Staining your wooden fence is a vital step in regular fence care and maintenance. But there’s definitely right ways and wrong ways to go about doing the job.
Here are 5 tips you can use to make sure your fence looks great once you’re done with it.
#1) Choose the Right Time
Timing makes a huge difference when you’re trying to stain a fence. Specifically:
- Has the fence had enough time to dry out? If it was installed less than 5 weeks ago, you need to give it more time to dry out.
- You need the right temperature conditions: no colder than 50℉ and no hotter than 90℉. The weather should be sunny and dry for the next two to three days.
- You need the right mindset. Are you ready to tackle this project? Are you prepared to take some time with it?
While you obviously don’t want to neglect your fence searching for the perfect conditions, you do want to set yourself up for success.
#2) Check Your Tools
You’ll need:
- Sandpaper to make sure the wood is as smooth as possible before you begin.
- A staining brush (not the same as a paintbrush)!
- A rough surface roller.
Avoid sprayers! While they may look tempting, they typically don’t produce consistent, professional-looking coverage. Slow and steady wins the race when you’re taking care of your wooden fence.
#3) Pick the Right Stains and Cleaners
Avoid cleaners that contain bleach, chlorine, or sodium hypochlorite, as these cleaners can do microscopic damage to the wood. This damage, in turn, will make it impossible to get good staining results.
Citric acid cleaners are superior, and will protect your wood while killing mold and mildew.
As for stains, always use an oil-based stain, not a water-based stain. Oil based stains last longer and look better.
#4) Prep Your Surface
Your fence should be clean and sanded before you begin. Older fences acquire dirt at best and mold and mildew at worst. A light pressure washing, followed by sufficient drying time, can take care of the problem. You can leave a week between the wash and the stain to make sure the fence is fully dried out.
Next, you must use a stain stripper to get rid of all the old stain. Old stain is as bad as dirt for ruining the results of your new stain job!
#5) Pick a Brand and Stick With It
Cleaning, stain stripping, and wood staining products should all work together, and they all do this best when they’re from the same brand. This is because they’ve been created and tested together, and so are designed to work together.
Most stain companies make all three, so it shouldn’t be hard to find what you like.
Installing a new fence?
Turn to Lone Star Fence and Construction, your trusted Houston, TX fence company! We’re happy to give you a free quote on a custom fence installation.