Once you ve decided on your finish it s best to get to work quickly.
Can you stain a cedar fence right away.
The moisture content in the wood.
The upside is that solid color stains will block most damaging ultraviolet light.
How to tell when the pressure treated fence is dry.
If the wood absorbs it within 10 minutes plan to stain as soon as possible.
This is easy to determine with penetrating semi transparent stains.
Although cedar is naturally resistant to rot and decay staining your siding promptly will help in the preventing of deterioration.
If you have a fence built of a dried material such as cedar we can wash the fence and treat it to make sure the wood is able to accept a finish sooner than waiting a month or two.
Pressure treated wood that contains a water repellant will not absorb a water based stain as well as an oil based exterior stain.
Depending on the wood and drying conditions you should usually wait 4 to 8 weeks after installation before staining a deck.
It s usually more expensive than wet pressure treated wood and it s not regularly stocked in most local lumber stores.
Staining cedar with a solid color stain.
To determine if pressure treated wood is dry enough to stain try the sprinkle test.
What you get is a very uniform opaque color.
Kiln dried is more stable since it s already dry and ready to stain right away.
In fact if you wait too long it may weather too quickly and you ll have to sand it or wash it with a special cleaner in order to proceed to stain or seal it.
Roll stain on with a roller covering as much of the fence in one go as you can then go behind the roller with a brush to fill in and cover any spots the roller missed.
If you have a pressure treated fence you should wait.
Apply the stain if it soaks in its ready.
Solid color stains have solid particles but not nearly as many as paint.
Thus solid color stains let some of the cedar s grain show through but none of the color.
Cedar should be stained as soon as it will accept the stain.
How long you need to wait before staining will vary depending on.
By staining early you provide uv and water protection to the wood.
If it pools on the surface do it later.
The climate and weather conditions in your area.
If you installed a cedar fence you can usually stain or seal your fence right away without waiting.
Using a sprayer to stain a fence is a lot faster than staining it with a brush or roller.
The sooner you treat your cedar the better.
Sprinkle water on the wood.
You just need to wait a few days after washing it.
The sooner you treat your cedar the better.
If you wait a year the wood will turn gray and may even show deterioration from the weather.
This is easy to determine with.
Whether the deck is in the sun or shade.