I've read the post "I've had it with deck stain" ... lots of advice but in the end I'm just as confused if not more. Hope some experienced painters or DIYer's can give me clarity.

Details:

We have a 1 yr old Pressured treated pine (yella wood), dog eared fence. It is a total of 220 ft and 6ft high. Recently we noticed that when it rains we see a lot of black (mold ? mildew?) on both the vertical and horizontal boards in various areas. No rhyme or reason we can think of. When it's dry, it's barely noticable.

We live in TN w/hot humid summers and falls.

We are getting ready to have the fence pressured washed and then stained. Our goal is to protect it from rain (mildew?) and UV (cracking, peeling).

Questions -

1. What's the ideal product used to clean the fence?

2. We are leaning towards an oil based translucent stain or sometimes called a toner - because we like the color better. Is there a downside to this versus a semi-transparent? Does one last longer in general?

3. Totally confused on what is best brand. Has anyone had good luck w/a certain one in the type we are considering?

4. Our fence stainer is putting on two coats.

Thank you for your feedback. What a mind-boggeling issue.