You can always go over it with a darker color. It is important to note that transparent stains are the equivalent of a filter -- so, if the stain is brown and the wood underneath quite yellow, the color your eyes will see is a yellowed version of the brown. A less transparent stain will allow only a little of the underlying wood color come through, and an opaque stain will act like paint & only reflect the color of light you'd see on a swatch. So, when you're shopping in the transparent stain aisle, it's important to do a test in an inconspicuous area to ensure that you like the end result.

You can ABSOLUTELY stain over stain. If you picked a reddish brown before, you might want to test a greenish brown to go over it, or a brown with more black in it.

Make sure you stick with the same brand and type of stain. If you can't get the color where you want it, you might have to go to a more opaque stain.

Wood defender's customer service is great. Since their product is only available in large quantities, they will send you little samples. You could request a few samples of the dark colors and try re-staining a test piece. Testing it out is super important with cedar which tends to lean red-orange in color. This is what we did with one of our cedar staining projects recently. Good luck in getting what you want!

Lynne, thank you for responding. The contractor had sampled the color on our fence and it was a brown but apparently it didn't happen. Thank you for advice regarding using same product, you are right because this one contains silicone which makes it more difficult to cover. I was wondering how it would look if a gray stain goes over it. Or basically if a gray fence would be too much of a contrast to the rest of deck etc. possibly it would carry over the gray of the stones?

Thank you all so much. This has been quite a setback for us being as we've spent a year's time and lots of money redoing backyard. Smit, thank you too for words of encouragement regarding Wood Defender. We will forage onward in finding a solution to this assaulting cold of orange.

Do any of you know if Wood Defender stains can be mixed together to obtain another color or does affect the outcome. I had asked our WD contractor this before we began the project but he didn' t know so I didn't pursue it, regretfully.

I think that two colors can be mixed together with no problem - you can even buy pigment to add to stain -- so long as the products are not chemically incompatible.

I am adding my two cents that I think the yard looks beautiful! I also see a warm brown- not too orange- in the pictures. I like it with the slate. Looks natural. I know when you spend so much time on something you need to love and if it helps you love it, more work is worth it, but I agree with Lynne to give it a little while. Nice job on the whole project!

*like it with the slate especially in the second picture

Buy a new one

Another vote here for, "I know it wasn't what you expected, but the look is lovely!".

As someone who works with "gray cork" I will chime in on the "gray over orange" side of this. Cork starts out life almost the same colour as your fence (maybe a snick lighter). We have spend 4 years trying to "perfect" a gray on cork. So have all of our competitors. No one has succeeded. No one.

I would move away from applying gray over this colour because you are going to come out with something roughly the same colour as "cat's breakfast". You will be so upset you will cry...for a long time. Please don't misunderstand me. I don't want you to cry, which is why I'm chiming in on this. Another concern about "grays" and "whites" over wood = tannin bleed. Some woods (like cedar, oak, etc) will cause "whites" and "grays" to turn yellow/red over time. This bleeding is NOT uniform...it looks like the wood is weeping or bleeding (hence the name). This is the movement of the tannins from the wood INTO the paint/wash and staining it. Very sad.

I would go darker with a stain in the same family as what you were hoping for. I don't think you would be able to master the art of "turning orange fence gray" inside of 1 application. We've created more than 8 different gray cork floors and NONE of them are "right". Sigh.

Of course, you could simply "live" with it until the sun's UVs do the work for you. Most wood stains are not "permanent"...they have to be updated periodically because of "weathering" (sun and water damage it, turn it "wood" colour once more). Waiting is an option if finances are tight.

Wow! What a great group of Houzzers ! Thank you for your interest and the time you've given. And thank you for your positive comments on our project.
Yes, the best advice is I'm sure to live with it for awhile until it fully cures or fades out and /or stain over with a darker color. A darker color may give us the brown tone we want instead of the orangish of the cedar. Again thank you, All

yes, i would say live and love, it looks great.. honestly.

I hope you do live with it for a while - it is quite lovely and harmonizes with your entire yard/outdoor room. There are even slightly rusty colored streaks in your patio stone! And of course, the greenery glows against the warmer color. If you still don't like it, then lots of samples to find a stain to go over it...but it seems a shame to mess with such a great space!

I think the whole yard looks beautiful. The stain color is gorgeous against your green lawn, and complements the bluestone patio. At least I think its bluestone.

nice

let it weather about a month. usually the pigments, are made to clarify worn wood, but will cool down in a short while

i also love it! i think it is the perfect backdrop for all your greenery. and it complements the stone work on the ground as it is not too matchy-matchy.

One more vote for live with it and learn to love it. I think darker brown would close in the space. It looks like beautiful old oak to me, warm, but not claustrophobic.

I understand that the color may not be what you intended, but the result is fantastic... a great foil for the plantings and a nice compliment to the color of the pavers. Take a step back and give this a chance to win your hearts.

While you wait for it to tone down (BTW I think it looks great!) you could place some large ceramic planter tubs in a grouping of say 3 in front of the fence and grow a quick growing annual vine up an obelisk in one of the larger tubs. Lots of plants to choose from, I have used scarlet runner beans, sweet peas, nasturtiums ornamental grasses etc in similar situations needing height and/or screening. In this situation, I would go for darker toned planters (dark green/grey./charcoal) and a foliage based planting scheme.

I understand that you hate the fence color, but it looks like it was planned that way and is a color often seen. Not sure why you would want to change it, -also be careful as the finished project (after further color changes) might not ever be the color you originally intended... and you might end up with something worse that no one could enjoy. I would wait a little while and let this present color sit a time and see if I reacted to it differently after a couple months or maybe next summer.

I don't see the "orange" color you see. The fence is "brighter" than the pergola but, in my opinion, provides a nice backup contrast.

Given the pergola looks like the same stain might have been used....you'll be seeing changes in a few seasons anyway . Wait... Give it some time, to develop some sort of a patina. Looks the right colouring in the photo .

As others have said, it does look fantastic! The color looks very natural, and will mellow considerably over time. Beautiful space you have there, and the quality of all looks top notch.

Love the fence. Works well with your landscaping, but.............wondering about the color of the wood furniture? It looks brand new. Is it teak or some other wood? If it stays outdoors it will change in color. What is your plan for that? If it's teak will you oil it or stain it too?. Left on it's own it will grey out in color.

From Sutherland Furniture's Care & Maintenance:

"Teak finished with a sealer should be covered in extreme weather. Clear sealer helps to maintain the teak’s original color. Dark sealer enhances the teak’s original color and gives the wood a dark hue. For regular maintenance, whether a clear or dark sealer is used, simply rinse with water and wipe with a soft cloth. The sun’s UV rays can cause deterioration to outdoor finishes in as little as six months. Depending on exposure to sun, rain, temperature and humidity, the surface will eventually require periodic sanding and reapplication of the sealer.."

I too agree that the tone looks ok, but I know sometimes things look different in person. You could try power-washing it. That would likely remove most of the color so you can basically start over. It seems as though the color is only slightly off the color of the pergola (are you looking for that color?)...you could just add a darker stain, but watered down (or in this case oiled-down) so that the shade doesn't change too much. The current shade seems just about right to me, but of course it's your decision. Good luck!

And coming from a fence pro (owned a large successful fence company for years)...your fence & pergola appear to be installed perfectly. Good job!

Déjà Vu! Did this very same color to deck & railing. Hated it. All I could see was orange. Got busy on another project and thought 'I'll get back to fixing that color'. Six months later - after the wood being in late day sun exposure and weather - I walked out onto the deck with a cup of coffee in hand and had forgotten about the 'color fix'. Realized that nature matured the richness of the stain/natural wood. I loved my color choice and the benefit - because of the product I used, the new owners are now set for years! Patience - you have made excellent choices. Now I am on to a new home and all new projects - and I will use this product again - have to build the deck first!!!

Love it, very classy looking.

I think it looks great. Please live with it for a season before spending more $$$$.

Remember that we're looking at a photo while the family is looking at the actual fence. I, too, spent a lot of money staining a fence in what I expected to be a mid-tone brown and ended up with what my eye clearly (and unhappily) saw as orange. No amount of "living with it" made it any less offensive to me. The next season I re-stained it a solid color and have been happy as a clam ever since.

Meant from

The color will morph. Ours was a dark redwood that has mellowed to the darker brown I was wanting. And, with cool colors (your blue stone), adding warmer tones in design is perfect. As a garden designer, I chime in where advice was not asked for (lol) and say get rid of your neighbors by panting a hedge or taller foliage near the fence. Not sure the sun directions, but adding a small tree 1/3 into grass to break up and soften the total look might be helpful. If grass is not needed, take it out and soften entire space with plant material/bark/Dymondia/large bolder/fountain???? Just throwing it out there.

Personally, I like it a lot and I am a color freak. It looks like the beam across the front of the pergola is darker but it might be the angle or shade. It's like a room when you first paint or carpet it, it might look like too much. Once you get the furniture in it looks fine. I know it is landscaped and furnished but if you put in a few higher plants I think you might like it better. Also I would not touch it right now because a color you love may appear in a few months. Making it darker may look bad. I think it is lively and dark would make inside your pergola seem dark too.

I'm in the same boat. I used a reddish brown and it looks too red with hints of orange. My plan is to let it fade for a couple of years and then redo it with a darker stain. I used a transparent stain. I plan to stick with transparent stain one more time, when I cover it with a different tone. Luckily mine is just a garden fence, so I'm not so interested in fixing it immediately. I'm curious on the comment of trying a green based brown, although I will probably look at more of a black based brown. Or I will buy small cans and play with colors. I better get a scrap piece stained and weather it along with the garden fence.

A little late to the comments. I am going through a similar process with a new cedar porch. After A LOT of research, I choose a few samples and probably spent $12 to buy a $20 can of stain LOL but it was worth it. I found, ironically, that Pittsburgh Paints had a really good selection of stain colors and coverage and would custom mix as well. The color I landed on I tried in several places prior to deciding. Do make sure to look at it during different light as the cedar can play tricks. One option is to do a weatherproofing layer that will help the tannin bleed, but most new stains don't require this as the good ones have it built in. As I'm painting railings on my porch, I'm using a special primer to seal the wood and tannin's and then a final white coat. Good luck - everything looks marvelous! Jealous :-)

There is a product made by the FLOOD company called Spa "N Deck. They have a 3 step process that will remove the stain and tannin to bring back the timber to it original colour.

1 step is the POWER LIFT, 2 is the WOODPREP, followed by the 3 chosen stain colour.

This product will last 5 times longer that anything on the market i have used to date.

Have a look at our recent decks to see the product in action.

Unless you have nothing else to spend time or money on, I agree with those who suggest letting it mellow on its own for a few seasons. I also think it looks great as-is. In the photos it looks warm and is a beautiful contrast to the cool slate and vibrant green.

I used the same product on a wooden gate, with orangish results. I tried to put a darker color of the same product over it, and it wouldn't adhere. However, the color lightened over time, and I think yours actually looks fine.

It looks great. Don't let perfect be the enemy of great.

Right...I agree...let the stain fade out via nature and see what you think next year...can always re-stain with all the great helpful hints you have received (use the same brand, etc.) Your yard is just beautiful...enjoy what you have created, don't stress! Cheers!

I had a similar issue with a restrained deck. I thought it was too orange. But then it faded somewhat and looked great. Consider leaving it and if it still bugs you put a trellis with a vine in front of a larger section of it.

I like the result too, over time the plants will grow and it will fade slightly. Could always redo at a later stage if still not happy with it down the track. Plenty of good advice on this thread anyway

Can you sand it down and start fresh

If you can't stand it. Then re stain. But it doesn't look bad. And will fade out very quickly.

I like it too. And it doesn't look orange to me.

Hi sbssb, I'm wondering if you ended up going over this fence. Would you share what products and colors were used before and after? I'm in the same boat with my brand new fence we stained. The wood was more yellow so it brought out a reddish tint. We had previously used the same stain on an old fence and it looked like a totally different color. Thank you!

I hear your frustration! I just used a teak timber oil on fresh cedar and It looks orange... Hoping it will fade.. BUt i think I will buy a deeper brown and mix the two colors...the color i used looks great on old gray cedar but not the new cedar. I think your fence looks really great the way it is!