Hello all !

We just bought a house in Nova Scotia - very humid region. The outside
is made of wood cedar shakes. Since we don't know much about wood, we
asked for more info before buying and got the following answer from the
previous owner "We opted for the New England saltbox style of naturally
weathered cedar shakes. These will last 50-60 years (oftentimes more!)
without preservation. They will not rot; they will wear out after this
time".

Looking around the web, I found many web sited talking about 3-5 years
maintenance for cedar shakes, articles talking about some oil
protection. I want to take good care of my new house... anyone has
comments on proper care of cedar shakes?

Below is a link to a photo of the house. The shakes were said to have
been installed about 5 years ago, when they built a 2-stories addition
to the house.

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/8...rshakes5ua.jpg

It looks great at this moment, but of course has started to blacken
(but we like the greyish look We also had to fix a few smaller
shakes, mainly around the doors/windows. Some appear to have a tendency
to "curve" at the edge... which really makes me wonder if a protection
would be required !

Many thanks for your thoughts !

Geicko