Painting fence - do I need to prime first?

Hello folks!

My fence is in need of a nice fresh coat of paint and figured this was the best time to tackle it.

I've recently blasted this with a mildew / algae cleaner which did a great job making them less green and will be taking the pressure washer to it to get rid of any lingering dirt and grime.

I've got some Cuprinol Ducksback ready to go for the painting, but do I need to prime the wood in any way before painting? I didn't put this fence up originally so I don't know if the wood has been treated in any way before.






Thanks!
Pete

 

If the old surface treatment is unknown, as it says on the can, just paint one out of view plank to see if it adheres ok when wet and if it dries ok.

Assume you are using a simlar dark colour, think going lighter will require many coats.

Always keep an eye on the reverse side of the fence in case you apply too much and it bleeds through which could annoy the neighbours if its partly their fence as well.

Looks like some new posts /bases are needed as well ...?

 

Definitely do not prime. The idea of paints like Cuprinol is that they sink into the wood. Primer would stop that working.

That said though, looking at the colour, it's possible that it's been treated with creosote before. In that case any other treatment you put on is likely to just run off, or at least only stick in patches, because creosote is oily and water-based paints like Cuprinol won't like going over that. Ricky's point about doing one plank as a test will catch that quickly before you go further.

Also re Ricky's point about paint running between the planks through to the other side, you're better (as always) to put the paint on more sparingly, and do another coat if you need it. That should stop it running places you don't want it. You always need 2 coats anyway.

 

Thanks folks. I think you might be right about the creosote or somesort of oil staining. Wish I'd learnt about that before ordering paint! Oh well, that's a new thing learnt.

If the paint doesn't bind well, am I likely to have better success with an oil stain? (we're aiming for just slightly off black for colour)

 

Before worrying about alternatives, best if you first try the Cuprinol on a less conspicuous plank and see how it takes, might be ok.

 

Agreed. It's impossible to tell the type of wood treatment over the internet. It could equally well just be a dark woodstain, in which case it's game on with the Cuprinol.

 

Ok, no more stalling. Painting has started!

 

It's looking good @Temmy! Now you have made me think I should start work on my fence - but I'm going to spray it - painting is hard work!

 

Thank you! Second coat going on on today.

It takes a long time, but I really enjoyed doing it and found it quite relaxing. There are wose things than spending a day out in the garden with a bit of nice music on in the background.

 

Glad you are enjoying fence painting @Temmy . I always found it hard work, the fence sucks the paint in on the first coat, so you are forever loading the brush. After half an hour your arm feels like it is dropping off. Like Caroline I decided to buy an electric spray gun and spray fence paint. Then looked at all my fence panels and decided to leave them wood colour. Anyone want to buy a spray gun and paint

 

All done! I think once the lawn is sorted out and some raised beds are added, any colour will really pop and stand out against the fence backdrop.

 

Looks great @Temmy! Any plants in front of that will really look good - I'm thinking regale lilies maybe? I'm not painting mine for effect @HarryS, it's just to help preserve them - have you seen the price of panels? Though I fancy doing my shed in Wilko 'willow' which nearly matches my glasshouse.

 

Yes, looks really good and should show the plants off well.

Just a bit curious about the concrete posts that surround the wooden posts.

Suspect they might have been used to hold the posts on place while the concrete set ?

Just wonder, as they do not look like they are atached to the posts above ground level, if they could be cut back to ground level to make things look neater ?

 

The concrete posts are bolted into the wood above ground (the masking just covers all the bolts in the photos). I think painting these black is the way to go!

 

Looking good!

You're lucky to have concrete spur posts - most fencers don't put them on unless you pay extra. Posts always rot off at ground level, but if you've got concrete spur posts then that doesn't stop the post being held in place. And when a post does need replacing, you can just bolt the new one on, instead of having to dig out the old rotten one and all the concrete which was holding it in. I've never bothered painting them, but then I like fences going a natural grey so they're already the right colour for that.