Painting a garden fence

[Tim+]

I have an unpainted garden fence that was behind a hedge until recently. The timber is in good condition but is rather green with algae in patches.

I'd like to paint it to match the other fences but not sure how much effort to expend in removing the algae prior to painting. I've tried a pressure washer which removes some but not all algae. There's a lot of fence to do and I don't think that this is the best answer.

Any recommendations for preparation and fence painting products gratefully received.

Tim

[Mr Pounder]

Caustic soda cleaned up my garden wall. Its cheap. Maybe worth a try?

[Tim+]

Hmm, might try that but I'm hoping someone will say "Nah, just wire brush off the loose stuff and paint over it.". ;-)

Tim

[Capitol]

You don't need to remove all the algae, the paint will kill the rest off. I've had good enough results with the Baufix fence paint from Lidl ( or Aldi maybe?), but it's only available from time to time. The other cheap alternative is Creocote, but IME the colour doesn't last as well.

[Mr Pounder]

Wire brush, caustic soda then jet wash for max effect. Be bloody careful with the caustic!

[stuart noble]

Don't use caustic on fencing would be my advice. Penetrates deeply and is therefore impossible to wash off. Deliquescent too, so the fence will attract moisture forever more

[Tim Lamb]

Angle grinder....... and wire brush? Run at reduced speed and avoid breathing the dust.

[Another John]

A quick brush down, if you ask me -- and you've done that already with the pressure washer.

What I WOULD suggest is to buy one of those fence sprayers made by the makers of the fence paint: this speeds up application 20-fold.

My own tips for using the sprayer: flatten out a large cardboard box (the vaster the better), and get it flat against the back of the fence, so you don't spray through it; and another to lay underneath the bottom edge. Then spray fairly quickly over the whole section: don't try to get every little bit, or else you'll waste pints of paint. Then use your fence brush (the vaster the better) to spread out what you've sprayed and get into the cracks.

John

[Mr Pounder]

Fair comment.

[MM]

I've used creocote (and the original creosote) since the 1950s, but it IS very smelly. The odour seems to hang around for ages. It doesn't bother me, but I have the neighbours on three sides, some with children playing in the garden. Also, creocote ain't cheap any more!

MM

[MM]

But would the sprayer penetrate the wood quite like a paintbrush does, which you can "work" into the corners? If the fence were brand-new I'd say spraying would be okay, but on an old fence, I'd rather make the effort and use a brush. Also, what I would do is wire-brush one panel's worth at a time, then paint it, so that I would help maintain the enthusiasm for what must be a very boring and messy job. If you're worried about the residue from wire-brushing the next panel wafting back on to the newly painted panel, stagger the job so that you start at one end, do a panel, then move to the other end and do that one, and so on, till you meet yourself coming back so to speak!

MM

[dennis]

Have any of your creosoted fences last longer than 30 years?

[Bob Henson]

Mine are up to 25 this year and are still in reasonable nick. Creoc(s)ote comes in handy if you have unwanted ingress by badgers etc - hang a creoc(s)ote soaked cloth over their entry point and they won't come anywhere near it.

[stuart noble]

You're not kidding about the smell. Hangs around for ages too

[Capitol]

Do you mean creocote? Its only been around a few years, Creosoted fences, yes some are now >40 yrs old.

[dennis]

Mine are now 34 years old but I haven't put anything on them for 30 years. The posts went 20 years ago and have spurs bolted on.

[Another John]

The *great* advantage of using the sprayer is that it gets the coating on to the wood in double-quick time, and you're not faffing about dipping, shaking, transferring, brushing. Once it's on, then, as I said, you can then use the brush to spread it out / get the cracks .... and I guess you can spend as much time as you like doing that :-)

J.

[MM]

Dunno, I've only had one for 10 years.

MM

[MM]

Actually, yesterday when I finished off the fence posts with creocote the smell wasn't quite as bad as I remembered, but previously I've always applied it on a warm-to-hot day, whereas it was chilly and foggy yesterday.

MM

[MM]

Sorry to have another downer on fence sprayers (the equipment, not the staff!), but what about knot holes in the boarding where the knots have fallen out? Surely the neighbours won't take too kindly to discover you've been spraying their prize roses with brown stuff?

MM