Stain a lot of fence boards efficiently

[Chris Kiely]

Hi, I'm looking for tips on how to finish a lot of boards efficiently.

I'm staining my cedar fence boards before I install the fence in the spring....

I've tried spraying but find that I have to touch up each board with a brush after (probably because I'm not very good with the sprayer). So I'm left with brushing on the finish but I have trouble getting the edges nice and I can only do one side at a time. My process is like this:

- sand a bunch of boards
- apply stain to one face and 2 edges, and put the board on a drying rack I've made. Repeat until all boards have one face and 2 edges done
- after they dry, do the other side.
- repeat.

I have about another 200 boards to go - so any tips on efficiently finishing large quantities of boards would be helpful, and very appreciated.

I'm afraid I just have to suck it up and keep on going but I'd like to hear what others do :)

[Andy Giddings]

Make a trough and dip them maybe?

[Wayne Lomman]

Set up 2 temporary rails on trestles. Space out your fence boards about4 inches from each other. Spray the top face and edges from both sides of your set up so that you get good wet coverage. Let dry and turn and do the same. If you partly drive a row of nails on each temporary rail so the boards sit on spikes, you can turn them wet. It's a good job to practice your spraying. Cheers

[Chris Kiely]

Set up 2 temporary rails on trestles. Space out your fence boards about4 inches from each other. Spray the top face and edges from both sides of your set up so that you get good wet coverage. Let dry and turn and do the same. If you partly drive a row of nails on each temporary rail so the boards sit on spikes, you can turn them wet. It's a good job to practice your spraying. Cheers

Thanks - I'll try this.

[Dan Hulbert]

I've had good luck using the tack strips they sell for holding the edges of carpet instead of a row of nails. You can usually pick them up by the piece at the big box stores for <$1 each. Very tiny points on the tacks.

[John K Jordan]

I've tried spraying but find that I have to touch up each board with a brush after (probably because I'm not very good with the sprayer).

Is this with a pump sprayer or a power sprayer? I used a power sprayer to paint about 75 sheets of 4x8 OSB and it didn't take long. I sprayed some leaning and some flat on a graveled area.

For fence boards I like the dipping idea. You could make a trough from lumber and some plastic sheet.

JKJ

[Rob Young]

Tack strips are a great way to quickly make "nail boards" for supporting work. Add to that the inexpensive folding plastic sawhorses and maybe a cheap tarp and you are off to the races.

[Mike Weaver]

Make a trough and dip them maybe?

Years ago, I made a PT fence and dipped the pickets in stain. We used two flower boxes with one end cut out and caulked/screwed together for the trough. We nailed up the wet 1x6 & 1x4 pickets w/ pneumatic nailer as they came out of dipping.

We also went through a few pairs of latex gloves since the stain eventually ate the gloves. It was a little messy, but the "drying rack" (fence) worked great.

IIRC, it was roughly 200' of 4' high fence.

-Mike

[Chris Kiely]

Tack strips are a great way to quickly make "nail boards" for supporting work. Add to that the inexpensive folding plastic sawhorses and maybe a cheap tarp and you are off to the races.

Good idea with the tack strips. Thanks gentlemen.

[Chris Kiely]

This is with a power sprayer. I recently got a fuji HVLP system as my first sprayer. Right now I'm on the steep part of the learning curve :)

[Jim Becker]

If this is opaque or semi-opaque stain, you will likely get better spray results with an airless type sprayer rather than an HPLV setup. That kind of product isn't that far from "paint" in consistency sometimes...

[Wayne Lomman]

The carpet tack strips are a great idea! Cheets

[Frederick Skelly]

FWIW, if spraying them doesnt work out, you could try a coarse roller. Beats brushing them.

[Jason Roehl]

Your first mistake is thinking you can spray an exterior item without touching it. Most exterior surfaces that get sprayed with paint or stain need to be back-brushed or back-rolled. The exception is something like aluminum siding. Spraying is done to speed application, and the previous comment about using an airless sprayer was spot-on. While an HVLP will typically handle up to the body of a semi-transparent stain, it won't be fast, so it's pointless to use. Exterior stains are meant to be flooded on and worked in.

[Harry Hagan]

You’ll need to brush the stain into the boards to obtain a uniform coat.

I prefer to install the boards first and then use a garden pump sprayer to apply the stain and then brush it out with a long-handled round brush for leverage and ease of application. (natural-bristle brush for oil stains and a synthetic-bristle brush for latex stains)

A brush similar to this but with another threaded hole to mount the handle from the side:

[Chris Kiely]

Thanks for the replies gents. What you are telling me is that I just need to suck it up and keep moving forward :D. Plus, I learned a few things about staining fence boards!