Sealing a cedar fence...What do y'all use?

TWP gets good reviews, not sure how it does on cedar.

Thompson's

Sealer will only delay and if you aren't careful using it you'll have stripes in the fence where it weathers unevenly.

I think weathered cedar looks just fine. Same goes for teak. I've seen plenty of ruined cedar window shutters because the owners kept treating them and sanding them.

I'm 6 years into mine. Gets better looking each year.

I actually keep a few boards stacked outside behind the fence so if I replace any they look the same.

OK, not gonna seal.

I will post results in 10 years.

VetteGuy, here's something to consider. A friend of mine built a gorgeous 2800 sf, Cracker style house with ceder siding and wrap around porches that is now 25 yrs. old.

I noticed the richness of the stain he had on it and asked what he used. He chuckled, and told me it was old automatic transmission fluid he recovered from the maintenance dept. from the local pulp mill. My immediate thought was fire hazard but I don't know if it is anymore a fire hazard than any oil based stain.

I will say that the siding has had no bug damage in over twenty five years and the wood looks as good as it did the first day he put it up.

That oughta work just fine for a ceder fence.

Folks seem pretty evenly divided on sealing or not, and sure enough, the only way to keep it looking new is to stain it. I think that turns it into something you have to deal with every 3-4 years.

This is true. He told me he applied it through a pump up spray canister.

you can pressure wash it with a little bleach mixed in and it will rejuvinate it pretty good.

Pressure washers work well in this application.

People need to be aware of how they go about it though. Never wash against the grain, this causes fuzzing of the wood and washes away the grain if you apply to much pressure. With most home owned or rented pressure washers, there is no way to determine the operating pressure, it's preset to around 1200- 3000psi depending on what machine you have.

Anything over 1200 psi can damage the wood. The best way to avoid this is by using the 45* orifice, and then getting the spray just close enough to begin removing the weathering or mildew and wash parallel to the grain.

I've never treated Cypress

You don't want to seal Cedar. Cedar has a naturally weatherproofing process. I believe it has something to do with the sap that is inside the wood. The only problem is that it doesn't look great over time because of the discoloring/browning.