How to prepare an old fence for painting
If you have previously painted a fence you will know that taking the time to prepare the fence panels first will make your hard work last much longer, than those of us who adopt the behaviour of "just whack it on". Taking a few hours to remove dead moss, bird muck and other "things" from your fence work will make such a massive difference in how your fence will look 6 months down the line.
One of the main advantages for me, was the fact that if you prepare the wood correctly, then you only need to paint it once - saving not only fence paint - but a hell of a lot of time!
Painting your fence is not just for aesthetic purposes. Yes, the fence panels will all match, and look lovely and "new". but the added protection from the bad weather will save you a fortune going forward. If you leave your wood untreated, your gambling when high winds strike - and with winter just around the corner now has never been a good enough time to put on your scruffs and get stuck in.
Having lived in our house for 7 years, it was time to get stuck into our 20x 6ft fence panels.
- 3 panels were brand new
- 6 panels were 1 year old
- 11 panels were previously painted with "red" - yes "RED" paint.
| [p51190809] | First on the list was a discussion with the boss (Wife) about what colour to use which would compliment our garden. We have a quite a neat garden with definitive lines and concrete posts. So we settled on a Dark Oak Fence paint from Ronseal. |
| [p36187547] | The most important part of the process is cleaning off the previous paint / gunk, and to do this, your best option is to use a pressure washer! Pressure washers are fun to use, and if your like me - the daunting task of "we must clean the old panels first", became "I'LL CLEAN THE OLD PANELS FIRST!!!". Using the jet which produces a 45 degree spray, i went up and down each slat. This as a whole took the old paint and gunk off in no time at all.
Pressure washers have rocketed down in price in recent months, and managed to pick mine up for less than £60! |
Once your fence panels are jet washed nice and clean, you need to let them dry overnight.
Fix any broken slats, and secure fence panels with new nails where necessary.
Brush or Spray?
Well personally I paint using a brush, i have concrete plinths and concrete fence posts. Which makes spraying the fence quite difficult without marking the lovely grey concrete. However for those of you with wooden posts - it is worth remembering that too much spray will leak through to your neighbours side, and potentially kill and plant life - and in some cases cause a major problem with "their" side of the fence.
Picking out a brush from a well known DIY store cost me £7.00, i wanted the job doing right - how wrong was I! I found the longer the bristles the more messy it was, and ended up using a £1.99 value brush - which made the job extremely quick.