Sanding marks on cedar fence won’t fade
I built a cedar fence about six weeks ago and there are some pesky sanding marks that won’t go away. The material is 1 x clear cedar-I believe it’s western red cedar but there is quite a variety in color and grain pattern. The boards all run horizontally with about 1/16 inch gap between each row. The fence turned out quite well except at the end I used a random orbit sander with 220 grit paper to remove some pencil marks and to even out some areas where the boards meet. This of course lightened the areas where I sanded but I expected after being exposed to air and the environment for a few days the marks would fade to the same color as the rest of the fence. Six weeks later they are still there. I noticed when I was working with the cedar if I left one piece on top of another for a few days, the area that was covered would change color significantly(can’t remember now if it got darker or lighter.) Now I’m wondering what my options are other then to sand the entire fence. One more thing that I noticed was that when boards are wet the marks go away, so I was thinking that sealing it might solve the problem, however I chose cedar specifically because I wanted it to age naturally without the need for any finish or sealer. Any recommendations or ideas?
Replies
Brandon,
First of all, 1/16" seems like an awfully small gap for a fence subject to the weather. I would consider 1/8" the minimum.
In regards to your fence board, if they are untreated cedar, you should not have experienced any colour change/loss. My guess is that your boards are treated and you sanded through it. Can you turn the board around? Or maybe you could just replace the different boards.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Hey,
yeah I considered making the gaps bigger but the people I was building it for wanted very small lines for privacy and aesthetic. From the research I did people claim cedar moves very little with moisture changes, so I hope the 1/16th will do. So I thought the exact thing you did about the sanded part fading but it just doesn't seem to. I know there is no finish on the material because I bought it myself from the lumber yard. At this point I'm thinking of actually trying to darken the light parts that I sanded by applying some kind of sealer or finish. The only problem there might be that then those areas will age differently from sun/weather. Any other ideas suggestions? Oh, there is an attached picture if you want to see what I'm talking about, Thanks.
some pesky sanding marks that won't go away..
I would forget the sandpaper and use a hand scraper. Even a big one (with a new sharp blade) used for paint removal work well. Just do not press to hard and you may want to knock off the edges so you do not get lines from the ends of the blade. I would think a common wood workers hand scraper would be the best choice.
And then again, a small block plane (if you have a decedent one) would be ideal.
thanks for the response. I'm not sure a scraper wold work as the problem is not the textured patterns left by the sand paper but just a lightening of the wood, I'm afraid scraping would just expose more fresh material which would also be lighter.
And to you my reply.. I would say.. Wood is wood! It will do whatever IT wants to! Live with it! I sure hope your customer can!
As to the narrow board spacing.. I'd make up a jig to saw the slots wider... NOW.. Tell the customer you will come back when the boards warp and I'll make new slots! One time.. You wanted narrow slots!
No hate here.. Been there Did that!
people build cedar fences with no gaps all the time, how does that work?
If the wood is moist to begin with--ie moisture content greater than the 10%--12% it would become with air drying, then it is safe to initially build the fence without gaps, knowing that the gaps will appear as the wood dries.
afraid scraping would just expose more fresh material which would also be lighter..
And then there is the SUN and the Rain after a few weeks to make it better!
been over a month and the sun and rain haven't darkened the lighter areas from sanding, that was the thing that surprised me in the first place- doesn't seem to be fading, of course it will all go gray after some years but right now it doesn't look good
If the boards were roughly the same as regards coloration when you started, they will become closer over time. This is one reason why either people stain boards--to ensure more even coloration from the outset--or all the boards are sanded or planed.
But they will all go gray with time as you note. There's not a lot you can do about it at this point unless you were to sand the darker boards. Even then, it will probably only show there is differences in coloration under the weathering.
Personally, it is what it is. I would leave it alone and know that with time they will all look alike (more or less).
Take care, Mike
yeah that was my plan, but I thought most of the difference in coloration would fade in a month or two but it's still pretty striking, I was thinking of trying to blend the marks with some kind of oil (maybe linseed) cut pretty thin, something that would allow the boards to weather, any reason not to try this?
Anything you do will change the appearance. However, nothing will change the coloration due to weathering. Well, it can be stained a weathered gray. However, it will only look similar and only for a while.
Tae care, Mike
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