Sprinkler system bleaching fence, how can I fix it?

Salutations,

I recently bought a house, and for the last 7 years the sprinkler system has been spraying the fence. It has bleached the bottom of it. I have re-aimed the sprinklers, but I want to get the color back to somewhat uniform.

Can I just re-stain the bottom portion of the fence? I figure it won't match perfectly, but it has to look better than it does now. Any other things I could try, or prep work I need to do? Thanks.

Also, I cannot use a pressure washer, due to drought restrictions here.


UPDATE:

Thanks to all those who helped. I ended up using a orbital sander and 60 grit, along with a wire brush, to strip the mildew, dirt, etc off. Then stained.

Before


During


After

 

White paint?

 

Pressure wash the fence and restain.

 

Re-aim the sprinklers ot hit at the top of the fence. Duh.

Actually, I htink there are some deck-cleaning products that might be suitable. Just saw one at HD the other night.

 

My house is already white, I would prefer to keep the stained look.

Pressure wash and restain the whole thing? Or just the bleached parts? It's only certain areas that are bleached, maybe 10% of the fence.

Suitable to.....? Remove the old stain?

 

Pressure wash then stain. Be careful power washing use even constant washing. It can scar easily. Get the stain from a paint store not Home Depot. Apply stain with a pump up sprayer. Have someone with a large brush behind you making it even.

 

plant shrubs in front of said stains

 

The whole thing would be best but I know thats not what you want to hear.

 

Wow, you have been here for 4 years and this is only your second post. I am honored . thank you for your advice. So there's no way to just touch up the spots? It's not too much of the fence that has the issue.

I have, in fact, considered this.

 

Absolutely not what I want to hear

 

Mix it up a little. Go urban.

 

You could try touching it up on a few boards... if it looks like shit then you gotta do the whole thing.

 

Yeah I will likely do that. I also dont own a pressure washer or know anyone here with one. So....say I just try to stain it without doing any prep work

 

Go for it... the worst that can happen is you have to do it all anyways.

 

You could power wash and leave it like it is . No stain. You will be surprised how good it will look. The bleach stuff works good to ( deck bright act,). that you use with a water hose.

 

I put waterproof seal stuff on mine.

 

Do you know what kind of wood e.g. redwood or cedar pickets. What previous stain was on it (water base or oil stain). Probably won't be able to match up the bleached area with the unbleached area perfectly. How weathered/rough is the wood.

Pressure washing it would be easiest route. They have bleaching and cleaning chemicals made especially for decks and fences. You can actually use diluted household bleach and a stiff bristle deck brush and scrub the fence clean and let dry thoroughly. If you use a water base stain (better for environment, but needs yearly upkeep) get a tinted one and paint the bleached area first and let dry. Then do second coat of entire picket. Depending on porosity of wood and tannins (oils) in the wood it will be hard to match up bleached areas with weathered gray areas - but on other hand you can achieve a stained weathered look which I think looks good.

 

Dont do that. It will look terrible. Power wash or deck bright. Then decide if you want to stain

 

And leave my neighbors side stained? won't my pressure washing wreck some of the train on his side of the fence?

I don't know if it's cedar or redwood

 

Funny you posted this. I just got in from pressure washing my fence 10 minutes ago. We installed it last year and didn't stain it, so it's going to dry tomorrow in the 90-degree heat and then get a stain/sealer put on tomorrow night.

By the way - the fence guy who installed my fence said Thompson's Water Seal is about the weakest thing you can buy, and next to useless. He hates it with a passion. I'm going to use an oil based sealer/stain in natural cedar color.

The fence looks much better even after a pressure wash with only water. Should look great after a stain.