If you are lucky enough to have a gazebo, you undoubtedly want to take care of it. Depending on the style of your gazebo, this means sealing it with either paint or a wood sealer. Some gazebos are built from fancy woods like redwood, cypress, and farm-grown mahogany, while others are built from pressure treated lumber and painted.

Today, we will offer a few professional tips to help you keep your gazebo in great condition. Again, depending on how elaborate your gazebo is, you may want to use a few different tools. Most you will have, like a paint brush and roller, but others you may not, like a paint sprayer. Here we will suggest when to use these tools and why you may want to.

Can I Paint My Own Gazebo?

If you are handy with a paint brush you can probably paint your own gazebo. Often, do-it-yourselfers have the basic skills to paint a gazebo, but may not have the experience to prepare it for painting. Gazebos tend to have many angles, curves, and slopes which can make a good paint job a challenge.

How Do I Paint My Gazebo?

We will assume you have the basic painting tools, like a paint brush, a paint roller, cover and pan, and a step ladder. You will also probably need access to a water hose, broom, and other cleaning tools, depending on the condition of your gazebo.

Clean Your Gazebo

Regardless of whether you are painting or sealing, you will want your gazebo as clean as possible before you begin. If you have access to a pressure washer, using the white or yellow tip from a couple of feet away will usually be enough. However, if your gazebo is in disrepair, make your repairs before using a pressure washer.

You can also just use a broom or mop with warm, soapy water and clean all the surfaces as well as possible. You can also use an old paint brush or other brush to access tough to reach places, like the collar ties in the ceiling. Once you have removed as much dirt as possible, allow the gazebo to dry completely before attempting any painting.

Use Primer or Sealer

If you are painting your gazebo for the first time, you will want to use a primer first. However, remember your gazebo must be completely dry before it can be painted. If your gazebo is new and built from pressure treated lumber, you will want to let it dry out before you paint or seal it.

Pressure treated lumber is treated at the factory with chemicals that are still present when you purchase the wood. If you were to paint your gazebo before this moisture has evaporated, the paint would simply come off as the wood dried out. Paint or sealer must be absorbed by the wood, so the wood must be dry enough to absorb the paint or it will sit on top and flake off.

If your gazebo was built from kiln dried pressure treated lumber, you can test the wood to see if it is ready to seal. Simply drip water on the lumber and if the water is absorbed, you can probably seal or paint it. The rule of thumb among pros is to wait at least one year for the moisture to evaporate, but if you live in a hot, dry climate yours may dry faster.

Sprayers, Rollers, and Brushes

As for tools, you will probably use a brush for most of the ceiling, posts, and lattice, but you may want a roller for the floor. Using a roller will greatly speed up the process, especially if it will need multiple coats. Be sure and let each coat dry completely before applying the next one. Usually, several thin coats is preferable to one or two thick coats.

If you have access to a paint sprayer, you can probably paint the entire gazebo with just your sprayer and a paint guard. In most designs, the gazebo will be all the same color and finish, so you can use the same paint for everything. A pro painter would select a dry, calm day and start in one corner. By the time they make it back to the starting point, the first coat is dry.

Using a sprayer, the pro painter doesn’t not have to stop and reload a brush or roller, so the process is very fast. However, if you are new to spraying paint, allow some extra time for cleaning up at the end of the day. Sprayers require care or they will malfunction, so make sure you have enough time to do the required cleaning procedure before you begin.