Should I stain/seal my cedar fence myself, or hire it out?

A big investment like a cedar fence is not the best place to learn how to stain. Staining is not necessarily beyond the ability of your average DIYer, but it’s an unforgiving task. There’s no room for error, because mistakes are permanent and noticeable.

Stain is not like paint. You can’t stain over your mistakes. If you apply too much, or end up with uneven coverage, there’s no hiding it. Here are several things to consider when deciding if you should DIY the staining on your fence:

1. Stain is transparent, and no matter how much you apply, the patterns below will always show through.

2. You can’t strip stain from wood with a power sander like you can with paint. The whole point of stain is to penetrate into the wood. Not only would sanding be a dubious and miserable job, it would require a lot of wood to be removed.

3. Stain is harder to get right, because you have to get it right all in one go. If you have to add another layer of paint to touch up a surface, nobody’s going to notice. With stain, though, you can’t come back through later.

Once the initial layer has penetrated, all you can do is add more over the top to darken the wood. However, since the wood has already been saturated with stain, you’ll never achieve the same darkening results with later coats.

4. It’s difficult to predict how stain will turn out. Because raw wood differs in texture, hardness, and color, it almost never turns out the way it looks on the can. This is something you accept with stain. If you use the right stain for the right wood, you’ll at least get it close to how its “supposed” to look. However, if you have a very specific tone in mind, getting it right will take a)sampling on similar wood, and b)an experienced eye.

The main point to digest here is that just because you’ve painted doesn’t mean you can stain. You’ll want to ask yourself if it’s worth the risk. You’ve spent a lot of money on your cedar fence, and it’s going to bother you constantly you if your stain doesn’t look right.

Yes, you’ll pay a bit for labor when you hire it out. But it’s worth it to protect one of the best investments you can make in privacy, security and aesthetics for your home.

If you do want to tackle it yourself, here are some suggestions:

1. Test your stain on multiple pieces of sample wood. Use left over scraps from the fence build, or buy some similar pieces if you have to.

2. Follow the instructions on the label religiously. Even better, watch some videos about how to stain or talk to a professional for pointers before you begin.

3. Be prepared. Have everything you need on hand before you begin. Clear the work area. Staining is typically a time-sensitive operation, where you apply, let it penetrate, and then wipe off the excess before it gets too dark or leaves spots.

4. Don’t hurry. Set aside enough time to do it right the first time, because if it’s not right the first time it won’t be right at all. If your estimate says you can do it in less than a day, plan for two days.

Fence builds in Snohomish County and beyond

Homeowners in the Snohomish area can contact Trackwest for cedar fence builds, as well as post-and-board and farm fencing installation.

See some of our past projects here