Back To The Family Handyman
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About This Project
When did your cedar fence lose its rich, warm glow? Who invited that discolored, shabby-looking impostor into the neighborhood? Don’t worry—underneath that thin gray skin, the glow still remains. All you have to do is remove the surface layer of aged wood cells to expose a fresh layer of wood. With a power washer, it’s as easy as washing your car. Then apply an exterior wood oil stain to preserve this new layer of wood. It’ll prolong the life of your fence to boot.
Power Washing Makes the Huge Cleaning Task Easy
Power washers are aggressive. They’ll strip the wood as
well as clean off the dirt and grime, but you can also erode the wood too
deeply and ruin it. The key is to use the right sprayer tip and technique. In
any case, the power washer’s spray will slightly raise and roughen the grain on
smooth wood. That’s actually good—it allows more sealer to soak in and improves
the finish.
Power washers cost about $40 to rent for four hours. Rent one that operates at 1,500 or 2,000 psi and avoid more powerful 3,000 or 3,500 psi units. Be sure to get both 15- and 25-degree spray tips. Have the rental people demonstrate the washer’s use. It’s an easy machine to run.
To avoid damaging the pump, don’t run the power washer without first filling the pump and hoses with water. To do this, attach both hoses, snap in a 25-degree tip, turn on the garden hose spigot and hold down the trigger on the wand until water squirts out. Release the wand trigger and start the engine. If it’s hard to pull the start cord, pull the wand trigger to release the water pressure.
Clear the area along the fence by tying back plants that are growing alongside it. Wear water-repellent clothing—you will get wet from the spray.
Start spraying with the wand tip 18 in. from the wood surface. Move in closer as you swing the tip slowly along the length of the board. Keep the width of the fan spray aligned across the boards. The wood’s color will brighten as the surface is stripped away. Watch closely and stop stripping when no more color change occurs. You don’t have to remove too much surface to expose fresh wood, and continuing to spray won’t improve the color.
It takes a little practice to arrive at the proper tip distance and speed of movement, but you’ll catch on fast. It’s better to make two or three passes than to risk gouging the surface trying to accomplish this job in one pass. As you gain experience, you can switch to a 15-degree tip. This tip cuts more aggressively and works faster than the 25-degree tip.
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