Paint vs. Stain for Exterior Wood: The Maintenance Reality

One of the most iconic looks for a tiny house is natural Western Red Cedar siding. It looks warm, inviting, and organic.

However, keeping wood looking like wood is a battle against the sun.

When choosing a finish for your tiny house exterior, you are really choosing your future maintenance schedule. Do you want to re-coat every year, or every 7 years? Do you want to scrub a surface, or scrape peeling flakes?

This guide breaks down the three main contenders: Clear Coats, Stains, and Paints.

1. The “Natural Look” Trap: Clear Sealers

Many first-time builders want to keep that “fresh lumber” look, so they apply a clear UV sealer or spar varnish.

• The Look: Stunning. It highlights the grain and color variations perfectly.
• The Maintenance Cycle: 12 to 24 Months.
• The Reality: Clear coats have almost no pigment to block UV rays. The sun shines through the clear coat, degrades the wood fibers underneath, and causes the coating to separate.
• The Failure Mode: It peels like a bad sunburn. To fix it, you often have to sand the entire house down to bare wood before re-coating. Avoid this unless you love sanding.

2. The Happy Medium: Semi-Transparent Stain

This is a penetrating finish that adds a tint (cedar, redwood, honey) while still letting the wood grain show through.

• The Look: Natural, but uniform. It masks discoloration while highlighting texture.
• The Maintenance Cycle: 3 to 5 Years.
• The Reality: The pigment blocks some UV light, protecting the wood longer.
• The Failure Mode: Fading. This is the best part. Semi-transparent stains rarely peel. They just slowly fade away.
• The Fix: When it looks dull, you just wash the siding and brush on a new coat. No scraping, no heavy sanding.

3. The Durability King: Solid Color Stain

Solid stain looks like flat paint, but it acts like a stain. It is much thinner than paint and soaks into the wood texture rather than sitting on top as a film.

• The Look: Opaque color. You see the texture of the wood, but not the grain or knots.
• The Maintenance Cycle: 5 to 7 Years.
• The Reality: Because it is packed with pigment, it offers excellent UV protection.
• The Failure Mode: Like semi-transparent stain, it mostly fades or chalks over time. It is very forgiving.
• Tiny House Advantage: Because it forms a thinner film than paint, it is less likely to crack when your tiny house flexes and vibrates down the highway.

4. The “Hard Shell”: Exterior Paint

Paint builds a thick, protective film on top of the wood.

• The Look: Smooth, saturated color. Can have a sheen (satin/semi-gloss).
• The Maintenance Cycle: 7 to 10+ Years (if done perfectly).
• The Reality: Paint offers the longest protection until it fails.
• The Failure Mode: Cracking and Peeling. Once moisture gets behind the paint (through a hairline crack caused by road vibration), it gets trapped. The water can’t evaporate through the thick paint skin, leading to hidden rot and large flakes of paint popping off.
• The Fix: Nightmare level. You must scrape, sand, prime, and paint.

The Verdict for Tiny Houses

For a Tiny House on Wheels (THOW), Solid Color Stain is often the wisest choice.

1. Flexibility: It moves with the wood and the trailer vibrations better than rigid paint.
2. Maintenance: It lasts significantly longer than clear coats or semi-transparent stains.
3. Breathability: It allows the wood to “breathe” better than paint, reducing the risk of trapping moisture inside your walls if your flashing isn’t perfect.

Pro Tip: If you absolutely must have the natural cedar look, use a Semi-Transparent Stain rather than a clear coat. You will get 90% of the look with 50% less maintenance headache.