From faded gray to beautifully restored. Professional wood fence cleaning, brightening, and staining that renews your fence's appearance and helps protect it from the elements.
Fence staining and fence restoration for wood privacy fences, picket fences, and ranch rail across Brunswick County and the Wilmington area. Licensed & insured, first responder owned and operated, and the same soft wash care we bring to roofs and siding, now for the wood around your yard. Starting at $599.
A new wood fence is warm and golden for about one summer. Then the sun gets to it. Ultraviolet light breaks down lignin, the natural glue that holds wood fibers together and carries most of the wood's color, and the surface slowly turns to the pale cellulose underneath. That is the silver gray you see on fences up and down the coast. Mildew and algae move into the roughened surface and darken it, rain leaches the loosened fibers, and here on the Carolina coast, salt air and humidity that never really lets up run the whole process faster than it would inland.
The good news is that gray is a surface condition, not rot. Under that quarter millimeter of weathered fiber is sound wood, and fence restoration is the process of getting back to it and sealing it so the sun has to start over.
Three steps, two visits.
Mildew, algae, and loose gray fiber are lifted with the same low-pressure soft wash method we use on roofs and siding. High pressure on old wood tears the grain and leaves it furred and fuzzy, so we don't use it.
A wood brightener neutralizes the cleaner, opens the grain, and pulls the natural tone back up out of the wood so the stain goes on even, with no blotching and no dark patches where the cleaner lingered.
Stain only bonds to dry wood, and a washed fence is soaked. We come back when a moisture meter, not the calendar, says the boards are ready, usually at 15 percent moisture or less, and apply the finish you chose at the consultation.
The final quote depends on fence length and height, one side or both, the finish you want, and anything that adds to the work, like tight access, landscaping against the fence, or gates and corners. Every quote is free, and every fence gets looked at before it gets a number.
Fence restoration stands on its own, and it also fits inside a bigger job.
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Visit the Main SiteSunlight. Ultraviolet light breaks down lignin, the natural glue that holds wood fibers together and gives new wood its color. As the lignin at the surface breaks down, what is left is paler cellulose, which reads as silver gray. Mildew and algae then settle into the roughened surface and darken it, and on the coast salt air and constant humidity speed the whole thing up.
Stain only bonds to dry wood. After the wash and brightener the boards are soaked through, and most stain manufacturers want the wood at 15 percent moisture or less before anything goes on. We check with a moisture meter instead of guessing, and we come back to stain when the reading says the wood is ready. Sealing wet wood traps the moisture under the finish, which is how a stain job peels in its first year.
You can, and a lot of people have, which is why so many fences have fuzzy, furred boards from too much pressure and a stain that peeled the next summer. We soft wash so the wood fibers stay intact, brighten so the stain goes on evenly, and meter the wood so it is dry enough to take it. The result lasts because the prep was right.
It depends on the result you want, which is why we start with a consultation. Transparent and semi-transparent stains show the grain and need refreshing sooner; solid stains cover like paint and last longer; oil and water based products behave differently on old wood versus new. We match the product to your fence, your wood, and how much maintenance you want to do later.
Yes. Fence restoration is a standalone service, and it also pairs with a house wash, a driveway cleaning, or a deck wash so the whole property gets done in one plan. Ask for the bundle on the quote form and we will price it as one job, and the more you bundle, the more you save.
Depending on the product, the exposure, and whether the prep was done right, a stained fence usually goes three to five years before it wants a refresh, and a refresh on properly stained wood is a much smaller job than a full restoration. Full sun and the salt side of the lot wear faster than the shaded side.
Fence restoration starts at $599. The final number depends on how many linear feet of fence you have, how tall it is, whether we are staining one side or both, the finish you choose, and anything that adds to the work, like tight access or landscaping against the fence. Every quote is free and every fence gets looked at before we price it.
Fence staining and restoration across Brunswick County, NC and the Wilmington area. Tell us about your fence and what else you'd like done, and we'll set up a consultation.