Thinking I would prefer to do some thing other than black. Fence has cured and is ready to be painted. Seems like the black asphalt paint takes a real beating from the UV rays. Whereas the lovely creamy light brown color we painted our deck with, has held up remarkably well. Don’t want white either. Thoughts? Why always black?
Black is very elegant when it’s new; but if fades. Ask me how I know! 
Personally, I like the look of natural wood and am a fan of a good sealant. You can apply it with a spray rig if you put a generator in a small wagon and use your tractor to move the wagon. Beats the fire out of doing it by brush or roller!
This is a personal taste issue. Do what you think looks the best.
G.
Another vote for the natural wood color, and the color we painted our deck with is that, just more uniform. It’s a Sherwin Williams product.
Wonder if I can run the sealant thru the15 gallon sprayer that hooks up to and runs off the battery of my UTV?
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I think the issue will turn on the density of the product. A denser product will usually give more protection but will require more power to spray it on. Check with the maker of whatever you’re thinking of using and ask them. If you’re buying from a paint store (as opposed to a Big Box store) you may get good advice from the seller of the product.
Good luck in your project! ::
G.
ETA: Maybe “viscosity” is a better word, here, than “density.”
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We have used Australian Timber Oil on our fences and barn and LOVE it. it takes a few weeks to properly set up and not be sticky, but it lasts well and looks great on everything we have put it on. We have Jarrah Brown as the stain color.
Lots of pictures here - the barn is T and G and T-111, trim and fence boards are rough cut fir, fence posts are pressure treated fir rounds. Same stain on everything.
www.sharkeyfarm.weebly.com
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Black so you can see the fence in the snow and it’s pretty if you like black accents. I agree with Guilherme, I like the natural wood. I double sprayed the wood on an addition to the house. Word of caution: The product will say clear - but, it often isn’t. You have to test it on the same wood to see if it is actually clear or has a slight tint. We tested five different ‘clear’ sealants to find a true clear. We have decorative, black iron gates at the driveway. It fades. It’s time to do it again.
Oh, heed my warning all thouest who travel this thread! Unless you want higher maintenance (yeah, that’s what we all need…more farm chores) spray thy wood fences with preservative/ neutral stain that can go through a pump sprayer and doesn’t require a big expensive loud airless setup to apply. rattles paint cans and retreats into darkened shop
I deeply regret painting my fencing black. It looked great at first but quickly started to fade and I’m not even finished (ok, the west side took a back burner last year). The paint is a pain to apply…either I run a brush or find someone during the season who has a airless sprayer and generator setup. Apparently, every farm in a ten mile radius is ahead of me on that list. At my last house I stained my wood fence using a garden sprayer and it was easy, fast and looked great. I’m not sure why I decided to hate easy things but there is no going back to natural at this point.
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We stained our interior fence posts a dark charcoal which matches our black wire. We also have a black 4-board perimeter fence which I know was painted last year when the house was on the market. Now it’s ours and some areas definitely require touch-up.
We stain all wood “cedar” color; some of the wood actually is cedar, a lot of it is pressure-treated. We find stain to wear much better than paint, and it doesn’t bubble, alligator, chip or peel as it ages, just gradually fades in a natural way that doesn’t look bad.
Don’t have enough wood to bother with a sprayer (two board arena fence, top board around the sacrifice paddock, etc. but not thousands of feet of four board perimeter fencing), so I find it’s not that tough to do with a five gallon bucket full of stain, with a screen inside hanging from the rim. I’ve used pads, rollers, and brushes, and probably prefer the pad meant for the purpose (kinda roughly napped). I’ve had good friends come over and help a few times, just for fun, but it’s not been that onerous to do it by myself every several years.
Really like Cabot stain, although we’ve also used Flood, Behr, Olympic, and other brands.
I’m sure my husband would much prefer to just seal the natural fence, so please recommend products you feel have performed well. If it can go through a pump sprayer, bonus points!
Thompsons?
The only thing about sealing the natural wood, is that it all seems to turn grey eventually, or at least our deck did, over time. So we finally pressure washed and painted it.
We are both working professionals and I have limited enough riding time as it is. I do want my fencing to look nice, but less maintenance is definitely more and I’ve got much better things to do than paint fencing or pay someone to do it. The stuff is expensive enough to put up. Thanks for all the responses!
An actual paint store guy told me that the more pigment in the stain, the longer it wears. So, transparent lasts the shortest amount of time, then semi-transparent, then semi-solid, then solid color stain. I was only really considering the latter two, and he said that they (at least from the particular line I was considering) had the same base, with just the amount of solids (the pigment/amount of coverage/grain-obscuring ingredients) differing.
Therefore, you might want to consider a stain with at least some pigment, rather than completely clear.
I’ve not heard great things about Thompson’s.
Personally, I prefer the ease of cleanup of the acrylic based stains, but admit that the oil based ones cover very well.
https://www.cabotstain.com/products/product-type/Staining-Products.html
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How many feet of fencing do you have to paint? What type of wood is it and now many boards. Are the posts pressured treated?
Pressure treated wood does not hold paint or stain nearly was well as natural wood. Oak is going to stain differently then pine. Pine is going to take more stain/paint to cover it. Most likely 2 coats. With oak you should be able to get away with 1 coat.
In Lex Ky black fencing came into vogue in the late 70s early 80s. Before that white was the signature color for years. As it was for a long time with fencing in most parts of the country. But white needs to be repainted every X years depending on location and weather. Both of these will have an effect on the fence depending on location.
The first farms in Lexington to go with black used thinned driveway sealer. Which worked well but was a bit of a PITA to spray. A local paint supplier came up with a better formula based on driveway sealer. That is still the go to in Lexington. God knows how many miles of fencing there is in the area. The only major farm that still has white is Calumet. The farm is located on a major road right near the airport so is seen by a LOT of people. It is pretty much synonymous for Calumet. The 2 owners of the farm since it left the founders has stayed with the tradition.
Regardless of what you paint or stain a fence with. Once done it will become an maintenance issue. Regardless of what is used it will have to be redone in 5-8+ years depending on the product and local weather conditions. And personal feelings on the “weathered” look.
I had a couple of miles of 3 and 4 board oak. On pressure treated posts. I never painted any of my fencing. Way too many other things that needed my time and money. I also know too many people that did and regretted it. I like the way oak turns to grey. As to adding longevity that’s very debatable… If painted and areas peel, it can and does trap water behind it and speeds up rotting. Esp on the end/jointed sections at the posts.
This is a picture of a 15 year old oak fence line in SE Pa.
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It’s pressure treated 4 Board and posts, I think Pine.
