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shiane_gw

Pressure treated fence

shiane
13 years ago

We will be replacing our fence with pressure treated fencing. Do we have to apply a sealer? If we don't will it affect the longevity of the fence? As we are getting older we do not want to have to paint or stain the fence but would like to let it age naturally. We are trying to make this as easy care as possible...but don't want to use PVC fenicing and don't have the money for cedar.

Comments (2)

  • handymac
    13 years ago

    If you use ground contact pressure treated posts(different than what most home improvement stores carry in stock), and set the posts in concrete correctly, the fence should last a long time.

    It will turn gray and the boards may warp or cup if left with no finish. It will probably do the same with a finish applied only once.

    You could use a deck stain, applied with a pump-up sprayer(like the weed control folks use) every three or four years and it should stay much nicer looking.

  • metaxa
    13 years ago

    Green PT wood gets eaten up by the sun. The brown fares a bit better.

    Around here what you all call ground contact PT is only available as a special order through a marine supply place for dock building. Very expensive.

    I agree with Handymac...use a spray on deck stain, you may want to back roll the face boards but that will help.

    Make sure your installer doesn't encapsulate the posts in concrete. The correct way is to dig the hole 6" deeper than needed, add drain rock and tamp that down to achieve the depth you need, place the post and brace it, add some fill dirt and tamp it, then add cement such that it forms a collar around the post that does not come to daylight. Once that hardens, fill the remaining hole with well tamped fill dirt (the stuff you dug out of the hole) and slope it around the post such that surface water runs away from the post.

    You don't want your posts sitting in a cement cup, the only reason the cement is there is to counterbalance the effect of the fence panels. You want any water getting to the posts to be able to drain away.

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