Introduction
Congratulations! Your decision to paint your own fence is a wise one for two reasons, Firstly think of the money you will save (Often upwards of $1,000.00) and Secondly, The best painting jobs are done by those owners who have shown the patience, attention to detail and persistence to reap the rewards of a quality job.
What’s so important about the painting?
The dry character of our summer heat wave can be devastatingly cruel on “organic timber product”. Quality painting goes a long way in addressing post splitting and shrinkage, surface checking, water traps creating “dry rot” and warping timbers.
A good foundation job will save many hours of labour down the track by protecting and binding together the fences individual elements.
Painting Instructions
It is important not to delay in starting the paint job. You should aim to commence one initial coat within a week of completion. For best results give the fence a light sanding ensuring the fence is clean from dust and dirt.
We recommend that no less than 5 coats of paint to be given to any green timbers (those that aren’t kiln dried) like the feature posts which importantly will build up a genuine seal. If not, the post will try and lose its moisture through “surface checking or cracking”. Even after repeated coats watch for cracking in the first summer and attend to.
After the first coat is complete any filling should take place using a professional poly filler. When applying the second coat it is important to build up the paint in areas where overlaps and junctions occur to help avoid water traps.
A final coat should now be applied concentrating again on areas of overlap and junctions not forgetting the picket top’s which is a freshly cut end grain.
Ongoing maintenance
Having completed a good foundation job you should be free from painting for a good 6 – 8 years which by then the fence may need to be sanded and cleaned followed by one more top coat. This is always a good opportunity to regrease any gate hinges your fence may have. If you have followed the above instructions we are only too happy to offer a firm and formal 1 year guarantee from completion which will see you through one full cycle of the seasons.
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