Re-stain a stained fence? (San Antonio, Anton: HOA, house, contractors)

[jolien]

Please forgive my first homeowner ignorance. I googled fence stain and didn't find anything local regarding fence restaining:

Last August I hired our yard guy to stain our 4 year old virgin fence (dumb that I didn't stain earlier, no excuse, I know). We bought the brushes and stain for him and his crew, forgot what I paid but i feel screwed.

It looked great and then 3 months later we noticed the stain came off in certain areas - where the sun and sprinklers hit it, mostly. It looks half-assed and I'm embarrassed. Stain was Behr from MG.

What happened and what do I do now? I'm also 8 months pregnant (NO DIY here) and going through a shower gutting and retile (a whole 'nother story), so will probably need a stainer reference if y'all have one. Thank you for your advice!

[rctsat]

This is one of the easiest do it yourself projects when the fence is new, get a few gallons of stain and a pump up hand sprayer( which a lot of people have for spraying their plants and trees) and you can do it in an afternoon. Now you have a whole different problem, you will need to power wash the fence to remove as much old stain and underlying dirt as you can. You will have to be careful not to remove the softer wood between the grain and cause premature wear of your fence. In your present condition this may be a little to much work, those pressure washers require quite a bit of effort to maintain the correct working distance.
You may try washing the fence just with your garden hose and a jet spray nozzle on the affected parts, let it dry well for a day then apply the stain like I said with the hand sprayer. I makes is so easy you don't have to bend down or reach up, just make sure that it is not a heavy bodied stain or it will clog the tip. It is quick and does a better job because the spray goes into the cracks much easier than a brush. Good luck

[hadleyzoo]

^^^ exactly what we did and we stained our fence 4 years ago and still looks great. Pressure wash getting the old stain and old graying matter of the fence off being careful not to strip the fence away. Let it dry for a day or two (depending on how warm or humid it is it may take a little longer?). We used an electric sprayer and it worked great. Again, ours was done 4 years ago, would probably need to be done in another year again, but we are supposed to be closing on the house tomorrow.

[marshotel]

I do this for a living and the fences I see with this problem is the hard water from the sprinkler system hits the fence and this is the problem with premature stain fading. If it is a semi-transparent stain the problem areas should be stripped off with a stain stripper and pressure washer and stain reapplied or if your HOA allows fence could be stained with a solid based stain which will last longer in this Texas weather and will be easier to maintain than the semi stain and can simply stain over faded areas like your painting a house etc. without having to worry about stripping and pressure washing.

[jolien]

Thanks everyone for your help. After calling around and getting estimates from private contractors (one wanted 700 bucks!) and companies, I went with San Antonio Stain. They did a great job for what I feel is a fair price.

[xavierlucas]

Originally Posted by jolien

Thanks everyone for your help. After calling around and getting estimates from private contractors (one wanted 700 bucks!) and companies, I went with San Antonio Stain. They did a great job for what I feel is a fair price.

Good decision jolien!