Lynden Cedar Looks Great on the Showroom Sample. Whatcom County Weather Has Other Plans.
Cedar siding sells itself in the first five minutes of a homeowner meeting. The grain, the warmth, the way it takes a stain — there's a reason it's been a Pacific Northwest favorite for generations. We're not going to pretend otherwise. What we will do is tell you what happens to that same board twelve, twenty, and thirty years down the road once it's hanging on a house in Lynden, taking on driving rain off the Nooksack Valley, salt-tinged air pushing in from the Strait of Georgia, and a moss season that can run eight months out of the year in a wet cycle. That's the part the sample board in the showroom never shows you.
This page isn't an attack on cedar as a material. It's an honest look at the maintenance commitment it demands, written by a contractor who chose not to install it. We only install James Hardie fiber cement siding, and we think homeowners deserve to know why before they sign a contract for either product.
What Cedar Actually Gets Right
Credit where it's due. Cedar is a genuinely good building material when it's properly finished and maintained:
- Naturally resistant to decay and insects compared to other softwoods, thanks to the oils in the wood
- Excellent insulating properties relative to its weight
- A grain and depth that manufactured products still get compared against
- Renewable, and when sourced responsibly, a lower embodied-carbon option than some alternatives
None of that is in dispute. The problem isn't what cedar is when it's installed. It's what cedar becomes after five Whatcom County winters without perfect upkeep.
The Maintenance Cycle Nobody Puts in the Sales Pitch
Cedar siding is not a "wash it once a year and forget it" product. It's a finish-dependent product, meaning the wood itself is only as protected as the stain or sealant sitting on top of it — and that layer breaks down on a clock, not a whim.
Staining and Sealing
A semi-transparent or solid-body stain on cedar siding typically needs recoating every 3 to 5 years in a marine-influenced climate like ours, sometimes sooner on south- and west-facing walls that take the brunt of sun and wind-driven rain. Skip a cycle and you're not just losing curb appeal — you're letting UV and moisture start working directly on bare wood.
Caulking and Joint Maintenance
Every board joint, corner, and trim intersection needs to be inspected annually and re-caulked as it fails. Cedar expands and contracts with moisture more than fiber cement does, which means those joints move more and open up faster.
Washing
Soft-washing to remove mildew, pollen, and organic buildup before it embeds in the grain is recommended annually, sometimes twice a year on shaded elevations — which, on a heavily treed Lynden lot, can be most of the house.
Where the Pacific Northwest Climate Turns This From a Chore Into a Risk
A homeowner in a dry climate who falls a year or two behind on cedar maintenance loses some curb appeal. A homeowner in Whatcom County who falls behind is often dealing with something more expensive.
Moisture Load
Lynden sits in one of the wetter agricultural valleys in the state, and the combination of driving rain, morning fog off the river bottoms, and long stretches without full drying sun means cedar siding here rarely gets the recovery time it would in a drier region. Wood siding needs to dry out between wet events. When it doesn't, moisture works its way past a failing finish and into the board itself.
Moss and Algae
A long moss season is one of the defining features of siding maintenance on this side of the state. Moss and algae don't just look bad — they hold moisture directly against the wood surface for extended periods, which accelerates finish breakdown and, eventually, rot at the cellular level. North-facing walls and anything shaded by mature trees or neighboring structures are especially prone.
Salt Air
Homes closer to the coast and the Strait deal with airborne salt that accelerates finish degradation and corrodes fasteners faster than an inland climate would. Even Lynden's inland location doesn't fully escape this influence during onshore wind patterns.
Rot at the Vulnerable Points
Bottom courses near grade, window sills, and any spot where two pieces of wood meet end-grain to end-grain are where cedar siding fails first. End grain absorbs water far faster than the face of the board, and once rot starts in a hidden joint, it can spread behind the siding before it's visible from the outside.
Insects and Wildlife
Cedar's natural oils give it real resistance to insects when the wood is fresh-cut and the finish is intact. That resistance fades as the boards age and the finish wears thin, and a weathered, softening board is far more attractive to carpenter ants and other wood-boring insects than it was the day it went up. Woodpeckers are also a documented nuisance on cedar siding in wooded areas — often drawn to the insect activity happening just beneath the surface.
Fire Considerations
Cedar is a combustible wood product. That's simply a physical fact of the material, not a knock on anyone who owns it. For homeowners weighing wildfire exposure, insurance considerations, or just wanting one less combustible surface on the exterior of the home, it's a factor worth being clear-eyed about before committing to a full wood exterior.
What the Real Cost Looks Like Over Time
The sticker price on cedar siding installation can look competitive with fiber cement. The number that matters is the cost over the life of the siding, including labor for recurring maintenance.
| Factor | Cedar Siding | James Hardie Fiber Cement |
|---|---|---|
| Refinishing cycle | Every 3-5 years | ColorPlus finish backed by a long factory finish warranty; repainting not required on that cycle |
| Caulk/joint inspection | Annual | Minimal, engineered joints |
| Moisture/rot vulnerability | High in wet climates without upkeep | Non-combustible, engineered for moisture exposure |
| Insect resistance | Good when new, declines with age/finish wear | Not a food source for insects |
| Combustibility | Combustible | Non-combustible |
| Typical warranty | Varies by finish product, not the siding itself | Long, transferable manufacturer warranty on the siding |
None of this means cedar is a bad product. It means cedar shifts a meaningful share of its lifetime cost from the install date into years of ongoing labor and materials — labor that, in a wet climate like ours, isn't optional if you want the siding to reach its expected lifespan.
If You Already Have Cedar Siding: A Realistic Maintenance Checklist
For homeowners who have cedar now and want to protect that investment, here's what keeping it in good condition actually requires:
- Inspect the full exterior every spring and fall, paying special attention to bottom courses and shaded walls
- Soft-wash annually to remove moss, algae, and organic buildup before it sets into the grain
- Recoat stain or sealant every 3-5 years, sooner on sun- and wind-exposed elevations
- Re-caulk failed joints as soon as they're spotted, not on a fixed schedule
- Keep vegetation and irrigation spray pulled back from the siding to reduce standing moisture
- Address any soft or discolored board immediately — waiting allows hidden rot to spread behind adjacent boards
- Check fastener condition periodically, especially on homes closer to the coast
Why We Install James Hardie Instead
We made a decision as a company to install only James Hardie fiber cement siding, and cedar's maintenance profile is a core reason. Hardie's HZ5 product line is engineered specifically for climates like ours — freeze-thaw cycles, sustained moisture exposure, and the kind of year-round dampness that defines a Lynden winter. It's non-combustible, it doesn't feed insects, and the factory-applied ColorPlus finish is baked on under controlled conditions and backed by a finish warranty that isn't dependent on a homeowner keeping up a recoating schedule.
That doesn't mean fiber cement siding is maintenance-free forever — no exterior product is. But the maintenance burden is dramatically lower, the failure points that plague wood siding in wet climates largely aren't a factor, and the warranty structure is built around the siding itself rather than a topcoat that needs constant renewal. When we're standing behind our installs with our own name, that's the trade-off we're comfortable making.
Talk to Us Before You Decide
If you're weighing cedar against fiber cement for a Lynden home, we're happy to walk your property, talk through your specific exposure — sun, shade, tree cover, proximity to weather — and give you a straight answer about what each option would actually mean for your maintenance calendar and long-term cost. Reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate using the form below.