Everett Cedar Is Beautiful. That's Never Been the Question.
Nobody argues with cedar's looks. The grain, the warmth, the way it ages — on paper, and for the first year or two on a house, it's hard to beat. We get asked about it often, especially on older Everett homes and craftsman-style remodels where the original siding was cedar. But we don't install it anymore, and it's worth explaining exactly why, because the reasons have nothing to do with how cedar looks and everything to do with what it takes to keep it looking that way.
What Cedar Actually Requires Over Time
Cedar is a real wood product, and wood moves, absorbs moisture, and breaks down under UV and weather exposure — that's not a defect, it's just what wood does. To keep cedar siding performing and looking good, it needs an ongoing maintenance schedule that most homeowners underestimate when they first choose it:
- Restaining or resealing roughly every 2 to 4 years, depending on sun and weather exposure
- Regular inspection for checking, cupping, and splitting as boards expand and contract with moisture cycles
- Prompt attention to any failed caulking or finish, since exposed wood grain absorbs water quickly
- Periodic cleaning to keep moss, algae, and mildew from taking hold in shaded or north-facing areas
- Watching for insect activity, particularly where siding sits close to grade or landscaping
None of that is unreasonable for a homeowner who wants a wood exterior and is committed to the upkeep. The problem is that most people don't find out about that commitment until a few years in, when the finish is already failing and the maintenance bill is bigger than expected.
Why Snohomish County's Climate Makes This Worse, Not Better
Everett sits close enough to Puget Sound that salt-laden air is a real factor on siding, and that air accelerates finish breakdown on wood far faster than it does on a sealed factory finish. Add in the driving rain that comes through Snohomish County most of the year, and cedar's biggest vulnerability — moisture getting behind or into the wood — gets tested constantly, not occasionally.
Then there's moss. Anyone who's owned a home here for more than a couple of years knows the moss season isn't a minor annoyance — it's a long stretch where shaded walls, north-facing elevations, and anywhere airflow is limited stay damp enough for moss and algae to establish and spread. On cedar, that's not just a cosmetic issue. Moss holds moisture directly against the wood surface, which is exactly the condition that leads to rot, especially at butt joints, corners, and anywhere the finish has started to thin.
We're not describing a worst-case scenario here — this is the ordinary weather pattern of the area, applied to a material that depends on an intact protective finish to perform. Once that finish starts to go, the clock on moisture damage starts running, and it runs faster here than in drier climates.
The Trade-Off We're Not Willing to Put Our Name On
Every siding material involves trade-offs, and we're upfront about all of them, including with the products we do install. With cedar, the trade-off is this: you get a genuinely attractive, natural material in exchange for a maintenance commitment that doesn't let up, in a climate that actively works against the finish protecting it. When that upkeep gets deferred — and on a busy household, it usually does, at least for a season or two — the repair costs that follow (spot replacement, refinishing larger sections, addressing rot at trim and joints) tend to outweigh what a homeowner saved by choosing a lower-maintenance product in the first place.
As a contractor, we'd rather have that conversation honestly before installation than get the call five years later when a homeowner is dealing with soft boards near the foundation or a finish that's peeling in sheets off a west-facing wall. That's why cedar isn't part of what we offer.
What We Install Instead, and Why
We install James Hardie fiber cement siding exclusively. It's not wood, so it doesn't absorb moisture the way cedar does, and it isn't vulnerable to rot or insect damage in the same way. Hardie's HZ5 product line is engineered specifically for the kind of wet, marine-influenced climate Snohomish County sits in, and the ColorPlus factory finish is baked on under controlled conditions rather than applied on-site — which means it holds up to UV and salt air significantly longer than a field-applied stain, without the multi-year recoat cycle cedar demands.
Hardie is also non-combustible, which matters increasingly to insurers and homeowners alike, and it carries a strong transferable warranty that reflects the manufacturer's confidence in how the product performs over decades, not just years. When it's installed to spec — correct flashing, proper clearances, factory-finished joints — it's about as close to "install it and stop worrying about it" as siding gets.
We don't say any of this to talk cedar down as a material. It has its place, and plenty of skilled tradespeople install and maintain it well. It's just not what we're willing to put on a home when we know what Everett's rain, salt air, and moss season will do to it over the next decade.
If you're weighing siding options for your home, we're happy to walk through what we'd actually recommend and why — no pressure, no obligation. Reach out for a free estimate and we'll give you a straight answer.