pressure washer at home depot image
Sara
Hello,
We recently purchased our home and are about to move in. One of our main concerns in our gray and shabby fence. How do we clean and seal it?
Can we rent a pressure washer from home depot or something? or should we let a professional do the job? Also how much would it cost?
Thanks!
Answer
The reason your fence is grey is because it's cedar. It starts off salmon colored, and slowly fades to gray. The inside might still have some of the coppery orangy colored wood, but maybe not. If the wood has deep grain grooves, then it's become brittle and those bits need to be replaced.
Otherwise, this is just the way cedar fences look. The important thing is to make sure the wood is stable. Any wooden posts should be pushed on to make sure they're not broken off at the ground. The back sides of fences should be checked to make sure the support boards are not rotted out at the ends.
Any loose nails or screws should be replaced. Make sure not to use too long of a fastener, otherwise, you could be liable for any injury of someone bumping into the pointy end on the other side of the fence.
If you have to do too much work, you may want to simply replace the fence, but I find for an old fence, I replace one post and three support boards every 2-5 years. I have 20 sections and one gate.
If you do replace the fence, go with galvanized steel posts because they'll last 50 years or more. If you already have the steel posts, then this is great and will save some time and cost on replacement.
If you're keeping the fence, and it's strong and secure, then here's what I would do.
You can use the solution recommended for vinyl siding. A quarter cup detergent, a quarter cup chlorine bleach, and a gallon of water. Put this in a garden sprayer and coat the whole fence with it. Obviously, don't wear good clothes since you're working with bleach.
This will kill any mildew and you can use a spray hose to rinse off any dirt and crud.
If you want to preserve it a bit, let it dry well before attempting to paint or seal it. You can use any sort of deck seal with UV protection. Some of these will have a stain in them which will help cover up the grey. Otherwise, you could use an outdoor, oil based paint. You can use rollers or paint brushes, but it's slow going. A sprayer will get between the boards better and be faster, but you'll end up painting your lawn, a few trees, etc if you're not careful.
Darker colors will make the wood heat up more, so a light colored fence paint is the safest for long-term health.
The only problem is that you may not be able to get into neighbor's yards to paint the back of the fence. Without that, it won't be sealed, and the paint will start peeling in a year or two.
If you DO replace the fence, you can buy pre-stained, pre-sealed fences. Some are pressure treated too, or you can get only PT and not sealed. PT is greenish for a couple of years, and will turn grey after that, but won't rot nearly as quickly. The sealed fence will look "new" longer, but will require re-sealing from time to time unless the stain is pressured in (rare).
The reason your fence is grey is because it's cedar. It starts off salmon colored, and slowly fades to gray. The inside might still have some of the coppery orangy colored wood, but maybe not. If the wood has deep grain grooves, then it's become brittle and those bits need to be replaced.
Otherwise, this is just the way cedar fences look. The important thing is to make sure the wood is stable. Any wooden posts should be pushed on to make sure they're not broken off at the ground. The back sides of fences should be checked to make sure the support boards are not rotted out at the ends.
Any loose nails or screws should be replaced. Make sure not to use too long of a fastener, otherwise, you could be liable for any injury of someone bumping into the pointy end on the other side of the fence.
If you have to do too much work, you may want to simply replace the fence, but I find for an old fence, I replace one post and three support boards every 2-5 years. I have 20 sections and one gate.
If you do replace the fence, go with galvanized steel posts because they'll last 50 years or more. If you already have the steel posts, then this is great and will save some time and cost on replacement.
If you're keeping the fence, and it's strong and secure, then here's what I would do.
You can use the solution recommended for vinyl siding. A quarter cup detergent, a quarter cup chlorine bleach, and a gallon of water. Put this in a garden sprayer and coat the whole fence with it. Obviously, don't wear good clothes since you're working with bleach.
This will kill any mildew and you can use a spray hose to rinse off any dirt and crud.
If you want to preserve it a bit, let it dry well before attempting to paint or seal it. You can use any sort of deck seal with UV protection. Some of these will have a stain in them which will help cover up the grey. Otherwise, you could use an outdoor, oil based paint. You can use rollers or paint brushes, but it's slow going. A sprayer will get between the boards better and be faster, but you'll end up painting your lawn, a few trees, etc if you're not careful.
Darker colors will make the wood heat up more, so a light colored fence paint is the safest for long-term health.
The only problem is that you may not be able to get into neighbor's yards to paint the back of the fence. Without that, it won't be sealed, and the paint will start peeling in a year or two.
If you DO replace the fence, you can buy pre-stained, pre-sealed fences. Some are pressure treated too, or you can get only PT and not sealed. PT is greenish for a couple of years, and will turn grey after that, but won't rot nearly as quickly. The sealed fence will look "new" longer, but will require re-sealing from time to time unless the stain is pressured in (rare).
Gas pressure washer, any recommendations on what brand to purchase?
Alan
Looking to get a GAS pressure washer to use around the house for cleaning the driveway, wood fence and deck etc. Any recommendations? Home Depot, Lowes and Sears all have their brands but can't decide.
Alan
Answer
get a honda,,,i had 2 with briggs straton in the last 5 years both engines went bad,,junk
get a honda,,,i had 2 with briggs straton in the last 5 years both engines went bad,,junk
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