Having a clean and well-maintained wooden fence can enhance the brilliance of your yard two-fold. A fence that is kept clean and free of mould and filth will have a longer lifespan.
When cleaning your fence, it is essential to be careful so you don’t end up damaging the wood. Washing a deck or fence by hand is a time-consuming and laborious task that may be made far more manageable and effective using a pressure washer.
Before you begin cleaning your fence, you must ensure that the wooden fence has been properly prepped. Your fence cleaning effort will get off to a better start if you follow these tips.
Steps to Clean Your Fence with a Pressure Washer
To achieve the best outcomes, preparing your fence is crucial.
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Preparation
Preparation is likely the most critical stage in properly washing a fence. Before beginning, be sure to:
- Closing doors and windows to prevent water from harming your home’s interior.
- Covering plants, electrical outlets, light fittings, deck furniture, and anything else nearby with a tarp.
- Put your pressure washer in a safe location.
- Read your owner’s guide to establish the proper spray pattern to use.
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Start by cleaning with detergent.
Before cleaning your fence, lather it with detergent or soap, particularly if green moss, mould, bird droppings, or other baked-on stains have developed.
If you do this, cleaning it will be simpler for you, and if you decide to restain or refinish the fence later, the results will be nicer.
Pro-Tip: Before applying detergent, thoroughly wet the soil by spraying down any nearby plants. It will aid in promoting detergent water discharge and keep your plants safe.
- Work in portions to begin going.
- Wet the first piece of fencing, starting at one end of your fence.
- Next, turn the detergent tank on your pressure washer and add detergent from the bottom to prevent streaks.
- To allow the detergent time to work, let it sit for 5–10 minutes.
- All regions that begin to dry out need constant watering.
A spinning scrub brush may be required to cleanse particularly unclean areas. The power washer’s water pressure propels the brush’s inner, softer bristles, which will effortlessly remove tough stains.
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Use a pressure washer to rinse
Rinse the detergent with a low- to medium-pressure spray pattern. You don’t want to harm or streak the surface of your fence since wood is a fragile material. A fan design with moderate pressure is a decent choice to cover medium-sized regions.
- Press the trigger to flush out any residual detergent in the lines after turning your detergent tank to “Off.”
- Start at the same spot on the fence where you applied the detergent and work your way down this time, rinsing the fencing completely.
- Work with the wood’s grain. Work in clearly defined portions, covering one to two boards at once.
- For every area of the fence, repeat the steps of applying detergent and washing it clean.
If you apply soap to the whole fence before rinsing, the detergent will sink into the fence and dry there before you can rinse it off. It is not what you want to happen. To avoid detergent stains and streaks, keep the detergent wet until it is washed away.
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Use paint or a sealant.
Let your wooden fence dry for at least 48 hours after pressure washing it. To prevent the wood from being sealed in, you must give it ample time to completely evaporate all the absorbed water.
It’s crucial to paint or seal your fence when it has completely dried to prevent sun and wind damage. To give your fence a fresh new appearance, you may paint it or seal it so the wood grain can show.
Don’t forget the edges of the planks between the gaps; completely seal them. While the privacy fence’s planks may be too close to sealing between them, you can conceal any exposed wood by spreading sealer into the grooves between the boards.
Your fence will seem brand new, as if it was just put up after the sealer has dried. To keep your fence appearing like new, pressure wash it once a year.
While you shouldn’t need to apply new paint or sealant every year to keep it preserved, you should reapply it around every few years.
Conclusion
You may now follow these steps to pressure wash your wooden fence. It’s easy, and if you stick to these suggestions, your fence shouldn’t suffer any unnecessary harm. We hope these pointers and tactics will enable you to effectively pressure wash your fence.
