bleaching oil, which is available from Cabot
Stains (800/877-8246), requires the action of
sunlight to change shingle color. Bleaching oil
accelerates the natural weathering process and will
turn new cedar shingles a uniform gray in 6 to 12
months.