Fence Staining

[onetime]

I bought a pressure washer, started cleaning and now I have come to the realization that this is going to take more then a weekend to complete. Can I start and stop and start and stop? I am now thinking that I will break up the sections into threes, I am going to finish the side that I have now with the brush, and I guess I will do the middle then, the left side so turn it into a three weekend project. Not sure if that is the norm or not but it will look crappy if I try to rush it all into one weekend. The second photo is what I started yesterday and I am going to go over again with a brush. The first photo is two weekends away. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.


21672168

[sojourner truth]

I bought an air compressor and spray gun. It took me about an hour to do one whole side, and I did the whole job in less than 8 hours total. The compressor and gun cost about $300 all totaled. There was a learning curve on how to load and clean the gun, but once I mastered that, boom, it was a piece of cake. I got tired of spending weeks with a brush in the hot sun...Just an idea.

[Ludwig]

I bought a pressure washer, started cleaning and now I have come to the realization that this is going to take more then a weekend to complete. Can I start and stop and start and stop? I am now thinking that I will break up the sections into threes, I am going to finish the side that I have now with the brush, and I guess I will do the middle then, the left side so turn it into a three weekend project. Not sure if that is the norm or not but it will look crappy if I try to rush it all into one weekend. The second photo is what I started yesterday and I am going to go over again with a brush. The first photo is two weekends away. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.


21672168

Go and rent you a POWER washer. Your's is obviously too whimpy for the task. It should not take that long to wash that fence. Wash this weekend and stain the next.

[onetime]

I bought an air compressor and spray gun. It took me about an hour to do one whole side, and I did the whole job in less than 8 hours total. The compressor and gun cost about $300 all totaled. There was a learning curve on how to load and clean the gun, but once I mastered that, boom, it was a piece of cake. I got tired of spending weeks with a brush in the hot sun...Just an idea.

How much more paint do you think you had to use with the spray gun?

[sojourner truth]

It depends on the paint, and I don't want to tell you a lie. I used a darker brown paint. I got 10 gallons at Lowes, and didn't thin it at all. My compressor is not huge, but not the smallest one either. I probably used about 8 gallons, but I have a huge back yard. Once I figured out how to set the gun, it went so fast it surprised me. I did have a problem with it starting to come out real slow, until I figured out that there is a breather hole in the top of the paint holder on the gun that was plugged. Once I unplugged it, I was hell on wheels. I got the compressor and the spray gun at Walmart. The compressor isn;t really designed for long term spraying, and it ran constantly, but it did the job. I have painted my fence twice this way and I'll never go back to a brush again. I bought a Power painter and tried it...Don't waste your money. If you do go with the compressor and gun, clean the gun about once evry half hour in water, otherwise the pattern starts messing up. The gun uses a lot less paint than a brush, and it looks better.

[onetime]

Well thanks, I bought a $25 dollar brush and seems to work fine. I will take your advice the next time around hopefully that will be a few years from now.