We installed a pine fence about a year ago, and now we want to stain it. I've read that it's important to clean and brighten the fence beforehand. Is this really necessary? We're considering a semi-transparent stain, and I'm caught in a bit of a disagreement with my husband about whether these extra steps are needed. Any advice would be appreciated!
2 Answers
For brightening up the fence, a cheap way to do it is with a bleach mixture. Just mix about four parts water with one part bleach, and spray it onto the fence—doing both sides if you can. You can adjust the ratio based on how much you need to clean, but if you’re unsure, test it on a small section first. No need to buy expensive cleaners; this method does the trick!
Yes, you definitely need to clean the fence at the very least! If you skip this step, you'll end up staining dirt, leaves, and even caterpillar webs onto your fence, which doesn't look good at all. I just pressure washed my own fence, focusing especially on the areas near the ground where dirt accumulates.
Thank you for the tip!
Thanks for the advice!