Painting a fence can be a fun outdoor activity for any DIY enthusiast. Not only will you get a lot of fresh air when doing it, but you’ll also save a lot of money when compared to getting someone in to paint it for you.

Before starting though, you do need to have some materials at the ready.

You will need:

One thing that you need to bear in mind is how the colour of your fence will blend in well with your garden. Thankfully, the majority of fence paints on Amazon have a lot of customer photos in the reviews so you’ll be able to get a good idea of how the fence in a particular colour would look in your garden.

Putting aside the correct time to paint

After you’ve got all the materials together, you need to consider what the weather is like and how big your fence is. You should also consider how long it takes for your chosen paint to dry. If in doubt, I would recommend either waiting until it’s really sunny and you’re guaranteed great weather or divide the fence up in sections so that you can paint it in stages.

Once you’ve assessed the situation, my recommendation is to examine the fence and see if there are any sections that you feel could be doing with being sanded down so that they are perfectly smooth. This will ensure that the paint will properly adhere to the wood.

The next step is to lay paint sheets down around the area that you are painting, especially if the fence is close to grass. This is regardless if you’re using a roller, brush or sprayer. The last thing that you would want to do is to end up getting paint over the grass, or over any other kind of flooring/stones that you may have in your garden.

Different techniques to paint the fence

When I’m painting a fence and I’m using a roller or a brush, I prefer to do it in small sections at a time. This way I can properly cover each slat on the fence. Instead of using a paint tray, I simply dip the roller/brush into it. Not only will you use less paint, but the paint is less prone to drying out compared to when it’s in a tray. On hot summer days, the paint can dry out and harden extremely quickly.

My suggestion when using a brush/roller is to start in the middle of the fence slat and then work my way up, and then back down. This will ensure even coverage and full protection for the fence. Depending on how close together the slats are, you may need to get a narrow brush for those section. This is the ideal time to use a cutting in brush.

If you have opted to go for a paint sprayer instead, I normally start at the top of the fence and then work my way down to the bottom of the slat. This should be done relatively slowly (if in doubt, have a quick look on YouTube to see how quickly others use the paint sprayer to paint a fence).

If you’re using a paint sprayer, you may wish to adjust the nozzle in order to get paint around the sides of the fence slats. Alternatively, you can use a brush for it to get into the more intricate areas.

Add additional layers of paint

I would always recommend that at least two coats of paint are applied to the fence. Depending on the brand that you’ve chosen, they’ll have different suggestions as to how and when the additional coat of paint is added. Also, be mindful that in the summer, the paint will dry a lot quicker so you can shorten down the suggested drying times for those really hot days.

For a lot of fence paints, they will protect the wood for at least 3 years before you need to re-apply it again. This would be dependent on the weather in your area though, so you may need to re-apply it again before that time. The only thing I would say is that if you go several years without using the paint, it may be past it’s best before you need to use it again. Thankfully, the vast majority of fence paints are extremely well priced, so it won’t break the bank to purchase another tin of it.