Fence advice please ... to paint or stain??

[WantedtobecalledDaisy]

hello The windows down the side of our house have a view only of our fence which is about 1 metre or less from the house (above the fence you can only see the red brickwork of our neighbour's house). We've just replaced the fence but, as it completely dominates the view from inside our home, the colour seems a huge decision! I was thinking maybe a dark green colour but not sure whether paint or woodstain is best? Does it give a completely different effect? Is dark green a good idea?! I have spent so many hours looking at fence paints and am no further forward. Feeling very stressed as think I may ruin whole outlook of our rooms, including my study that I have to spend a lot of time in. Any advice would be so much appreciated! Thank you.

The fence is so close to your house/windows I think as long as you pick a pale colour it will look fine. Dark greens will make it too dark and gloomy, but there are plenty of pale greens/turquoises or even white? Is there any soil at the base and are you planning to grow any plants against it?

Thanks, shobby. Very interesting thought - I was hoping dark green would make it fade into background as current bright wood colour just draws the eye to it and dominates the rooms, but maybe you're right about it being too gloomy. Do you know whether stain or paint makes much difference? Unfortunately we can't grow against it as there's no soil at bottom.

What's at the bottom, Wanted? I ask because we have a drive of about 35 feet by 8 wide down one side of our house, with a view of the neighbour's fence. DH hired a jackhammer and took out a border about a foot wide, and now we grow things up it.

Is this a possibility?

Ooh that sounds an interesting idea! I will have to have a look but I think fence may be cemented in and pathway is maybe not wide enough. Also not sure if enough light would get in for growing. But love the idea and will definitely have a look to see if it's something we can do.

I'd use a stain. It's more forgiving. If you paint then the colour needs to be more solid so if it stains or flakes it doesn't look as good whereas a stain is more subtle. I'm not sure what colour I would use. Dark colours can look nice if there are plants in front.

Whatever you do please don't spray the stain on unless you are certain the spray won't go everywhere. My nieghbour sprayed my new patio, my greenhouse and my shed when he sprayed his fence (actually the fence was mine and he had no right to touch it at all....)

I would stain. Definitely. It will be easier to maintain, and if you are slow to redo (lack of time/money, etc), will look better as it ages. Our fence is stained a 'natural' wood colour, and it is lovely.

FWIW, my cousin painted her wooden deck a dark green. It looked lovely for the first year or so, but then started to chip/peel in places and looked awful. It was expensive and time consuming to maintain - though i appreciate a deck will get more wear and tear (people walking, chairs being moved, etc) than a fence.

I'd spend some time looking at every fence you can find in your area. Once you find some things you like the look of, you can decide if you want to do similar at your house.

And as far as spraying the stain on - the trick is to get someone up a ladder to hold an old bed sheet behind the sprayer, so all extra paint goes onto the sheet instead of on the neighbour's plants/possessions.

Thanks very much, SkimWords and Earlybird for your helpful advice. Sounds like consensus is I should go for a stain. I think I will go for a wood colour - bit boring probably but feels safer than going for green or something very dark. Thanks for all the advice.