It depends if your fence is treated or not - talk to the contractor about this. We had installed a partial cedar fence that is not treated and we purchased from Menards, and had contractors install a treated fence in another area of our yard. We are letting them both go natural and grey out, but I was told our original fence isn't going to last as long because it's not pre-treated. The pre-treated cedar (natural, no stain) will have a longer life expectancy. Of course, staining and sealing any fence is going to expand the life expectancy, but it's also a lot of work to maintain, and once you do it, you have to keep up with it.

I ran across this when looking at the wood: "Port-Orford-Cedar is very stable in any application and when exposed to soil, water or weather is considered to be one of the most durable of woods. The unique, strong ginger-like scent, due to a volatile oil, can be overpowering and continued exposure to this aroma is known to cause kidney problems. Dust masks and skin protection are recommended to avoid ingestion or contact with the oil or sawdust." So I think the health issues are similar to other woods, and if it's sealed, there's probably no problem. I've smelled the stuff, though, and the aroma was one of the things I liked, so all sealed up it loses a bit of the allure. We've decided, though, to spring for ipe on the floor of the deck(if we use 1x6 boards, it's a little lower in price than composites we looked at) and use red western cedar (that we can get locally) for the railings and pergola. I know there's issues with the cedar, but once we go ipe on the floor, we're already over-budget and can't do railings unless it's made out of something else. Ane with a 9 foot elevated deck, railings are not optional. We've been in this house for 8 years, and my "walk-out" sliding glass door still has that 9 foot drop and a sloping yard I can't use much unless we get a deck out there, so no more waiting. We have a week's vacation, and a contractor in the family who is willing to fit us in to his schedule this summer. One way or another, that project is at least starting this weekend. We've been planning this thing for so long, I'm a little freaked out about actually starting it. Good luck with your project!

I did an entire 80ft long, 8ft high, dog eared cedar fence with Olympic solid color stain and a brush. The fence aged about 6 months or so before the stain was put on. No primer was used. It looks fine. It took a heck of a long time to brush it after it was put up. If I were to do it again, I would have had the company deliver the assembled panels so that I could stain them in the garage. And then have them back to do the install. Better yet, get the company to pre-stain it for you. I can just imagine the upcharge on that one. $$$ Yes, solid color stains can and do peel. I see it on the house which is also cedar with a solid gray olympic stain...and I see it on the fence I did. It's nothing major where you look at it and go..geez..what happened there. But they do peel and flake in spots.

White paint will last much longer and with much less maintenance. If a wood has any color at all---as in pressure treated----the white stain will be next to useless. It will look more like washed out white wash. Plus, the sun will fade it in a short time. Shouild you decide to paint the fence, you will need to use a good sealing primer first, such as Bullseye 123 from Zinsser or most oil based primers will work. Oil based primer is a bit more difficult to apply, however, than water based 123. Then use a good exterior latex enamel house paint. Pressure treated wood, when dry, can be painted immediately. It is difficult to get a large number of dry pickets, however. Wet ones---that ooze noisture when a screw head compresses the wood----will need 4 to 6 months to dry. Cedar can be painted on installation, as a rule. But using cedar, which is naturally weather resistant, and painting it is kinda expensive.