What to Know When Staining a Fence


Northern Virginia Fence Company

Stain Your Wooden Fence the Right Way

When building a fence and after it's installed, you are still not quite done with the fence project just yet. Once everything is in place, you still need to stain the fence to protect it from the elements, as well as make it last longer, and even look nicer. But not to worry, staining a fence is actually much easier than it sounds. And to make sure that you have no problems at all, here are some tips that will help you to actually enjoy this part of your fencing project.

Before Getting Started, Examine the Wood

Even with all of the fence building tips in the world, this is probably going to be the easiest part of the entire fence-building project. Before you stain your fence, you want to closely examine all of the wood that was used. You want to look for things such as nails, staples, screws and broken fence pieces. These are the things that are going to need to be fixed or removed to get the best surface for when you stain your fence.

If you are staining an older fence, this is an extremely important step as it can seriously slow down your progress if you need to keep stopping to fix or remove a nail every few feet. You also want to take a second to sand down any of the fence areas that appear rough or may cause an issue with the stain application. So be sure to take a few minutes to check out the entire fence prior to getting started.

Clean the Wood Up

After you have checked for any flaws in your fence, the next step is to prep the wood for staining. You can do this by using a wood cleaner prior to staining. Once you have successfully used the wood cleaner on the fence, take a mop or soft bristle brush to remove any grime and debris. You will need to allow the fence to dry before moving on, but this is a perfect time to take your lunch.

Stain Your Fence

Now that your fence has been prepped and is dry, it is time to start staining your fence. There are several different ways that you can do this. Staining your fence can be done with a hand-pumped fence stain sprayer (the easiest), a roller (second easiest), or even a hand-held brush. While the end result will be the same no matter which method of application you use, be sure that you apply an even coat to every part of the fence. You need to be sure and cover every part of every surface that you can. And just in case you see areas of stain that have blotched or puddled, simply grab a roller or brush and smooth them out.

Now that you are done building a fence and once you have your fence completely stained, be sure to allow your fence to rest. Depending on the weather and humidity, this can take 24-48 hours and will do wonders for making your new fence stain really stand out.

While staining a fence sounds like it may be a difficult task to do by yourself, it really is a lot easier than it seems. Simply follow the steps above and you will be relaxing, looking at your newly stained fence in no time at all.


 


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