and it looks like hell for a long time with the color of the wood showing for an inch or two under the horizontal boards. It's also the only way to get that natural silver gray weathering eventually.

If you want instant gratification, you can use a grey stain that approximates the color you'll get after a few years of ugly. If you decide to do this, rent a sprayer. Painting a fence that size would take forever.

and never bothered treating it since I wanted it to weather. It pretty much worked, too.

I wasn't all that concerned with making it waterproof because 2x6 lumber was not going to rot easily.

use a good quality stain -do in July or August. It's best if you spray it-you can rent the sprayer at tool rentals. They will tell you how to clean the unit when you are done. The fence must be completely dry-ed out. That is why July/August is the best months to do it.

stain 3 years ago.

it still looks great, but it is pressure treated pine.

I'm thinking that Cedarcide is good stuff. http://www.cedarcidestore.com/cedarproducts.html

no cracks, warps nothing in 3.5 years of baking hot summer and freezing cold winters.

i'm gonna pressure wash it this season and see if i need to hit it with another coat of stain, but it's just cuz it's dirty, not because it's breaking down.

not sure if that helps.....

edit to add, with a cedar fence, the stain probably wouldn't be necessary

and doggy!

I don't know what VOC rules are where you live, but Cabot's makes a very good bleaching oil, and also a weathering stain. Both can be used as is, or intermixed.

http://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Bleaching-Oil.html

http://www.cabotstain.com/pdf/weathering-stain-6244.pdf

It's going to cost a pretty penny but it will look awesome! I want to do the mix of the 2 products to get the silver gray right away! I am psyched! I'm going to call my handy person this week and see if he is up to it. I know I have to wait for the summer but I'll have to start saving now to pay him and buy the product.
Thanks!

It contains a very small amount of gray pigment so you get some effect right away, although it is pigment that is supplying the initial weathered color. The bleaching oil takes a few months to actually bleach the color out of the surface layers of the wood (depending on the exposure). A wash with a 20-25% bleach/water solution followed by a a thorough rinse with clean water, and allowing the wood to dry prior to application of the oil, will accelerate the process and make for a more uniform initial appearance.

Something to keep in mind:

Stains and bleaching oils need to be renewed periodically (generally every 2-3 years, depending on exposure and what type of look you want to maintain). I suppose you could go longer, but UV rays (sunlight) will degrade oil-based films over time, thus allowing water to enter and do its damage. Your Cedar is naturally very resistant to the damaging effects of water and insects, but the same components of that particular wood which provide that resistance are also what causes discoloration (tanin bleeding) over time. For the best long-term results, a wash with bleach solution (or commercial Wood Brightener) every few years (as your specific situation determines) followed by a clean water rinse, and reapplication of bleaching oil/weathering stain, will be in order.

with bleaching oil after it dries a few days. Then I repeat it every 2 or three years (hopefully 3). And I will have a beautiful silvergray fence that last me 15 years???

Power washing involves high pressure spray; simply apply the bleach/wood brightener with a hudson-type sprayer, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes (but don't let it dry) and then rinse with clean water. Some painters will scrub the bleach in a bit with a stiff broom, but I've found that it works just fine without that step.

That is the way it is designed to work. Over time, the cycles should become longer as the tanin levels in the wood decrease. At some point the washing will primarily be dealing with mildew, etc., and the deteriorated surface fibers of the wood. If you want, you can switch to the weathering stain at any point in the cycle. It is a semi-transparent product, but the pigment in it provides greater UV protection.

probably more like 3-5 years. A great deal depends on your climate.

Good luck, and remember to have fun with it.

I just had the garage structurally rehabilitated and a new roof put on it. Ninety one years ago when it was built, they must have had tiny little cars. It's only big enough for a tool shed and lawn furniture storage.

I used 50% Cabot Bleaching Oil and 50% Cabot Weathering Stain. It came out a translucent silver gray that will bleach the wood gray over an 8 month period. (we hope)

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a bleaching agent. It preserves the wood and bleaches it silver gray over an eight month period. One of the folks in this forum recommended the combination of products.