Just installed a whitewood spruce fence, should i paint or stain?

Question

Im not sure if i should stain or paint this wood. Its not the prettiest wood, theres no uniform colors or patterns. color varies from dark brown to light yellow, to orange. Would it be best to paint this fence? or stain it a dark color to hide the ugly colors? i think staining would help make the fence last longer. paint on the other hand, would give the fence a uniform color, but id have to paint it ever other year or when it starts to chip/peel. for those of you who have had a spruce fence, whats the lifespan between painting and staining? thanks

Answer 1

   the important question is did you treat the part of the fence that is buried in the ground.if you want the colour to be uniform.use a penertrating type paint that will soak into the wood.and then keep painting it until you have the finish you like.the paint dept.in any store will be very helpful to answer your question.good luck.

Answer 2

Use a neutral stain, and you can't go wrong. Some stains cover in strange ways. I stained a deck, and the pavement turned out chocolate and the rest a warm maple.

Answer 3

    Why don't you color the stain you would work both puppies with the same stick so to speak. You would save the wood and color it at the same time.

Answer 4

I would go with a stain.

You could even use a solid stain to give it a more paint like look.  Stain is easier to apply than paint and it is easier to reapply when the time comes (less prep, no paint to scrape).

Besides if you stain it and hate it, you can paint over it.  You can't stain over paint.

Answer 5

It will probably yellow if you stain make sure to use a little red tint so it will color richly. Test it on a couple of scrap pieces from your fence so you can get an idea of how it will look. you can also do this with paint but stain totally enriches the richness of those ugly colors you mentioned.