Spring is the perfect time to care for your wooden fence, and we’ve put together this list of five quick and easy ways you can prepare it for the warmer weather.
In the spring, we have the fun task of preparing our outdoor wooden fence for the upcoming warm weather. There are many ways to prepare a fence for spring and make it ready to face springtime in good condition. This article discusses five ways a wooden fence owner can do this.
Five ways to prepare your wooden fence
Every year in the spring, as the days grow warmer and the ground begins to thaw, homeowners with wood fences face one of their biggest headaches—preparing their fence for another season.
Along with the worry of frostbite and how to prepare your fence for winter, spring is also a time for homeowners to carefully examine the condition of their wood fences.
Here are five ways you can prepare your wooden fence for spring:
1) Paint your wood fence: Painting on wood is one of the most common types of painting done by homeowners today. Painting a wooden fence is not difficult. It is possible to do it yourself, or you can hire a professional like a painter to do the job for you. Painting wood will help protect your fence from weather damage and unwanted stains, as well as make it more attractive. If you leave small organic debris on your fence after a cleaning, they will begin to rot and produce a fungus called black stain or black mold. This fungus will literally eat your fence and gates alive. It is best to repair small debris with a small metal rake. Check some articles on how to paint wood fences for more information.
2) Adding vinyl: If your wooden fence is made of hardwood, adding vinyl will give it strength and durability while still making it look rustic and natural. Vinyl can add strength, water resistance and helps repel weeds. It also helps protect the wood from stains.
3) Fence cleaners: Fence cleaners are useful if you want to keep your wooden fence looking fresh and clean. They work by eliminating dirt, mold and mildew colonies from wooden fences. Among the best products for this particular task are rubber-based cleaner products that are urethane or liquid based in nature. Before you jump into removing the old year’s crop of leaves and garbage from your fence, you must make sure that the surface is clean and safe to walk/drive on. Use an appropriate product for cleaning and waxing wood fences. If your fence has been painted, use an undercoat as well. If your wooden fence has pock marks or holes in it, fill them in with an appropriate fixative before you paint your fence or gates.
This is especially important when you paint your wooden fences. Fixing holes in a painted surface is nearly impossible, so fix any holes before you paint your fence.
4) Sanding: If your wooden fence is made of wood, then it will require some sanding before the weather changes to affect the wooden fence. This is necessary in order to make sure that the wood is prepared for springtime, and it also gives your neighbor a renewed look and clean appearance, instead of looking bleached or worn out. Read some articles on how to sand wood fences for more details. Never use a leaf blower as this will only move the debris around on your fence, not take it off completely.
Instead, use a small metal rake to take your debris off. This is a must on very old wood fences and those with rough, uneven surfaces.
5) Streaking: Wood streaks are generally brown lines that appear on wooden fences. As the warm weather arrives in spring, these streaks appear when the wood absorbs moisture from wetting. There are three types of stains: soil, growth and environmental. It is recommended that you clean your fence before the streaks show up and make sure they won’t return afterwards. If there are streaks on your fence then you should do some research to determine its cause so that you can treat it accordingly. Pine needles that fall on your wooden fence can quickly grow into a thick carpet of pine needles that will keep out air and moisture.
Moss that grows on your fence also sucks the life out of wood, wood gates, and wood fences as well. If you have moss on your fence, use one of three different options to get rid of it.
Always start with the most aggressive and work down from there. First, use chemical-based products and then try mechanical options. If those fail, you may need to call a professional to help
Wooden fence advantages
Wood fences have been around for a long time and have many advantages. Wooden fences are often a person’s first choice when they want to enclose their backyard or front yard because they give a certain privacy and appeal that no other fence can provide.
We live in an increasingly technological world where everything is made out of metal, plastic, or silicon. Anything without a metallic finish tends to be passed over for something shiny and new. But not many things involve our homes; few people want their fences made out of steel, after all. Steel fences are not only a little hard to maintain but they tend to cost a lot more than their wooden counterparts. Now the question remains, what is the best alternative to metal?
Before you begin to choose between a wooden and a metal fence, you need to understand each of their advantages.
- A wooden fence is easier to install than a metal one since it requires almost no tools – it only requires nails. Metal fences also require additional maintenance such as painting, but not quite as much as wooden ones. In the end, a wooden fence is definitely the better option.
- For most people, wood is a much more attractive choice than metal because of its durability and appearance. Wood lasts longer and looks cleaner after time, therefore increasing its value. Metal fences do not have this same quality since they are easily damaged due to weather conditions and often require repainting after a few years in order to maintain their luster.
Conclusion:
If you are preparing a wooden fence for springtime, then you should do one or more of these tasks. Wood fences require proper maintenance in order to stay strong and look good.
