A 6 foot wood fence, 100 feet long, painted on both sides, is 1,200 square feet. Two coats make 2,400, so you need 6 to 8 gallons of PRO: one 5 gallon bucket and a few gallons. Pickets and lattice eat more paint than flat boards, so round up.
Prep by the kind of wood
- New wood: sand off the shiny mill glaze. Fill holes, caulk gaps with a paintable acrylic caulk, sand smooth and dust off. Prime with PRIME. Cedar and redwood can bleed brown through the paint and need a stain-blocking primer.
- Weathered wood: strip the loose gray fibers down to sound wood. Kill mildew with 1 part bleach to 3 parts water for 10 minutes and rinse. Prime the bare spots.
- Pressure treated wood: wear gloves, goggles and a mask when you sand it. Paint it only when it's dry. Drip water on a board: if it soaks in, the wood is ready.
- Painted wood: scrape anything loose, sand the edges, wash and let it dry. PRO goes straight over sound paint.
Paint
- Pick a day between 50F and 90F with no rain or snow due in 48 hours.
- Brush the edges and end grain first. End grain drinks water, so give it paint.
- Roll or brush the faces with a 3/8 inch or thicker roller. On a long fence, airless with a .015 to .019 tip at 1500 to 2000 psi goes fastest.
- Recoat in 2 to 4 hours. Two coats on bare and primed wood.
Which sheen
Satin or Semi-Gloss on rails, trim and doors you touch. Flat or Eggshell on wide siding where you want to hide the grain and the dents.
Price and delivery
PRO is 100% acrylic paint and primer for inside and outside, $58 a gallon and $285 for 5 gallons, tinted to any color in Brooklyn. A bucket order clears $150, so delivery in New York and New Jersey is free.
Order PRO: gallon $58, 5 gallons $285
Questions we get
How much paint for a fence?
Length times height times two sides, then times two coats, divided by about 350. A 100 foot fence 6 feet tall takes 6 to 8 gallons.
Can I paint pressure treated wood right away?
Only when it is dry. Drip water on it: if the drop soaks in, paint it.
Do I need a primer on a painted fence?
Not with PRO over sound paint. Bare and new wood take PRIME first.