Evening folks, I'm new to this website and I love it! - Fence Stain Question

Shaun_in_NC

I happened upon this site looking for Painting advice and I'm lovin it! There is probably about a thousand years worth of professional painting experience in the painting forum right at my fingertips.

I'm buying a new house and am going to build a pressure treated fence. How long do I have to let the wood cure before I can stain it?

The back deck is untreated pine. Do I need to let that age as well before staining it?

DUDE!

the real painters will be by shortly, I was told to put a bit of water onto the wood, if it soaks into the wood in less then a minute, you can paint or stain, if not, the wood hasn't weathered yet. I have seen it painted and stained too quickly, it'll peel right down to the bare wood. Others can give better advise on this.

slickshift

The PTP should be seasoned for a while
How long actually varies, but to be safe a few months would be fine
(like a season)
You'll find some manufacturers will say their PTP wood can be stained/painted right away, but I can tell you that's not true
A few weeks seasoning minimum

Your untreated wood does not need to season, and can and should be coated right away

Termite

The untreated pine deck should have been painted to begin with. There's not enough weather resistance in untreated pine to leave it exposed to the elements. I'd wait for a couple weeks of sunny dry weather to get it dried out and would slap a good coat of primer and paint on it.

As for the fence, Slickshift is right. You have to let the bulk of the moisture season out of the wood. Pressure treated material is less than ideal for fencing in my opinion. For a painted fence, I'd go with Cedar. It costs more, but is a better product.

slickshift

Don't ever paint a deck (except for maybe rails and/or balusters)
If your "Paint Store" even carries deck paint, find another store as they are bad news

Use a solid stain, meant for decking

Shaun_in_NC

Thanks fellas. I'll wait until summer to stain the fence. The deck has probably been up for a month and a half so I'll have it stained by the end of this month. I've been pouring over the painting threads the past few days and am glad I have. I close next week and am pretty much painting the whole house. I've tried countless times to talk my wife out of it but most every room she wants a different shade of this or that. My wife had been adamant about using Behr paint but after reading the many threads I think well go with superpaint or the BM Regal. Being the inexperienced painter that I am I always thought painting was as simple as schlepping the cheapest paint, with the cheapest brush you can find on a wall and try not to paint the trim. Then read these threads and found out it's far more involved than that. I gots me a whole new vocabulary now Once I get my equipment list I'll post it for Y'alls perusal and you can tell me where I can improve.

Termite

Agreed, when the deck is made of actual decking materials. When it is made from what is essentially framing lumber, I'd do whatever I could to get it covered in something asap. I'm no painter but I am a carpenter, and can tell you that an untreated pine deck will not last!