Clear fence paint

ispookie666

Our fence around 60m and unfortunately part of the fence does not have gravel boards.  The fence is weathered and nice greyish. Rather than use a fence paint, we are looking for options to keep the natural sun bleached colour but keep it in good health.   

Jeepers_Creepers

To preserve the timber - prevent it from rotting - you can't do much better than Everbuild Lumberjack wood treatment in clear; non-solvent based (so not smelly or volatile, basically water-based), sprays easily (just like water...) and won't change the appearance of the timber. There are other similar products from the likes of Ronseal etc, but bear in mind that 'solvent' types are very smelly and might even damage your sprayer.

If the fence is also looking dried out and starting to crack (what type of fence, and how thick is the timber?) then there are oils that can be sprayed on afterwards. They will likely affect the finish slightly - ie a little darker and perhaps with the lightest of sheens, but really not by much (and you might prefer it).

(Struggling to find the stuff I was thinking of, but there used to be large tubs of - I dunno, Tung oil or similar? -  on eBay.)

Jeepers_Creepers

You'll need to judge whether it's what you need - these will darken the timber to some degree.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272495408494?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174412519825?

Etc.

ispookie666

@Jeepers_Creepers fantastic! Thank you. 
Should I spray the everbuild stuff before applying the above decking oil? 

Jeepers_Creepers

ispookie666 said:

@Jeepers_Creepers fantastic! Thank you. 
Should I spray the everbuild stuff before applying the above decking oil? 

Yes. The Everbuild needs to soak in to the bare timber to preserve it. Concentrate on slat ends, bits behind rails, etc. - where water can go and settle.

The oil then effectively waterproofs it, moisturises the wood and helps it to not dry out and split.

ispookie666

Just waiting for the Everbuild to arrive.  Hopefully it will be good weather in a few days.  

Jeepers_Creepers

It says it's still effective applied to damp timber, but it just cannot be as good. I'd definitely wait until it's been dry for a couple of days.

The parts of a fence that rot are the bits in joints and hidden parts sitting behind rails, top, sides  and - especially - bottom. That's where rainwater goes - and remains after the rest has dried away. So these are also the parts to soak in Everbuild, and which should be allowed to dry out before application.

Enjoy. It's nice stuff to work with, but - of course - still wear a mask. Oh, and wait until there's little wind... (50mph+ here at the mo'... :-(  )

TELLIT01

Reading the spec for Everbuild Lumberjack it states " when used externally, over painting/staining is recommended, as this product does not repel water."  I have been advised to use Sadolin Clearcoat for my shed but it would be extremely expensive for 60m of fence.

Grenage

There's also the option of not coating it with anything; I never bother with pressure-treated panels.  They're fine if they're not sitting in water (and if they're sitting in water then they're buggered anyway).

Jeepers_Creepers

TELLIT01 said:

Reading the spec for Everbuild Lumberjack it states " when used externally, over painting/staining is recommended, as this product does not repel water."  I have been advised to use Sadolin Clearcoat for my shed but it would be extremely expensive for 60m of fence.

Yes, Everbuild Lumberjack is just a timber preservative - it'll help prevent it from rotting.

It won't protect it against weathering, shrinking, cracking, going grey, or any of the other stuff that 'top coats' do.

You are quite right, Grenage - there's always the option of just leaving it and letting it weather naturally. Ultimately it'll crack and flake and erode, but that'll take ages.

As soon as you add a protective finish - a top coat - then are you pretty much committed to maintaining that finish from then on.

The 'oils' I mentioned in a previous post are a different approach - it'll help maintain the current finish and appearance by helping to keep out water penetration, help stop the timber shrinking and expanding with the weather which will usually lead to cracks, will probably enhance the appearance by darkening the timber as if it was wet, but will otherwise do nothing. The beauty of it is, if you stop applying it, it won't start to look shoddy, like a weathered-painted finish will. It won't peel or flake. It'll just reduce its effectiveness slowly over time - until it's oiled again.

NB I haven't used these oils myself, so this is largely assumption...

ispookie666

Cheers fellas
I did buy the oil mentioned inthe above post,  My plan is to apply the everbuild stuff, then wait a few days and apply the oil.