Fence Colour Ideas: Natural, Grey or Oiled Hardwood

In short: the colour of a timber fence comes from the wood and the finish. Ipe is naturally yellow brown to dark olive brown, weathers to silver grey without oil and stays warm brown with oil. Painting or staining Ipe is unnecessary and works poorly because the wood is so dense. For a black or charcoal fence, people usually choose a softer timber and paint it.

What colours does an Ipe fence come in?

Colour	How you get it	Care
Warm brown, with variation between slats	New Ipe, or oiled	Clean, oil when the wood looks dull
Silver grey	Ipe left unoiled, weathered by sunlight	Clean only
Brown again after grey	Restore, then oil	Clean and oil
Lighter golden brown	50 mm teak slats	Clean, oil if you like

Natural, grey or oiled?

Ipe needs no treatment to last 25+ years, so the colour is down to taste. Left alone, it weathers to an even silver grey that looks calm in a contemporary garden. If you prefer warm brown, oil it. Oil works like wax on a car: dirt and water stick less, and the wood stays more stable. If the fence has already gone grey, a wood reviver removes the grey layer before you oil.

Painting or staining a fence: why not with Ipe?

Paint and stain need to soak in or grip the surface. At around 1,050 kg per m³, Ipe is so dense that they struggle to do either. Paint soon flakes and you end up touching it up every year. That is why we recommend oil for Ipe, not paint or stain. On softer timbers such as Douglas fir and larch, painting or staining is normal and needed for protection.

Black or charcoal fence?

Black and charcoal fences are popular in modern gardens. They are almost always painted softwood that needs repainting every few years. For a crisp look without that upkeep, let an Ipe fence weather to silver grey. It pairs well with black steel, such as a gate with a black coated frame.

Fence colour questions

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