Depending on the texture and layout of your fence, sometimes it’s a good idea to go back over your work in the perpendicular direction. This creates a crosshatched pattern that eliminates streaks.
The Best Way to Paint a Wooden Fence
Learn how to paint a wooden fence with a wagner paint sprayer, which can cut painting time in half over using a brush.
Difficulty Beginner
Project Type Outdoor
Product Flexio 2500 Sprayer FLEXiO 3500 Sprayer Flexio 5000 Sprayer
WHEN TO PAINT A FENCE
Painting a wood fence is one of the best ways to protect your investment.
If you’ve recently built your fence, you’ll want to let the wood season for 3-4 weeks before painting it because moisture in unseasoned wood can cause warping. Additionally, paint adhesion, and absorption into the wood will suffer. Remember to be patient and wait for dry weather where you can start your paint spraying project in the early morning before the sun heats the surface of the wood. A surface that’s too hot prevents you from achieving a pro-like finish because solvents in the paint to evaporate too quickly, resulting in cracks and other imperfections.
Please note, these steps can also be used to stain spray a wooden fence.
Before
After
PREPPING TO PAINT SPRAY YOUR FENCE
Professional painters call the process of scraping, cleaning and masking for paint jobs “prepping.” Here are some important steps to take when prepping to use a paint sprayer.
TRIM AREA – Trim back any grass, weeds, trees or bushes that are in contact with the fence. This exposes all of the fence’s surfaces and ensures a clean and complete finish.
REMOVE OLD PAINT – If your fence has been previously painted, prepping also includes scraping off all peeling or chipping paint. A Wagner Paint EATER and Wagner Heat Gun can help with this process – see our DIY project on how to remove paint from wood for more instructions.
REPAIR FENCE – Repair or replace any damaged portions of the fence. Check for loose nails or screws and reseat them. If the fence needs repairs, it’s better to do these before you start paint spraying so you can hide any new screws or wood filler. Most importantly, having a surface that’s as uniform as possible will give you the best results.
CLEAN FENCE – Use a counter brush to remove any dust, cobwebs or debris from the wood surface and trellis work. A power washer can also get the job done quickly and efficiently, but remember to let the fence thoroughly dry before applying paint.
DROP CLOTHS – Use drop cloths to protect surrounding vegetation, sidewalks and landscape features. Don’t forget to put a drop cloth immediately under the section of the fence you’re painting to catch drips.
PRIMER – If you’re painting over a darker color paint with a lighter one, then you might need to spray a coat of primer first.
How to quickly spray your fence
Treating your fence can seem like a boring way of spending your weekend, but with our Precision Finish Fence Sprayer it doesn’t have to be.
Project overview
Treating your fence can seem like a boring way of spending your weekend, but with our Precision Finish Fence Sprayer it doesn’t have to be.
10-30 mins
Easy
Our sprayer has two spray settings for speed and accuracy, so you can treat a fence panel in less than four minutes.
- Choose a warm, dry day, and don’t spray in windy weather, otherwise you could end up spraying more than just your fence
- Cover up anything you don’t want to get product on.
- Give your Ronseal Sprayable liquid a good stir.
- Push down the handle of the sprayer and turn anti-clockwise until the pump pulls out.
- Pour the product into the sprayer, the fill level indicator makes it easy to see how full the sprayer is – it can hold 5 ltrs, enough to treat about 6 fence panels.
- Then put the pump back in and turn the handle clockwise to fully tighten.
- Before spraying, you’ll need to pump up the sprayer; you can use the foot stand to hold it in place.
- The accuracy setting has a narrow spray width, perfect for outlining and spraying those fiddly parts of your fence. Hold the nozzle about 15cm away from the fence and start spraying. Twist your arm 45 degrees when changing direction.
- When you’re ready to fill in the gaps, switch to the speed setting which will give you a larger spray width. You’ll need to hold the nozzle a bit further away than you did for the accuracy setting – about 20 to 25cm. Make sure to overlap where you’ve sprayed so you don’t get any gaps.
You’ll be finished before you know it.
Ronseal, does exactly what it says on the tin.
We recommend.
Precision Finish Fence Sprayer
Spray a fence panel in less than four minutes with our Precision Finish Fence Sprayer. The two spray width settings let you accurately and quickly spray your fence, covering large areas and hard to reach places too.
SPRAY PAINTING A PICKET FENCE
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I am Plutonium Paint’s brand ambassador. I am compensated to represent them, but all the opinions in this article are 100% my own.
Most of our yard is fenced in by chain link fence bordered by trees and bushes, but there is a small stretch of picket fence between our garage and the neighbors’ fence. The paint on the fence was looking pretty janky, so I started to research our options. After a few hours of searching, I had come to one conclusion: new fencing is expensive. I don’t know how people afford to fence in their yards!
Since there wasn’t any budge in the budget for a new stretch of fence, I began thinking about how to improve the fence we had. I knew it needed to be painted, but the thought of squatting in front of our fence all day, Tom Sawyer style, wasn’t too appealing to me. Then I remembered how fantastic Plutonium Paint is for outdoor projects. It is mold and mildew resistant, and it protects from UV rays. As it turns out, spray painting a fence is a project that anyone can do – especially if you choose to use Plutonium.
Before I got to painting, I had to prep the fence. I gave the whole fence a good brushing with a wire brush to knock off any loose or chipping paint. I didn’t bother sanding the whole fence because I was fine with the fence not looking brand new.
All in all the fence wasn’t in bad structural shape, but there were some screws that needed replacing and gate hardware that needed tightening. My dad helped take care of that for me.
Once the fence was prepped and ready, I got spraying. I laid a piece of cardboard under the fence, or along the house or neighbor’s fence, to catch any overspray. With Plutonium Paint, there wasn’t much overspray to worry about. Plutonium goes where you put it.
I was not sure if I would need to double coat the fence since the wood was so worn. In this picture you can see that one coat of Plutonium Polar made a huge difference in the appearance of the fence. I ended up painting one coat over the whole fence, and then touching up any areas that needed a bit more coverage.
Because Plutonium sprays from any angle, I was able to paint the whole fence from a standing position. No squatting, crawling, or twisting to reach all the curves and edges. I would, however, have to take breaks every now and then to keep my forearm from cramping up!
I also didn’t have to worry about impending rainstorms when I was painting the fence, since Plutonium dries so quickly. The paint dries in 3-5 minutes and then it is weather-proof!
I am always surprised what a fresh coat of paint can do for parts of our home. The bright white fence looks so much cleaner and fresher than the chippy cream-colored finish we had been living with.
If you are interested in what else you can do with spray paint check out my Craft Room Table, Faux Ceramic Bookends, Ombre Party Tub, Ribbon Wands, and my Spray Painted Tote and Business Cards.
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Spray paint is really brilliant for painting fences. I love painting, and I am fine with meticulous or menial tasks; but it can be really hard to get every corner and crevice of a wood or iron fence. After many years, any fence is going to need a new paint-job or maintenance, but you don’t want it to look lumpy with a thick coat of paint. Spray paint goes on very thin and smooth while still covering all of the surface evenly.
Thank you! Thank you!
- madincrafts says March 19, 2017 at 9:15 pm
You’re welcome! You’re welcome!
Hi, Thank you for posting this. I want to order Plutonium paint; I was wondering how many cans or how many ounces you used to paint the section of fence shown in the photo. Thanks again!
- madincrafts says April 27, 2021 at 1:53 am
I believe I used 2-3 cans for this approx. 6ft fence and the gate. Hope that helps!
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