Skagit County Cedar Has Real Appeal — We're Not Pretending Otherwise
We get asked about cedar siding often, especially from homeowners in older Mount Vernon and La Conner neighborhoods who love the look of natural wood on a farmhouse or craftsman-style home. Cedar has a warm, authentic texture that manufactured products spend a lot of effort trying to imitate. It's a renewable material, it's relatively easy to mill and install in custom shapes, and it holds paint and stain reasonably well when it's new. None of that is in dispute.
The problem isn't day one. It's year five, year ten, and every year after that — particularly here in Skagit County, where the climate is about as hard on wood siding as it gets in the Pacific Northwest.
What Skagit County's Climate Does to Cedar
Cedar is a natural, permeable material, which means it moves with moisture — swelling when wet, shrinking when it dries out. In a drier inland climate that cycle is manageable. In Skagit County, the wood rarely gets a chance to fully dry between rain events. Driving rain off Skagit Bay and Puget Sound drives moisture directly into wall assemblies, and the salt air along the Anacortes and Fidalgo Island shorelines accelerates the breakdown of finishes and fasteners on anything wood-based.
Then there's moss. Skagit County's long, cool, wet season — often stretching from fall through late spring — is close to ideal moss and algae growing conditions. On cedar, moss isn't just cosmetic. It holds moisture directly against the wood surface, which is exactly the condition that leads to soft spots, rot, and paint or stain failure. Homeowners end up power-washing, scraping, and re-treating siding on a cycle that never really ends.
The Maintenance Commitment Cedar Actually Requires
- Refinishing every 3-5 years: Stain and clear sealants break down under UV and moisture exposure and need to be stripped and reapplied to protect the wood underneath.
- Ongoing moss and mildew treatment: Left untreated, growth traps moisture against the board and accelerates decay — a real issue given how many months a year Skagit County stays damp.
- Caulk and joint inspection: Wood movement from wet/dry cycles opens seams over time, and once water gets behind a board, rot can start where you can't see it.
- Board replacement: Even well-maintained cedar eventually needs individual boards replaced due to rot, insect damage, or warping — an ongoing cost most homeowners don't budget for upfront.
None of this makes cedar a bad product. It makes it a high-maintenance one, and that maintenance burden is significantly higher in a marine, high-rainfall climate like ours than it would be in a drier region.
Other Practical Trade-Offs
Beyond moisture, cedar is combustible, which matters more each year as insurance carriers scrutinize exterior materials on new policies and renewals. It's also more susceptible to insect damage — carpenter ants and other wood-boring pests are drawn to damp, softened wood, and a moss-covered, moisture-retaining wall is an invitation. And because cedar's condition depends heavily on how well it's maintained, manufacturer and installer warranties on wood siding tend to be far more limited than what's available on modern engineered products.
| Cedar Siding | James Hardie Fiber Cement | |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture behavior | Absorbs, swells, requires sealing | Engineered to resist moisture damage |
| Refinishing cycle | Every 3-5 years | Factory ColorPlus finish holds far longer |
| Moss/algae impact | Traps moisture against wood | Doesn't rot from surface growth |
| Combustibility | Combustible | Non-combustible |
| Warranty | Limited, maintenance-dependent | Strong transferable manufacturer warranty |
Why We Only Install James Hardie
We made a decision a while back to stop installing wood siding products, cedar included, and put our name behind James Hardie fiber cement exclusively. Hardie's HZ5 product line is engineered for exactly the conditions we deal with in this region — sustained moisture, freeze-thaw swings, and long wet seasons — without the swelling, warping, and rot vulnerability that comes with real wood. The factory-applied ColorPlus finish is baked on under controlled conditions, so it holds its color far longer than a field-applied stain, and it comes backed by a real transferable warranty instead of one that quietly depends on how diligently the homeowner keeps up with refinishing.
It's also non-combustible, which matters for both safety and, increasingly, for insurance costs — something more Skagit County homeowners are asking about as carriers tighten their underwriting on exterior materials.
We're not telling you cedar is a scam or that everyone who has it made a mistake. We're telling you that after years of doing this work in this specific climate, we don't think it's a responsible product for us to install and warranty. Fiber cement gets you the durability this county's weather demands without turning your siding into a recurring maintenance project.
If you're weighing cedar against a lower-maintenance alternative, or your existing cedar siding is starting to show its age, we're happy to walk your home with you and give you an honest read on your options. Reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate.