Too expensive to get cedar shakes painted?

[Sherry Norman]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of purchasing a house on short sale.  It is sided with natural cedar shakes.  Here in the damp-ish climate of NJ, the shakes turn an unattractive kind of black after years of weather exposure.  Also, in the back of the house, there are missing shakes.

I had intended to get the exterior painted in order to brighten up the appearance and blend in the new shakes I need to add in the rear.  However, a fellow flipper who has had this done in the past has informed me that getting cedar shakes painted ends up costing the same amount of money as re-siding the house.  (I assume this is b/c of all the texture in the shakes, maybe it takes a long time to get it all coated.)  Upshot is, in other words, I might as well spend the money and end up with a newly a re-sided house.

Either way, it's an expense I'd like to reduce.  So I'm asking if anyone out there has any experience with having cedar shakes painted, or any advice or clever ideas to avoid spending so much money to make the house presentable.

Thanks for the help.