New redwood fence

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Someone earlier mentioned Penofin. Beware! A neighbor used "red" on all his new cedar fence/porch/fascia/etc and within a few years, it all turned black! Read the reviews on amazon first. At least here, oil-based products like this will soon turn black from mold when used outdoors. It's a shame too as all the new wood looked beautiful when freshly stained.

Since demarpaint is a pro, I'll defer to his experience.


Certain oil products can be a breeding ground for mildew unfortunately, unlike latex and acrylic products. However the latex and acrylics don't make good semi solid stains for fencing and decks. They're pretty good solid stains, but that's another topic. A good stain like the Sikkins product I linked too will do a good job fending off mildew. Where people go wrong is in prep work. I've seen people stain right over mildew, then blame the product, when the problem is in the prep work. A funny thing about these oil base products is some of them act like a fertilizer going over existing mildew, and make it grow even more.

I have a feeling the OP takes pride in what he does and will do a good job with this project and be very happy with the results.

 

[doitmyself]

If you are into internet research, I like the deck stain review site below. Take it for what it is worth. It gives the Penofin Blue above average scores, but the darkening aspect is mentioned a lot.

http://www.deckstainhelp.com/


Also, the OP mentioned pressure treated redwood posts? Redwood heartwood is naturally rot resistant and only a few species have wood structure suitable for pressure treating. Can someone elaborate on this, please? I have never heard of treated redwood.

Finally, in our locale, concreting wood posts is not too common, to my knowledge, and can lead to faster rot and/or frost heaving if done improperly.

 

[sleddriver]

The mold count is never "low" down here, plus there's always plenty of humidity to feed it. Really chanaged the look of his place.

 

[sleddriver]

Interesting link, re: deck stain sight.

Turns out there are oil-based stains that won't grow mold and do well in the tests! Good to know. I learn something every day. Re: Penofin though....ugh. Lots of unhappy users.