Preparing Your Fence For A Re-Stain

Preparing your fence for stain affects the overall outcome of the stain job. Unless your fence was installed within 1 month, it will need to be cleaned prior to staining. 

Why Prepare Your Fence for a Re-Stain

When you look at a fence and see a gray color, you are looking at mold and mildew growing in and on the fence. If the fence wasn’t cleaned prior to staining, the fence would actually look dark gray. Worse than that, the mold and mildew that damages the fence are still growing and decomposing the wood.  Cleaning the fence from mold, mildew, and algae help to increase the longevity of the fence. Even if you don’t plan to re-stain, you should consider cleaning your fence every few years! 

What to Expect on Oil-Stained Fences

There are a few different ways to prepare a fence for a re-stain. For oil-based stains, we prefer and encourage an algaecide and soft pressure vs pressure (unless there’s a lot of experience using a pressure washer). 

When hiring out a staining professional, it might look like they are just spraying water on your fence. If you watch the process, you’ll notice your fence slowly starting to lighten up. The lighter color indicates the mold and mildew being killed. It’s best practice to come back and rinse the algaecide off after a few minutes. Rinsing the surface removes the deadwood and allows for a more uniform stain job. 

After the fence has been cleaned, it needs time to dry out. Water has penetrated into the wood fibers and if oil-stain is applied too soon, the water within the wood will repel the oil. In the summer months in Texas, the fence can dry within an hour. In the winter months, it takes closer to a week! Using a moisture meter will indicate when the wood is ready for stain.