Garden Gates Stain or Paint

andrewnewton

Looking for some advice please on what to do with my driveway gates. I'm guessing that previously they may have had some kind of stain ?? So do I go for a stain possibly something like Sadolin Superdec or anything else recommended

Alternatively do I go the paint route, but prefer a satin finish. To my mind the paint route means more work as I'll need to undercoat as well. Any particular brands recommended please

I intend to clean with a weak bleach solution initially and then give a light rub down before application of either paint or stain. Ideally I don't want to have to strip back to bare wood but might consider if it adds significant to the durability

Any tips or advice appreciated

Fairygirl

I'm not sure why  you'd need an undercoat?
I've never used one on outdoor timber. 
The stains seem to work best on new timber that's never had any treatment. I've used the Ducksback paint this year [Cuprinol?] which has performed better than it did the last time I tried it. I don't know if the formula's been changed, or if there's an other reason. I'll wait until it's had the winter chucked at it to make a final judgement though 

I think you also need to make sure the paint 'cures' properly for it be effective. It needs a good spell of dry weather between coats [if you use more than one] to really set  well. 
The most I do for prep is a bit of general scraping [and that was only when I used the stain] or sanding if I feel it needs that. 

andrewnewton

Thanks for that. The undercoat would be required if I decided to use paint rather than stain. As you say most of these stains work best on untreated wood. Unfortunately as you can see that's not what I'm dealing with and the timber is smooth rather than fence panel type.
Like you I've not been impressed with Cuprinol products in the past. I had severe fading on trellis panels within 12 months. Perhaps all these type of products have suffered reductions in their efficiency as the nasties get removed to make them safer to use.
I have seen reference to Sadolin Superdec but it is pricey so if anyone has practical experience and could share that would be great

Loxley

Cuprinol Garden Shades is excellent for this sort of job, it doesn't need a great deal of preparation. It's more of a paint than a stain, gives a nice solid colour matt coverage. If you apply two coats you need to do the second before the first coat fully cures, because it is a waxy product.

Fairygirl

I think you may need to sand first then. 
I used the stain on some new timber last year and it worked well - it wasn't fencing timber as such, it was suitable for indoor use. The stain worked far better than it did when I used it on timber that had been painted previously. It just peeled off that during winter - like a varnish would do.
I expect that might be the case with yours as it's already been treated in some way, although if it's had a stain, perhaps that would be ok? It might be worth trying if you already have some, but they're expensive if you had to fork out and it didn't work. 

I've used Sadolin products in the past, and found them very good, but I've not used them for a long time, so I couldn't offer any advice with those. 
I wonder if there are forums which are more specific to general paint products where you could ask? They might offer a method that would work better too