How much Fence Paint?

mr_vampy

Hi,
I've been asked to paint 31 6ft x 5ft feather edge fence panels for a customer. Just the one side will be painted. It's not something I normally do. I've seen tubs of 9 litre Ronseal Brushable One Coat Fence Life paint in my local HomeBargains for £6 each. Was just wondering how many tubs I would need to buy as they have limited stock.
And for those that paint fences as a job, roughly how much would you be charging to do this?
Thanks in advance for your advice.

mr_vampy

Vibrant

Roughly speaking 6*6 panels use about one litre per panel, so with 6*5 panels you are looking at about 26 litres.
But the amount used can vary enormously depending on what the panels are like. Some soak it up, on others it just lays on the surface and this can vary from panel, to panel.
The time taken will also vary depending on the panel type and whether you are treating the good, or bad side. A rough guide is three to four panels an hour by brush.
Impossible to give a price, without seeing the fence, but always over estimate the time it will take, as treatment with a brush kills your arms after a few hours.

p.s It's too cold and damp for treating fences at the moment.

mr_vampy

Thanks for the advice Vibrant. Yeah, it is definitely too cold and damp to be doing it now. The fences were newly fitted about 18 months ago by someone else. Went to have a look at them the other day, and they're still in good condition. The original preservative that was put on has faded. I'm going to estimate it will take me about 12 hours. Just need to work out a price now. Thanks again

27col

I doubt whether painting a fence prolongs it's life in any way. Fences don't usually rot, they are mainly replaced due to weather/wind damage. As far as I'm concerned the only reason for painting a fence is to make it a different colour. Fence posts rot, but as they are normally only painted above ground level and it is the bit in the ground that rots, the paint is not going to prevent that either.
But if someone wants to pay you good money to apply paint, then good luck to you. It sounds like quite a big job if there are 31 panels.

mr_vampy

Thanks 27col. Like i said the fences are in good condition and it's only faded. The fences are sitting on concrete bases, so aren't damp or rotted.
The guy definitely wants it doing, and it's not like me to turn down work. Just need a rough idea on how much to charge for the job of painting the 31 fences.

27col

You could just paint one panel to see how long it takes and then work out a price from that.

Avoriaz

Are you planning to paint them by brush or use a sprayer?

For 31 panels I would advise using a sprayer. They cost about £15 and you need to use sprayable paint, which can be more expensive. But the extra you spend is more than saved in time, labour and effort.

I sprayed about 14 panels of various types last summer. I found the best way to do it was to spray about 1/4 of a panel and then use a brush to finish off as spraying alone never seemed to get decent coverage and finish.

I bought a cheap soft headed broom from Tesco for under £2, cut the long pole in half and used that instead of the usual 4 inch fence brush. The 8 inch wide broom head with about two foot handle made quick work and was far less effort than a short handled 4 inch brush.

ListysDad

First thing I'd ask is whether he wants 'em painted for longevity or vanity?

If it's to preserve them (and fence panels most definitely do rot BTW), the first thing to do is to price a proper preservative. Most preservatives have at least a 5 yr warranty and you are looking at £15-£20 for 5 litres.

For your information, if a product does NOT SAY 'preservative' is is NOT a preservative! This is due to recent EU regulations and I found this out after a very long conversation with those nice techie people at Ronseal. Product techies (all manufacturers) will also advise on coverage at a realistic level not the ideal nonsense stated by the marketing numpties on the cans.

I'm not affiliated with any f them BTW, I just appreciate honest, real world advice.