We’ve been doing some work around the entrance of our land to make it feel more welcoming. One of the things that bothered me most was the grungy “white” picket fence at the front of the house.

Doesn’t look like the place is deserted, nope, not at all…

Closer inspection revealed a lot of lichen and black grime all over.

Spring was the perfect time to give it a good clean – the days were starting to warm up but it was still raining enough that we didn’t have to worry about our water usage.

I hauled out the water blaster and after a few battles with a hose extension and a jerry-rigged connector from the previous owner that kept popping off, I was on my way.

Water blasting the fence was immensely satisfying – the grime was easily blasted away with a swipe of the jet leaving the fence sparkling white.

Ok so it wasn’t perfect – the lichen had left dark spots where it was growing, and a fair bit of paint had come off – especially on the gate, but it was certainly an improvement.

Now I was going to leave it like this and just call it a day, after all this fence will be replaced at some point in the next few years… but the missing paint on the gate was enough to annoy me.

I figured it would probably be at least 2 years before we get on to replacing the fence, and I really didn’t want to put up with it looking like it was for that long. So I got out the paint, brushes and rollers…

And painted the entire fence.

I’m so glad I did – the difference between the painted and unpainted bits was striking.

I wasn’t going to do in between the pickets but my perfectionist streak kicked in and I happened to find a smaller roller that fit perfectly, so quickly touched up all the noticeable bits.

Yay, all done! And only got a little paint on my clothes…

Now the fence looks so much better, and makes the front of the house much more inviting.

Just for fun, here are a few before and after photos:

The only problem now is that I keep noticing our rusted old letterbox…