Painting a fence...how long might a paint job last?

[snewman]

We're looking at installing some fencing to keep the dogs safe. Part of it, near the house, will probably be picket style. My husband, who doesn't want the fence at all, keeps insisting that if we're going to do it, it should be vinyl, which is of course way more expensive. I would be fine with green-treated wood, painted. He wants the vinyl so there is no upkeep, but I think his ulterior motive is that because it's so expensive, we'll just never do it and he will have his way. If we go with treated wood, and let it weather and dry appropriately before priming and painting, how long might we expect a paint job to last? We're in Wisconsin, so have the hard winters, hot/humid summers, etc. I just thought I'd pick some brains about paint experiences, and any tips to enhance the project.

 

[aggie9296]

I would think you would be repainting annually or at least every two years with the harsh winters. My privacy fence is treated wood and I left it natural. Nice weathered gray. Heck of a lot easier than repainting.

 

[RaZ]

Treated wood...fairly high upkeep. Today's treated wood isn't all that great for quality or holding paint.
Go with vinyl and power wash every 2 or 3 years. Or be like me, I've only washed mine twice in 10 years of Michigan weather.

 

[snewman]

What about cedar? Does it hold paint better? It's cheaper than vinyl, more expensive than treated wood, maybe a happy medium?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Why are you painting the fence? Use cedar or redwood and let it weather naturally. If you must, you can stain (not paint) the cedar or redwood.

Why does dh not want the fence? Why do you want it? If you can break down all the pros and cons each of you have, you may be ble to find a compromise that works for both of you.

 

[NYboy]

Buying the fence is the cheap part. Paying to have it installed, left a big hole in my bank acccount! But my dogs are safe and happy worth every penny.

 

[MommyMagpie]

I have a vinyl picket fence around my yard and it is a pain to keep the algae off it. I finally gave up on the inside and just try to keep the side facing the street looking pretty decent.

with you being in a location that can have extremes of both hot and cold weather, I would recommend either naturally weathered wood or stain. You will be painting every two years probably if you go that route, and that's if you buy good paint.

 

[snewman]

We'd be installing it ourselves, have already done the back part of the property in heavy guage cattle panels, but want something nicer near the house. We live on a busy highway and have two dogs and a baby on the way. We have gotten very lucky on several occasions when the dogs have run across the road unexpectedly. Lucky as in there happened NOT to be a car coming at that moment. I am anxious every time I let the dogs out, because on our little acreage I never know when a feral cat, raccoon, woodchuck, deer, etc might be lurking around somewhere ready to run across the road, taking the dogs with them. People also stop to fish near the house and when the dogs see a car parked right there they want to run out and say hi. So I want the fence for peace of mind. Plus kids often open doors and don't think about whether a dog has followed them out, or they just don't close them (while the baby on the way is our first, this will be coming in a few years). That's why I want the fence. I want to be able to just open the door and let the dogs out safely.

DH does not want the fence because he doesn't care if we have to take the dogs all the way over to a small fenced area that we already have and he doesn't care that they can't hang out on the deck with us when we're out there, and he doesn't worry as much about the road. He worries more about the inconvenience of mowing around a fence, and not being able to freely drive a tractor or other vehicle willy-nilly anywhere on the property he wants.

Personally, I would be fine with a naturally weathered cedar picket fence near the house. He's not into that, but maybe I could talk him into staining.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

With a child and living on a busy highway - you NEED the fence. Your DH can grow up and live with having to open a gate to get the tractor in.

Because it won't be the dog who gets hit when the toddler opens the door and wanders off - it'll be your child. It takes turning your back on a toddler for 0.002 seconds, and they will get into more trouble than you can dream up. All of ours have managed to open doors we thought they couldn't. Thankfully, they've only led to a fenced yard, but it happens.

You can use the cattle panels up by the house, then plant up next to it. Both sides if you want except by the gate. Then you wouldn't have to mow close to the fence. You at least want to plant on the INSIDE of the fence then, to keep small, active children from getting the idea that they can climb the fence.

Then you could get an arbor or something, train the plants to grow up over it, then put in a wood gate that latches securely that a toddler can't open. Smaller section to have to repaint or stain.

 

[snewman]

I agree on the "DH needs to grow up" part. We have done a lot of work on the house and property, and most of it at his discretion, because it was something he wanted (ie, concrete floor in the garage, paved driveway, etc). I won't say these aren't improvements, but they haven't made much difference in my life, frankly. A fence would make a difference, in a BIG way. I've proposed the planting and/or mulching along the fence row idea, and his response is always to bring up the (in his opinion) poor maintenance I have done on the two front beds I put in the first summer we moved. What he refuses to acknowledge is that, because we are constantly involved in some renovation project (on which I spend as much time as he does), there really is very little time to do anything else. He forgets that in addition to the time spent on house projects, I do all of the grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. So when he's done with a project for the day, he's done, but I'm not, I still have dinner, dogs to walk, animals to feed, etc...

Apparently I turned this from advice about fence painting into a rant about my husband, sorry! Feels good to express myself, however.