Tired Old Cedar Fence Update

We have this old cedar fence that needs to be updated. It surrounds our backyard. The fence is old. And he is tired – I know – I asked the cedar fence and that is what he said. He looks tired.

Our home is circa 1966. We purchased it in 2016. This home has not had much updating. We have been very busy ripping things out, adding new things and painting over old, old paint! The poor cedar fence looked like it may have had one coat of sealer in all the years that is has been standing there.

The good news is that all the cedar slats are intact. Nothing is split, broken or falling apart. It was time to clean him up and give him a fresh coat.  We have a power washer. Nothing fancy – just the one that costs about $130 from your local big box store. We have had it for years (and are hoping that it still works)! The power washing began – after spending a few HOURS trying to get the power washer to stop leaking.

How to do it!

Once the power washer is running, it is a slow and steady process of spraying the water stream in small circular motions all over each slat. You will not believe what will come off that fence!! DO NOT wear any clothes or shoes that you like too much, they are going to be COVERED in gunk. Once you finish cleaning a whole section of fence, you need to let it dry for about 48 hours before applying any sealer to it. That means, if it rains after you clean it, wait longer…. it really needs time to dry. Look at this picture showing the difference just after power washing the fence!!

Check out the difference on the interior of the fence!

 

 

 

We applied Sherwin Williams SuperDeck Exterior Deck Stain (in clear) to our fence. It makes the color so deep and now our fence looks so clean! While we were power washing, we actually had a gentleman stop and ask what we were doing to the fence, and wanted to know exactly how to do it so that he could go home and do the same thing! Our family thought we bought a new fence! We LOVE the look of our ‘new’ fence, especially since it only cost us $138 ($46/gallon and we used three gallons total)! We certainly cannot call him a tired old fence anymore!