I need to stain my house, built 30 years ago and sided with what
appears to be a cedar laminate. Looking for general advice on any and
all aspects. the previous owner appears to have used a solid stain,
nearly black, which is ugly as can be. So I will have to go with a
solid oil stain, but I want to end with a much lighter brown, closer to
natural wood color. I presume I will need 2 good coats. I would like
to pressure wash for prep, though I'm not married to the idea. The
siding is weathered in a few spots where I know I will have to be very
careful with the PW, I will probably avoid those areas completely. A
bigger concern is that water will get behind the siding and wet the
insulation. I dont know if this is a valid concern or not.

I have an odd, "staggered" (for lack of a better word) A-frame where
(on one side only) the rear half of the house has a 1-2 foot tall
section of siding that extends all the way to the peak. How can I
safely paint this section from the very steep roof?

My house has much sun (and wind, and snow..) exposure on 3 sides. I
will only be living here for 2-4 more years and I dont want to stain
again. Nor do I want to spend more than I have to. Is Pittsburg Ultra a
good choice for stain, or is there something better in the $20/gal
range?