> Round here fence owners seem to take the view that if the neighbours
>> want the fence painting they can paint it themselves. I've never
>> painted the remote side of the fence that I own, but I gave approval
>> when the neighbour requested it to paint his side. The guy who owns
>> the fence at the bottom of the garden said that he was going to take
>> the panels out to paint them but then changed his mind, painting only
>> his side.If the neighbours paint their side they can then have a
>> colour that they like and not one that the owner might otherwise >> impose on them.
>
> Supposedly, if you have a dip treated fence it should be painted once a
> year. If it's pressure treated you don't need to paint it (much). So it
> may be to your advantage to paint the remote side with preservative if it
> prolongs the life.
>
> It seems quite common for fence panel sellers not to tell you whether it's
> pressure or dip treated, which is quite annoying.
>
> Theo
Vacuum/pressure treated timber tends to be a greenish colour (not sure if this is a hard and fast rule though) while dipped panels are just a brownish colour.
even pressure treated timber will have a limited life (< 7yrs) if in contact with soil.
West Sussex County Council spend a lot of S106 money a few years ago making a series of steps where a moderately steep footpath descending one side of a railway cutting to the foot crossing. The contractor used 9 x 2 'green' treated timber, normally used for flooring joists (I think it was marked C24) cut to 4 foot lengths, as risers, held in place with 2x2 timber spikes and backfilled with soil from the gradient to make the steps.
After about 7 years, about a third of them were rotten.