What is the Best Way to Stain a Fence?

Unless you want a new fence to weather and turn gray within a year, you'll want to stain it. Not only will your fence look better, it will last longer because stain protects the wood deterioration due to sun and rain. Older fences can be stained with just a little more preparation.
There is no one best way to stain a fence. The method you use will depend on the type of product you choose and the style of fence.

Types

There are several types of fence stain available. Most commonly used is semi-transparent stain in natural wood colors like redwood and cedar. Depending on the amount of weather exposure your fence gets, this needs to be recoated every two to five years. Solid color stain is opaque, much like paint, but is thinner and allows for more characteristics of the wood to show through. Solid stains are most likely to chip and peel, and require the most maintenance because of this. Clear stain has no colorant added, and offers the least resistance to sun damage. For this reason, it may need to be re-applied every one or two years, but because it's clear, is fast and easy to apply. All types of stain are available in both water and oil bases.

Considerations

Spraying a fence is almost always faster than rolling or brushing. However, when staining a picket or split rail fence, consider that even using a small hand held sprayer, you will waste a lot of stain to overspray, and there is the potential to spray stain on surrounding surfaces. When spraying a fence with spaces between the pickets, use large sheets of cardboard or plywood to protect adjacent areas. Semi transparent stains can be quite runny and unless you are very careful, spraying alone can result in a blotched job which is almost impossible to fix. Spraying in sections, then going back over the sprayed area with a 4 or 6-inch brush will even out the stain. For smaller fences, it may be simpler to stain using a 4-inch brush. Use the best quality tools you can afford--a poor quality brush is inefficient because it holds less paint and you'll take much longer to complete the job.

Effects

The finished effect will depend on whether the wood is smooth or resawn (rough.) The rougher the wood, the more stain it will take to do the job. For rough wood, expect a gallon to cover between 100 to 200 square feet. Smooth wood will requite a gallon for every 400 to 500 square feet. The smoother the wood, the more careful you need to be with application to avoid an uneven looking stain job because the stain will tend more to drip and run if not brushed out. Applying stain with a roller is somewhat faster than using a brush, but will spatter a lot and may also give an uneven appearance, especially on smooth fencing. Whether spraying or rolling, going back over it with a brush will give the most even and professional looking effect.

Function

Since stain preserves wood by preventing infiltration by ultra violet says (sunlight) and water, it's important to cover every possible side of the wood. This includes the tops of boards, and the lower edges is you can get to them. When building a new fence, liberally coat the lower edges of pickets where they touch the ground before installation. This helps prevent rot and cracking along the bottom of the fence because the stained lower edge will not adsorb as much ground moisture.

Misconceptions

Pre-stained fencing may be available at your local lumberyard. Pay attention to the type of wood used. Inexpensive white pine fencing, no matter how well it is stained, will never outlast cedar or redwood fencing because the wood is lower in tannins and much more susceptible to rot and cracking.

Expert Insight

Most stains require only one coat, and in fact applying two or more coats in the same year is often not recommended because too heavy an application can look uneven, and may chip off. There are varying formulas of fence stain on the market and it's important to follow label directions.