Nobody publishes a price list for cedar restoration, and there is a reason for that. Two houses of identical size can sit a long way apart on cost, because almost all of the work is in preparation — and preparation depends entirely on what state the timber is in when we arrive. What follows is an honest account of what actually moves the number, so you can look at your own cladding and form a realistic expectation before anyone quotes.
What drives cedar restoration cost
The single biggest factor: how far the coating has gone
Everything else on this page is secondary to this one. Cedar that still has an intact coating needs washing and recoating. Cedar where the coating has failed needs washing, stripping, extensive surface preparation, and often remedial attention to greyed or mould-affected timber before anything protective goes on.
That is not a small difference in scope. It changes the number of days on site, the volume of product, and the amount of skilled preparation labour — which is the expensive part of any cedar job. A property that gets attention while the coating is still sound is paying for a maintenance coat. The same property left three or four years longer is paying for a restoration.
If there is one piece of advice worth taking from this article, it is that the cheapest cedar restoration is the one you do before it becomes a restoration.
What else changes the price
Access
A single-storey home on flat ground where a team can work off ladders and low platforms is straightforward. A three-storey elevation over a bank, or a site needing scaffolding, adds cost before a drop of product is applied. Access is often the difference between two otherwise comparable quotes.
How many elevations, and how exposed they are
Surface area matters, but so does condition variation across the property. North and west walls almost always need more work than sheltered southern ones. On a coastal site, salt loading can put one elevation years ahead of the rest, and bringing the whole house back to a single consistent finish means the worst wall sets the standard.
The existing coating
Removing a failed film-forming stain is more work than refreshing a penetrating oil. An incompatible or poorly applied previous coating — sometimes a well-meant DIY job, sometimes a contractor who used the wrong product — has to come off completely, and that stripping is labour-intensive.
Timber species and condition
Cedar, larch, accoya, macrocarpa and treated pine all prepare differently. Hardwood decking is more work again. Where boards have cupped, split or weathered unevenly, preparation takes longer.
The finish you choose
Product cost is a modest part of the total, but it is not nothing. Premium systems and Cool colour formulas carry a higher material cost, and they earn it back through a longer maintenance interval. Going significantly lighter than the existing colour requires a full strip, which is a scope change rather than a colour change.
Extras that get added at the last minute
Garage doors, front doors, pergolas, louvres, screens and decking are frequently bundled into a cladding job. Each adds to the total, but doing them alongside the main work is far cheaper than bringing a team back later.
Why we assess on site rather than quoting from photos
Photographs will tell us roughly what a property is dealing with. They will not tell us whether the coating still bonds, how much greyed fibre is sitting under the surface, whether there is movement in the boards, or what access will realistically require. Quoting without that means either padding the number to cover the unknown, or coming back mid-job to revise it. Neither is fair on the client.
Our on-site assessment is free and carries no obligation, anywhere from Waipu to Hamilton. We will also tell you if the answer is that it can wait another season — which happens more often than people expect.
Getting the long-term cost down
Cedar is not an expensive cladding to own. It is an expensive cladding to neglect. Owners who put their property on a maintenance cycle pay a smaller, predictable figure at known intervals and never face a restoration. Owners who wait until the cladding looks bad pay considerably more, and then start the cycle anyway.
If you want a realistic figure for your own property, the assessment is the fastest way to get one.