Fence treatment that doesn't look like paint?

buyitall

Hi all,
We had a new garden fence last year (pre-treated panels) and want to treat it again this year (before the planting makes it impossible to get at). At the moment it's a light wood colour, which we like. However, most of the fence products I've seen seem to look like actual paint, whereas we were hoping for a more natural look. We have about 20 panels to treat - can anyone recommend anything which would give us this natural look? Hope that makes sense, and thanks for any advice.

CrimeWave

Wilkinsons interior/exterior Wood stain £17.99 a tin 2.5L. Add 4-5L ( not a typo) water will still give very similar results to undiluted. I swear by the stuff. Just done some this weekend coincidentally and I love the results. Even my fencer wanted to know what I had used when he came to finish off.

buyitall

Thanks - any idea how many tins of this we would need for 20 panels?

CrimeWave

How tall are the panels and are you painting both sides? I had 9 6ft x 3ft bow top panels 1 6ft x 5ft and a 6ft x 2ft gate painted both sides. I used 2 tins. I really think you could use 6L water to each tin and get great results. I know what you mean about not wanting a 'paint' look as thats what I didn't want too unfortunatly it could be fairly costly. Also by using so much water the paint goes on so much easier and soaks in to give a very even spread. You dont see any missed bits because there wont be any.

buyitall

There are twenty 6 foot x 5 foot panels and we are only doing one side.
By the way, as this is a wood stain, would it actually protect the timber?

CrimeWave

Stains, protects and varnishes in one <---- says it on the tin :j . I'd say 4 tins then if you add around 5-6L water. Depends on the porosity of wood too. I find if the timber is rough you will need a hell of a lot more than if its smoother. I wish I did my shed with it as its falling apart and the fence I painted with the wood stain still looks brand new 4 years later.

CrimeWave

Just show you what mine looked like, I know its a bit late but better than never!

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/Crimmey/P1030030a.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/Crimmey/P1030032.jpg

I used a 2.5l tin diluted with about 3.5-4l water

Heidspide

Do you use a brush or a sprayer for this? Do you think as it is diluted it would work in a sprayer?

CrimeWave

The stain is very watery undiluted, infact it probably has the same consistency as water so I wouldn't see any problem at all in a sprayer if you did add lots of water but you would have to thoroughly wash it out after as I splashed a little on my car and its very difficult to get off, it sets solid. I used a brush because I didn't want to waste the stuff as it isn't all that cheap and it did take a very long time. I actually bought one of those cheapo £2 hand pump pressure sprayer with adjustable nozzle (highly recommended to me) which I was going to try out on sunday so I could let you know.