Clean, stain or replace: how to read an old cedar fence

Walk along most privacy fences in Austin and you will find a mix of things going on at once. The boards have gone grey, there are dark spots in places, one run looks green and the rest does not, and a couple of pickets near the gate have started to lean. The useful question is not whether the fence looks bad. It is which of those things a wash fixes and which ones it does not, because that decides whether you are paying for a clean, a clean and stain, or a new fence.

Silver grey all over is the most common thing and the least worrying. Sun breaks down the outer surface of cedar and the rain washes it away, which leaves a thin grey layer on top of wood that is usually still sound underneath. That grey is only skin deep. A careful clean lifts it and the warmer colour of the cedar comes back. If you like the grey look, it does the fence no harm on its own.

Black or dark speckled spots are usually mildew, and on a fence they tend to cluster where the wood stays damp: low on the boards, behind shrubs, and along any stretch the sprinklers reach. Mildew cleans off. What matters is that it comes off completely before anything goes on top, because stain or sealer applied over mildew traps it underneath and it shows back through.

Green on one side only is algae, and it almost always tracks shade. The run that faces north or sits under trees stays damp longest after rain, so it greens up while the sunny run stays grey. That also cleans off. It will come back faster on that side than anywhere else, which is worth knowing when you decide how often to have it done.

Soft wood is where cleaning stops being the answer. Press a screwdriver into the bottom of a few boards and into the posts right at ground level. If it sinks in easily or the wood feels spongy, that is rot, and no wash will fix it. A few rotten pickets can be swapped out on their own. Rot in the posts is the bigger warning, because the posts are what hold the whole fence up, and a fence with failing posts is usually close to replacement whatever the boards look like.

A rough way to decide. If the wood is firm and the posts are solid, clean it, and the fence likely has plenty of years left. If you want it to keep that cleaned colour, stain or seal it once it has dried out properly, which in Austin weather usually means waiting at least a couple of dry days. If a handful of boards are soft, replace those and clean the rest. If the posts are going, put the money toward a new fence rather than cleaning one that will not be standing much longer.

How we wash cedar without damaging it is on our fence cleaning page. If you are not sure which of these you are looking at, send a few photos through the quote form, including one close up of the bottom of a board, and we will tell you straight whether it is worth cleaning. Free quotes, seven days a week.