advice for treating newish cedar fence

[frugal is fun]

In the Spring I spent alot of money and had a 72' of cedar fence installed. The advice I was given at the time was don't do anything to it until the fall, let the cedar dry etc.

So now its fall and since I spent so much money on the fence I want to do whatever the right thing is in order to make it last FOREVER! LOL!

So, Sherwin Willams had a sale last weekend and I got their woodstain for 40% off. I plan to spray it and then back brush it for drips etc to make it look nice.

However, my new fence is covered in black mold. I'm getting two different forms of advice on what to do with the mold. The first one is to kill the mold with deluted bleach by spraying it on and then taking a brush to it. The second one is to just power wash it and that will be "good enough".

The guy at sherwin willams said that once I kill the mold and stain it, the stain will prevent it from getting molding again in the future, yet someone told me "don't believe everything they tell you".

I purposely went to Sherwin Williams instead of Home Depot to get a good product and good advice.

I would like to start this project this weekend....what say you?

[Russ]

I say powerwash, let dry and stain.

[frugal is fun]

really, don't do the bleach ?

[Russ]

really, don't do the bleach ?

I knew bleach would not be good for it, but couldn't remember why. I found your answer here > Natural Wood Siding Needs TLC

Although that is regarding natural wood siding, I believe it applies.

[frugal is fun]

You are the BEST Russ!

thank you thank you thank you!!!

[frugalfranny]

Wow....and when you google cleaning a cedar fence lots of sites say use bleach.

Cedar lasts a really long time anyway.......providing you didn't put some huge gate in (that will drag) and put the posts in cement.

I didn't do anything to mine and it lasted over 20 years. I just let it age. Didn't have much mold........but you have the humidity which may make it totally different.

[frugal is fun]

up date on the fence and why I really hate being a weak girl home owner sometimes!

I couldn't find the product Russ recommended locally so I found something else that was "safe". Well that safe product did literally nothing. After two hours of following the directions, reapply, following the directions, reapplying I loaded up my son and we went to the local hardware store for something "stronger". The handed me some product but then said, well I just borrowed my fathers power washer and did my fence that way. My ex husband has a power washer so I drove about 20 minutes to get it, loaded it in my car and headed back home. About three hours has gone by and there is still no change in the mold status on my fence.

So after a good 20 minutes of messing with hoses on the power washer and getting it so things don't pop off I'm finally ready to start the darn thing. turns out I'M TOO WEAK TO START IT!!! GRRRRR!!!!
I tried calling my exhusband but of course he didn't have his phone on. I called my brother for advice and he couldn't remember if he had to do anything "special" to it before starting. I was so Angry!!!

After turning into a crazy person and realizing that I was yelling at my son for no reason, God gave me enough sense to say, forget about the fence, lets go to the fair! So we cleaned up and I took my son to the fair where we had a great time riding the rides and eating meatballs! LOL!

On Sunday, after spending the entire day out, my exhusband says "why don't you just spray it with bleach". So after he left, I diluted some bleach and sprayed my fence and within minutes the mold was gone. Not exactly the route I wanted to go but the mold is gone and I'm not a crazy person anymore!

[Russ]

At least you got it done Judy.
Now are you going to stain it? If so, let it bake in the sun if you can and make sure it is completely dry. Don't buy any of the polyurethane sealers, they will peel off after 2-3 years. Just stain them. I have not used it but I understand Cabots makes one of the best.

[Russ]

oops, just re-read your first post and see you already have stain.

[frugal is fun]

Right Russ, I bought the stain last week at Sherwin Williams and plan to do it this weekend, no extra coating.

It supposed to rain here the next few days, which I'm kind of happy about. I was wondering if I should have rinsed off the bleach but now the rain is taking care of my worries for me. So hopefully the sun will come out Thurs & Fri and I'll be able to start staining on Saturday.

I need to get to Home Depot or Lowes this week to get a decent sprayer.

Its just so frustrating sometimes when something that should be simple in theory turns into a big project just because I'm a girl LOL!

[arocbuild]

i have pressure washed molded, discolored wood fencing in the past and then applied stain with good results. I have never tried bleach.

[frugal is fun]

FINAL update on my fence ITS FINISHED!!!

O my goodness, that was a project of all projects. Won't go into the frustrating details that yes, brought me to tears.

4 gallons of stain, 2 "good" brushes and a paint sprayer cost me just over $200. I did two coats on the front and one coat on the back. I will probably do one more coat on the back and a little touch up in the spring but for now its finished.

before, during (yes, finally a picture of me) and after.

[Russ]

You did an awesome job Judy!

And stain on your shirt is a badge of honor!

[frugal is fun]

Thanks Russ! that picture was taken at the start of day, you should have seen my shirt by the end of the day!