7 Essentials You Need to Paint a Picket Fence

Occasionally, the paint wears off, and you need to repaint your picket fence. Luckily, there are lots of tools and supplies that can help you. Before you get started, you may want to invest in the following essentials.

1. Pressure Washer

Fences attract a lot of dirt, cobwebs and debris, and if you don't want those elements trapped under the new paint, you should pressure wash the picket fence before you paint. This will also remove some of the old paint. Make sure to put the pressure washer on a low setting so that you don't damage the fence.

2. Sand Paper

Once the picket fence is dry, go over it with sandpaper. That will remove any remaining paint and smooth down any rough edges. A sanding block makes this job the easiest to handle.

3. Whisk Brush

After sanding, there will be a lot of little granules of wood on the fence. Brush those off with a whisk brush before you do anything else. A whisk brush is ideal because it's small enough to get into the crevices and cracks of the picket fence.

4. Wood Sealant

Your picket fence gets exposed to a lot of elements. While the paint seals the fence to some degree, you may want to add a sealant to give it some extra protection. You can usually apply a wood preservative or sealant with a small foam brush.

5. Spray Gun

Painting a picket fence by hand can be painstaking, but a spray gun makes the job easier. Make sure to follow the directions when loading the gun—in particular, you'll usually have to dilute the paint so that it works with the spray gun.

6. Drop Cloth

Before you start spraying, you may want to lay down a drop cloth. Place the drop cloth behind the area where you are working. Then, when you spray the gun in that direction, the paint that doesn't adhere to your picket fence will just go onto the drop cloth instead of getting all over the grass.

7. Paint Brush

After you finish applying the paint with the spray gun, grab a paint brush and smooth out any drips. This approach gives you the best of both worlds—you get the speed and convenience of using a spray gun with the accuracy of using a paintbrush. Check for drips around hardware in particular. That's generally where the paint tends to pool.   

For more information, contact your local picket fencing contractors.