Need to stain/paint new wood fence - best weatherproofing value?

[AmyAnne]

Looking for suggestions for what to use to weatherproof our wood fence. Stain? Paint? Which product is the best value for the money?

 

[sarah4770]

Well, I would stain it. Either way, it will need upkeep every few years.

 

[NinaBella]

Stain.

 

[Ranger111]

I would stain and whatever you do, wait at least six weeks.

New wood, especially nowadays, has a high moisture content. You need to let some of that off-gas before covering it and trapping the moisture, which will cause major trouble. Some people even recommend waiting a year.

Don't know about your climate, if summers are damp and humid, you might want to do it by the end of May....here.....with our dry summers, I would do it the end of August, since our rain season typically begins the end of September.

Maybe late June or early-mid July would work best for you. You figure it out -- 6 weeks to a year or somewhere in the middle.

I use Superdeck, but there are lots of brands. Consumer Reports is one source. Only problem with Consumers is that they seem heavily targeted toward East Coast brands and national brands (at least last time I looked). Stains still have somewhat of a regional market in addition to national brands. so, there may be some fantastic local brands that are mixed for your climate, but you will not find them in Consumer Reports. Helps to have a helpful local recommendation.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Looking for suggestions for what to use to weatherproof our wood fence. Stain? Paint? Which product is the best value for the money?

I would clear water deal it after a year. Stain peels and looks terrible once it wears. I bought a house with a stained deck and the stain is wearing off and peeling. Planning to help it off the rest of the way and then put on clear water seal.

 

[Ranger111]

Peeling is more of a problem nowadays because of the environmental laws that have led to changes in formulation of stains. That means it is critical that you stain "by the book," or risk peeling issues. In the past, with the old stains, you had more slack...

I have been staining my outbuildings and deck for more than 20 years -- every three years a new coat -- and have never had a problem with peeling. Superdeck did change their formula about "two stains ago -- six years" to meet new air quality/toxic regulations, but, since I am careful in my prep work and careful in my applications, I have never had a problem -- but that takes me about 50 hours in both cleaning/scrubbing/drying/applying for 3.5 gallons of stain. Lots of folks don't have that much patience.

Major causes of peeling -- applying stain to wet wood (or new wood that has not has a chance to off-gas significantly); over-application of stain; improper cleaning/using the wrong type of cleaner prior to staining.

If you do it right, and use a high-quality product -- you won't have a problem -- but the new stains might last a year or two less than the old formulas. But, paint is the same deal -- my local paint shop says they hate calling their product paints since the new formulation regulations -- they say it should more properly be called temporary coatings.

 

[mickey'sbud]

DO NOT paint! If you must then only use a stain. It has been a major headache having a fence you have to paint. It looked wonderful when it was new. I wanted a white picket fence. It then turned into a green and black fence that has to be power washed and repainted which is more work than we want to put into it. Plus our fence is now rotting and falling apart. I think it's from the moisture that gets trapped from where the paints starts to peel...it rains and water gets in and can't get out. We tried to do everything right....when it was first put up, we gave it time to season, used a primer, rolled it on or used a paint brush for both the primer and paint, then we tried to keep up with the maintainence. It's been the biggest headache!!!

I now love a grey weathered fence. It has its own natural beauty!

 

[Ranger111]

DO NOT paint! If you must then only use a stain. It has been a major headache having a fence you have to paint. It looked wonderful when it was new. I wanted a white picket fence. It then turned into a green and black fence that has to be power washed and repainted which is more work than we want to put into it. Plus our fence is now rotting and falling apart. I think it's from the moisture that gets trapped from where the paints starts to peel...it rains and water gets in and can't get out. We tried to do everything right....when it was first put up, we gave it time to season, used a primer, rolled it on or used a paint brush for both the primer and paint, then we tried to keep up with the maintainence. It's been the biggest headache!!!

I now love a grey weathered fence. It has its own natural beauty!

Personally, I agree with "mick bud" on the whole fence thing. Tom Sawyer aside, I would never paint a fence -- dealt with that for decades at my mom's house. And, staining...too much hassle. A fence has a nice feel to it when it shows a bit of age. But, the OP asked stain or paint....between the two, stain.

 

[MillauFr]

I didn't bother painting or staining. I just left it natural and it looks grey and has moss growing on it. I think it looks fine. Next time I am going to look into using composite materials so it won't ever rot.