New fence in the near future

[Ronn W]

We are going to replace our 12 year old cedar white picket fence.  It should have lasted longer that it did.  I was told by the people that installed it (and bidding on the new fence) that I should not have  painted the fence.  Paint traps moisture inside and cause the paint to bubble and peel.  so I am trying to educated myself on stains for transparent to solid and everything in between.  It looks like an oil based stain penetrates and protects the best.  From what I have read, the more solids in the stain the more it creates a film and acts like paint.   I need to thread the needle bewteen stain penetration and getting a color that we like.  Can anyone help educate me?  What have been your experiences.

We want old fashioned pickets Like 1x4's with a 2" or so gap, not a privacy fence.  Aluminum and PVC were crossed of the list because they are too easliy damaged. 

[treeslayer]

Let me do some checking on what I used Ronn and I’ll get back to you soon 

[JohnG]

It’s been a while but back when I was working at a hardware store, Cabot stains were among the best available for decks and fences. IIRC the semi-transparent line was the way to go, it would penetrate the wood better. Semi-solid gives a more uniform color but acts more like paint, sitting on the surface. 

[Coop]

Are you still shooting for a white ish color? 

[wtnhighlander]

@Ronn W, we just had almost 60 gallons of Sherwin Williams Woodscapes solid stain applied to the cedar siding on the house, garage, and shop, as well as some cedar fencing. Very pleased so far, and it can apparently be tinted to any of their paint colors. 

Good luck on choosing a 'white', though. I believe they actually offer more variations of 'white' than the number of colors that actually exist in the visible spectrum. We settled on 'alabaster', which is supposedly on the slightly yellow side, but looks glaringly white to me. Anything brighter would likely blind drivers passing by on a sunny day.

[Mark J]

In my experience (tree house) the transparent stain lasted at most a year or two before it needed to be reapplied.   I don't remember the exact product name, something like Australian timber gold oil.  I will say it looked better than opaque stain.

[treeslayer]

Another vote for Sherwin Williams Woodscape stain @Ronn W, that’s what I used on my shed, I’ve only had to stain it twice since 1998 when I built it, no peeling at all, and they can tint it any color I think, the shed is Cedar T-111 sheets and the trim is solid Cedar

[BillyJack]

On 7/1/2023 at 12:00 PM, Ronn W said:

We are going to replace our 12 year old cedar white picket fence.  It should have lasted longer that it did.  I was told by the people that installed it (and bidding on the new fence) that I should not have  painted the fence.  Paint traps moisture inside and cause the paint to bubble and peel.  so I am trying to educated myself on stains for transparent to solid and everything in between.  It looks like an oil based stain penetrates and protects the best.  From what I have read, the more solids in the stain the more it creates a film and acts like paint.   I need to thread the needle bewteen stain penetration and getting a color that we like.  Can anyone help educate me?  What have been your experiences.

We want old fashioned pickets Like 1x4's with a 2" or so gap, not a privacy fence.  Aluminum and PVC were crossed of the list because they are too easliy damaged. 

You can’t trap moisture if it can’t get in. 

[Ronn W]

On 7/2/2023 at 10:37 AM, BillyJack said:

You can’t trap moisture if it can’t get in. 

True, but it is almoat impossible to prevent it.  The most comon route for moisture to get in is throught bottom of the pickets which are close to the ground and very difficult to cover fully.  The water migrates upward just like in a tree and increases the MC for the bottom couple feet of the picket.  The paint peels.  Also if the cedar is rough the paint coverage may not be omptimal.

On 7/1/2023 at 9:17 PM, Coop said:

Are you still shooting for a white ish color? 

I think that we havea given up on white (ish).  The best pentration is with tranparent or semi-tran parent oil based stains - light colors not available.

[BillyJack]

On 7/2/2023 at 1:12 PM, Ronn W said:

True, but it is almoat impossible to prevent it.  The most comon route for moisture to get in is throught bottom of the pickets which are close to the ground and very difficult to cover fully.  The water migrates upward just like in a tree and increases the MC for the bottom couple feet of the picket.  The paint peels.  Also if the cedar is rough the paint coverage may not be omptimal.

I think that we havea given up on white (ish).  The best pentration is with tranparent or semi-tran parent oil based stains - light colors not available.

If you want maintenance free, you need to look at PVC. Most failures a lack of maintenance…