- The problem with having a good wooden fence is that, although it is great at protecting your home, it does little to protect itself. Wooden fences can take a beating and fend off critters and ne'r-do-wells that want to get into your yard, but over time they can wear down from intense winds, heavy rains and anything else Mother Nature wants to throw at it. One great way to protect your fence and have it last for a long time is through staining. This article will explain how fence staining works.
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If you are a colorful kind of person and want to add another hue to your home, you may choose to paint your fence. But if you are more of a naturalist and want to enhance what a wood fence already has for character, you would probably choose a stain. The way wood stain works is that it is more soluble than paint. Paint is essentially designed to cover up the surface of an object, rather than bind with it.
Wood stains, however, are made of a solvent, a color and something that would bind to the wood like alkyl or oil. Wood is a naturally porous material, especially softer woods like pine wood. When something comes in contact with it, the pores would absorb as much as they can hold for as long as the liquid is on the surface. An oil-based wood stain would get into the wooden fence pores and, with the pigment, bring out some of the imperfections in the grain. - Some wood is a little harder to stain, like oak. Oak is a lot less porous. It would be best to sand down the surface of hard woods before applying stains. This should also be done for any wooden fences that are pre-treated with a sealant. Once wood stain is applied, another level of protection must be added to the surface. Usually a layer of varnish or clear sealant should do the trick. You can expect a good staining and sealant to last a few years.
Comments
sullysee said
on 5/31/2009 Very helpful and well-researched article. Thanks.