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2/17/2026 11:22:15 PM EDT
I have a fence to paint and I could use some help figuring out what paint was on it originally and what I should paint it with this time.

This is horse fencing. Rough cut oak boards and probably pine posts.

When I bought the place the fences look like they had recently been painted. White paint, thick, and chalky. If you touched it your hands would have white dust all over them. Over the years the paint faded. It didn't really peel. Most horse fence is sprayed with black oil based paint but this didn't seem like that.

I thought the original paint was acrylic due it to being chalky. So when I repainted it I used an exterior latex acrylic fence paint which was sprayed on. This did not go well and the paint was peeling off in 2 years - except on boards I replaced and had not been painted originally. Those actually still look half decent.

I plan to pressure wash the fence this time to at least remove the loose paint. But I've been told that if the original paint was oil based then nothing but oil paint is going to stick to it. Heck, the original paint could have been lime/white wash.

I need to figure out a few things.
1. What the original paint was - easy tests I can use to identify it
2. What paint to use on the fence this time - I plan to roll it on this round

I have an estimated 16,000 sqft to paint so I don't want to mess it up this time.
2/18/2026 7:00:16 PM EDT
[#1]
Don't know what the original paint was but when I painted my porch I asked a friend who is a retired painter what to use.  He said to use an oil based primer and a latex top coat for exterior paint jobs.
2/18/2026 7:40:12 PM EDT
[#2]
Maybe it was Milk Paint. That would make sense if animals might chew on it and the chalking is right.
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.

I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
2/20/2026 4:05:42 PM EDT
[Last Edit: maddmatt][Edited] [#3]
Could it be white wash? Otherwise I would think something like a Barn/Fence oil-latex might typically be used.
2/20/2026 6:06:04 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote History
Originally Posted By maddmatt:
Could it be white wash? Otherwise I would think something like a Barn/Fence oil-latex might typically be used.
View Quote


Yea I am buying samples of different paints to put on a board to test them out. Maybe one will be close to the original.

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