New redwood fence

[OneEyeJack]

Just finished the redwood fence. Question, paint, stain or deck sealer? Question two. Does the wood need to season a bit to make sure it is completely dry before treating?

And now a comment. Digging post holes in clay is cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[Papa Bear]

Imagine the callouses the earthworms have on their noses .....

 

[Killer223]

go rent an auger from depot.
let it season for one summer, then
oh never ind you live in Ca. no good products are available to you.

Do NOT paint it. it'll become a maintance nightmare.
try and find a wood preservative, Sikkins from a local PPG paint store,
deck sealers are ok long as it's oil based.
you don't want water based as it'll peal in a few years.
try and find an oil.
or leave it alone. after 3-5 years when it starts to get black, take pressure washer nice an close and it'll wash the black right out.

 

[4WD]

Just replaced a 20 year old fence - sprayed with TWS every other year ... (Pump up sprayer) ...

 

[demarpaint]

Nice fence! Redwood should age a few months. You want the oils to leach out, and the weather to naturally break the mill glaze so it will properly accept the stain. I would only use an oil base product like a semi transparent stain. If you're fortunate enough to have a small piece or two leave them out to weather near the fence in a vertical position, off the ground. It sounds crazy, you'll thank me later. Once you find a stain you like use that to test it and see if you like the color, and if the stain soaks into the wood or rolls off. If it rolls off or beads up the wood hasn't aged enough. Many times the stain will soak into the face, and roll off the sides, or vice versa, you want to stain to soak into all surfaces.

These stains are quite good, although a little pricey. http://www.perfectwoodstains.com/

 

[OneEyeJack]

About the gas powered auger. We rented a 2-man auger. My SIL and I got literally beaten using the thing in this clay. We augered a bit, soaked and augered again. We started laughing when the thing knocked us down. Neighbors stepped in sort of like Tom Sawyer and the fence. They soon gave the job back. Finally with the help of a couple of high school boys we made this a 4-man auger and at times it still knocked us down.

A foreman from a local fence company stopped by to see how the job was proceeding. He said he knew exactly what we were up against when he saw us unloading the auger in the driveway and came back to see how we were doing.

I'm going to let the fence age a bit and try demarpaint's suggestion with some extra boards for both the amount of aging and the type of treatment. Thanks demarpaint.

 

[Fsharp]

I'm not the first one to say this but don't use anything that leaves a layer on the surface of the wood or that seals the wood as it will inevitably peel and flake. Use an oil like Thompson's Timber Oil. I recently used some on a deck. It's easy to apply, will require less work when you need to reapply, and should last a few years on a vertical surface like a fence.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
About the gas powered auger. We rented a 2-man auger. My SIL and I got literally beaten using the thing in this clay. We augered a bit, soaked and augered again. We started laughing when the thing knocked us down. Neighbors stepped in sort of like Tom Sawyer and the fence. They soon gave the job back. Finally with the help of a couple of high school boys we made this a 4-man auger and at times it still knocked us down.

A foreman from a local fence company stopped by to see how the job was proceeding. He said he knew exactly what we were up against when he saw us unloading the auger in the driveway and came back to see how we were doing.

I'm going to let the fence age a bit and try demarpaint's suggestion with some extra boards for both the amount of aging and the type of treatment. Thanks demarpaint.






After renting a HD trailered auger I can imagine how rough a 2/4 man version must be to use... How deep do you sink a post there with no ground freezing?

 

[CT8]

Leave it as is . The fence will silver up and protect itself.

 

[OneEyeJack]

3' mark on the bit plus a few inches deep, some gravel at the bottom then the concrete with the pressure treated redwood post at about 28-30".

You could not hit this ground hard enough with a full sized pick and have the pick stand on its own when you let go. This was tough digging. I've got bruises on my thighs to remind me of that fun weekend digging post holes.

The fence foreman that stopped by said he'd make me a deal to use their tractor mounted auger for the fence posts on the backside of the property.

 

[Crusher]

OneEyeJack
Congrats on your new Redwood fence.
I wanted to weigh in tonight as I have some experience with Fence/Deck Staining.
About 15 yrs ago I stumbled on a quality product that I've been using ever since.
The product is from www.penofin.com
I've used it on both Redwood and Cedar.
I went with the Blue Label product. The research I did showed that the Green Label was not worth the extra $
Good Luck!

 

[OneEyeJack]

Thanks, I'm looking at it now. Information like this is why I posted here about the fence.

 

[Crusher]

OneEyeJack
The color I went with was Red Western Cedar.
I stained the fence about every 2.5 yrs, It's still going strong after 10+ yrs in Dallas, Tx

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Leave it as is . The fence will silver up and protect itself.


Yes! Thats why people buy redwood and cedar. If you wanted to stain or treat it you should have bought pine.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Let it age, then pressure wash with Cabot cleaners and use oil based stain.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack


I'm going to let the fence age a bit and try demarpaint's suggestion with some extra boards for both the amount of aging and the type of treatment. Thanks demarpaint.


You're welcome!

If you have a power washer that you can throttle back the power you could give it a once over, now, and a few weeks before you plan on staining it. I've done that in the past for impatient customers who are willing to pay for the extra work. It can "slightly" speed up the weathering process. I would use caution because a power washer can ruin redwood in no time flat if used improperly. It is a step that isn't really necessary, but it can be helpful if the fence is really dirty. As long as the fence is weathered, the pores are open and accepting stain and the surface is clean and dry you'll be fine.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
Originally Posted By: CT8
Leave it as is . The fence will silver up and protect itself.


Yes! Thats why people buy redwood and cedar. If you wanted to stain or treat it you should have bought pine.

That's what I've done with our dock, no finish at all works if you can find good western red cedar. No slivers even with the kids sliding all over it and it gets soaked almost everyday in the summer with the kids swimming. Tight ringed heart wood, but atleast out my way, its getting pretty rare to find it at the lumber yard. I haven't bought and used the fast grown sap wood red cedar, but maybe its not as bad as I think.

 

[4WD]

I covered my camp cabin in redwood and it got pretty darn 'silver' - so guess the damp air caused some mildew.
Thought about bleach but then just sprayed with TWS. Was amazed at how much wood color came back and it has stayed that way over a year now.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Originally Posted By: CT8
Leave it as is . The fence will silver up and protect itself.


Yes! Thats why people buy redwood and cedar. If you wanted to stain or treat it you should have bought pine.

That's what I've done with our dock, no finish at all works if you can find good western red cedar. No slivers even with the kids sliding all over it and it gets soaked almost everyday in the summer with the kids swimming. Tight ringed heart wood, but atleast out my way, its getting pretty rare to find it at the lumber yard. I haven't bought and used the fast grown sap wood red cedar, but maybe its not as bad as I think.


Here's what close to 40 years of painting has taught me. Finding good lumber is getting harder and harder, especially with things like fencing. Properly prepared and stained wood lasts longer than wood left untreated as a result. The operative word is properly prepped. Wood will eventually get moldy, and decay. Cedar and redwood are more resilient than pine but they do deteriorate with time. With regard to pine, all the good old wood has been harvested a log time ago, the stuff they're selling now is garbage. I've seen top of the line custom Marvin windows rotting in less than ten years. I've seen pine and cedar fencing twist to the point the nails holding the fence together popped. The trees are young and cut down way too soon to keep up with demand.

Back on topic, the redwood fence can be left as is, properly prepared and stained or treated it will look better and last longer. Just re-stain when needed, not on an annual basis, some people get carried away and over do it.

 

[sleddriver]

Someone earlier mentioned Penofin. Beware! A neighbor used "red" on all his new cedar fence/porch/fascia/etc and within a few years, it all turned black! Read the reviews on amazon first. At least here, oil-based products like this will soon turn black from mold when used outdoors. It's a shame too as all the new wood looked beautiful when freshly stained.

Since demarpaint is a pro, I'll defer to his experience.