How to Stain a Fence: 7 Steps, 2 Dry Days Before and After, and the 4 to 6 Week Wait on New Cedar

Short answer: let new cedar weather 4 to 6 weeks, clean the fence with a wood cleaner and brightener, let it dry 48 hours until the wood is under 12 percent moisture, then spray a thin coat of oil-based semi-transparent stain and back-brush it in while it is wet. Keep rain off it for 24 to 48 hours. Done that way, the stain lasts 2 to 3 years before it needs another coat. Skip the drying and the brushing and it peels or blotches in one wet winter.

The stain is what carries a cedar fence through Portland's nine wet months, so it is worth doing right the first time. We build cedar fences with Grade 1 boards and stainless fasteners so there is nothing to bleed through the finish, and we schedule the staining itself around the same calendar below. Here are the steps in order, with the numbers that matter at each one.

The 7 steps at a glance

How long should a new fence weather before staining?

4 to 6 weeks for new cedar. Fresh boards carry mill glaze, a slick surface left by the planer, and natural oils and moisture that keep stain from soaking in. Give the fence a month or so of weather, then clean and brighten it to open the grain. Staining new cedar the week it goes up is the most common reason a first coat fails early. The exception is kiln-dried cedar that reads under 12 percent on a moisture meter; that can be cleaned, brightened, and stained sooner.

How do you prep a fence for stain?

• Clean it. A wood cleaner lifts dirt, gray weathered fibers, and mildew. Apply it with a pump sprayer, let it work a few minutes, scrub with a stiff brush, and rinse.
• Brighten it. A wood brightener, usually oxalic acid, neutralizes the cleaner and brings cedar back to its warm color. Skip it and the stain goes on over gray wood and looks muddy.
• Rinse gently. If you use a pressure washer, keep it at 1,500 to 2,000 PSI with a fan tip, 12 inches off the boards, moving with the grain. Higher pressure fuzzes cedar and carves lines into it.
• Fix what is broken. Replace split boards, drive popped nails, and sand any fuzz or rough patch with 80 to 100 grit. Stain does not hide damage. It seals it in.
• Let it dry 48 hours. Cedar that looks dry on the surface is still wet inside for a day or two after washing. Stain over damp wood traps the water and lifts.

How do you know the fence is dry enough to stain?

A moisture meter reading under 12 percent is the real test, and a cheap pin meter does the job. Without one, use the water test: sprinkle a few drops on a board. If they soak in within a minute, the wood is ready for stain. If they bead up, it is either still wet or still has mill glaze, and either way the stain will not take. In Portland the wood usually needs two full dry days after a wash, and longer on the shaded north side of a fence.

What kind of stain is best for a cedar fence?

An oil-based, semi-transparent penetrating stain. Oil soaks into cedar instead of sitting on top of it, so it does not peel, it repels water for 2 to 3 years, and the next coat goes over the old one without stripping. Semi-transparent gives enough pigment to block UV, which is what turns cedar gray, while still showing the grain. Water-based stains dry faster and clean up with soap, but they form more of a film and need more prep on the recoat. Solid stains and paint are the last resort for a fence, because once a film finish starts peeling, every future coat starts with scraping.

How do you apply fence stain?

• Spray it on. A pump sprayer or an airless sprayer at low pressure puts stain on a fence five times faster than a brush and gets into the gaps between boards.
• Back-brush every section while it is wet. A wide brush or a staining pad works the stain into the grain, evens out the sprayer stripes, and catches drips. This is the step that separates a job that lasts from one that blotches.
• One thin coat. Penetrating oil stain has to soak in. A second coat on top of a saturated first coat sits on the surface, stays tacky, and collects dirt. If the wood drinks the first coat fast in spots, hit those spots again while still wet, not later.
• Work in the shade and follow the shade around the fence. Stain on hot boards in direct sun flashes off before it can soak in.
• Do both sides. Stain on one face only lets the fence take water from the back and cup the boards.
• Cover plants, stone, and concrete. Oil stain does not come off pavers.
• Keep rain and sprinklers off it for 24 to 48 hours. Our guide on how long stain needs to dry before rain covers what happens if you miss that window.

How much stain do you need for a fence?

Measure the length of the fence, multiply by the height, and double it for both sides. A 100 foot fence 6 feet tall is 1,200 square feet of surface. Rough-sawn cedar drinks stain, so the first coat covers about 100 to 150 square feet per gallon on rough boards and 200 to 300 on smooth. That 100 foot fence takes roughly 8 to 12 gallons the first time and less on the recoat, because the wood is already sealed. Check the coverage number on the can you buy, and buy one extra gallon; running out with ten boards left means a lap mark you will see for three years.

When is the best time to stain a fence in Portland?

July through mid-September, and the earlier in that window the better. You need the wood dry for two days before, which rules out most of spring, and the stain dry for two days after, which rules out October no matter how good the week looks on the forecast. Stain when the boards are between roughly 50 and 85 degrees and out of direct sun. Morning dew on a September night can mark fresh oil stain, so start early and finish by mid-afternoon so the coat has hours of warm air before evening.

We wrote a full Portland calendar for this, month by month, in How long does stain need to dry before rain?.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need to sand a fence before staining?

Not the whole fence. Clean and brighten instead, and sand only rough patches, fuzz from pressure washing, and the tops of boards where end grain is exposed. Sanding a whole fence smooth actually closes the grain and makes stain sit on the surface.

Can you stain a fence with a roller?

Yes, a thick-nap roller works on flat boards, but you still need a brush for the gaps, edges, and under the rails. A sprayer with back-brushing is faster and gets better penetration.

Should you stain both sides of a fence?

Yes. A board sealed on one side takes water from the other and cups. If the far side is your neighbor's, most people will say yes to a free coat of stain.

How often should a cedar fence be stained?

Every 2 to 3 years with a semi-transparent oil stain in Portland. The test is the water test: when drops stop beading on the boards, the finish is done.

Can you stain over old stain?

Over a penetrating oil stain, yes, after a clean and brighten. Over a solid stain or paint, no, it has to be stripped or scraped back to sound wood first.

Can you stain pressure-treated fence posts and cedar boards the same day?

Usually not. Pressure-treated lumber comes wet from the treatment and can take months to dry to under 15 percent. Stain the cedar and come back for the posts, or use steel posts and skip the problem.

What happens if you stain a wet fence?

The stain sits on the surface, dries blotchy, and peels in the first wet season. The water in the wood has to come out, and it pushes the stain off on the way.

The bottom line

Wait 4 to 6 weeks on new cedar, clean and brighten, dry 48 hours to under 12 percent, one thin coat of oil-based semi-transparent stain sprayed and back-brushed, both sides, then two dry days. Do it in July or August. That is a fence that needs a coat every 2 to 3 years and never needs scraping.

If the fence is past the point where stain will save it, boards gone soft or posts leaning, our fence installation team can tell you whether it is a repair or a rebuild, and we build the rebuild to take stain the way this guide describes.

Gorilla Works proudly serves Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Happy Valley, Milwaukie, Troutdale, Vancouver WA, and Camas WA. Call (971) 343-4964 or request a free fence quote.