Painting the garden shed and fence

[Advice54321]

Really boring post I’m afraid but we’ve moved house and I need to paint the flaking fence panels and the flaking & rotten wooden garage (until we can knock it down next year).

Does anyone have any tips about the best/quickest/easiest way to go about it?

Any tips for sanding down the vast areas of flaking paint?

Should I invest in a spray machine, if so any recommendations on which ones?

We bought a spray machine it was really shit
Also avoid ronseal one coat, absolute rubbish, still looks crap after 4 coats
Cuprinol ducksback is all I'd use after extensive research and fieldwork in this area! It actually looks good after one coat.

No tips on sanding sorry, I was painting new fencing.

Brush it down with a wire brush, then Ducksback as suggested upthread.

Painting fences is not such a good idea. You are better treating them with a wood preserver as they will last much longer and look better.

I literally just did this! I bought an electric sprayer from vonhaus which had the best reviews. It's good in that you can cover a vast amount super quickly but I wouldn't use it for any visible fencing as others say, the finish isn't as good as painting by hand.

Just that painting by hand takes AGES so I'll only hand paint the fence facing the road

Have you tried a fence paint roller OP? Was a game changer for me so much quicker!

Second use wood preserver!

Just painted mine with two coats of ronseal 5 Yr fence paint, and it still doesn't look great - next time I'm just using creocote (can't get creosote anymore!)

And I bloody ache from head to toe, I'm adding fence painting to the list of shit jobs that I should outsource.

I use good old fashioned creocote. It's the safe version that replaced the creosote of the old days. Brilliant stuff. Stinks to high heaven but does the job. It's a much cheaper option as well.

For those saying use a preserver or creocote; everything was already painted white and bright blue by the previous owners. I’m guessing it’s too late for anything like that?