Security, charm, privacy, and character. There is a long list of benefits to having a wooden fence. But there’s a major drawback – a wooden fence is vulnerable to Mother Nature. Rain, UV rays, moisture, and insects wear wood over time. You have to know how to make your wood fence last longer if you want to enjoy it for years to come.
Extend Life of An Existing Wood Fence
Here’s how you can extend the life of your fence and preserve the elegant curb appeal a wooden fence promises.
Stain and Seal
Sunlight and moisture are the two greatest nemeses of a wooden fence. Staining not only makes a wood fence pretty but also protects it from harsh elements and insects. Seals block moisture from reaching the wood – protecting your fence from rot and mildew buildup.
Seals are basically sunscreen for your wooden fence, keeping it safe and burn-free. A first-rate stain and sealer adds a nice pigment and awards a brand-new look to your fence.
Remember to buy the right sealant or stain. Meaning, get a professional-grade fence stain formulated with commercial pigments and a mineral oil or paraffin-based sealer that contains a UV inhibitor to keep wood from turning gray.
Pro Tip: If you’ve installed a new wood fence around your home, it’s better to wait a few months or a year before you apply any stain on the wood. This is because wood needs time to dry off completely before any stain or paint is used. Applying stain too early will lock the moisture within the wood, resulting in early wood rot and mildew build-up.
Paint Your Fence
Painting a wooden fence is a stain alternative and should always be your second preference. Paints come in various colors and textures to give a nice cosmetic fix to your fence. Use an exterior latex paint that will limit weathering on your wooden fence and extend its lifespan.
Stain or Paint? What’s Better?
Painting a wooden fence protects the exterior from elements but not nearly as much as a good-quality stain does. Most paints only cover the surface of the wood, while stains penetrate deeply into the wood. Paint may chip or peel over time, but a stain will remain intact in the material.
Keep Up With Maintenance
Regularly monitor your fence for cracks, chipping, rot, mold, etc., and make repairs where needed. Early detection and action can save you from costly repairs later, so be punctual with your regular inspections.
These checks are easy though. Start by taking a walk around your fence with keen eyes and spot problem areas. Inspect for signs of mildew, rot, peeling paint, etc. And if you find something, grab your DIY hat or call in a fencing professional to make the repairs. Remember, delaying repairs is never wise.
- If you see cracks, fix them with a wood filler. You can easily get it in any hardware or home improvement store, or even create one from sawdust or an old lumber pile.
- If posts are run down, restore them.
- Carefully look at the gate hinges and locks to make sure they’re working properly, secure, and aligned. Put on some automotive grease for the lubrication of parts.
- Check the drainage system around the fence. It should be working fine to keep the wood dry.
- Change any loose nails to prevent injury and for security.
- Treat the wood regularly, once every 1 to 2 years, with UV-inhibiting sealants and coatings.
Keep Sprinklers in Check
Wood is never totally impervious to water infiltration, even if you use the best quality wood or the finest coating or treatment for your fence. So make as much effort as you can to limit wood’s exposure to moisture to help it last longer.
Adjust sprinklers in your lawn or yard in a way that they don’t get the fence wet. A wet fence is a gateway to moss and wood rot problems.
Clean Regularly
For Regular Cleaning: Remove debris, dirt, leaves, etc., from the surface of your wooden fence. You can use a soft brush to scrub it off dry or with a little bit of warm soapy water.
For Detailed Cleaning: Clean your wood fence every 3 to 5 years to prevent graying, moss, mildew, and dirt.
- Scrub the fence with a specially designed wood fence cleaning solution and water. If your fence has accumulated lots of dirt, use a pressure washer to wash it off first.
- To clean mold, make a solution of 80% mild detergent and 20% bleach and spray it on the fence. Leave it for an hour for the solution to work its magic and kill all mold spores and then clean it up with water.
- Scrape away any peeling paint or mildew.
Allow the fence to dry for a week or more and repaint or reseal it so it’s nice and protected. Wait after every coat of paint or stain for it to dry before you apply a second coat.
Don’t Let Plants Lean On It
Shrubs, trees, and plants around your fence may start leaning and resting on your wood fence. Plants gather moisture naturally and aren’t good for a wood surface in continuous contact. Over time, leaning plants will weaken the structure and rot the wood.
Take a look at the trees. Have they grown too close to the fence? Hire a lawn pro to give your yard a makeover, trim the trees and shrubs, and clear space around the fence so there’s nothing growing over or under it. Regularly trim down growth around the base of your fence, too.
Balance and Maintain Wood pH
Be careful of what you apply on the fence. Certain cleaners can disrupt the pH level of the wood in your fence. A raised pH prevents the sealers and coatings from properly sticking to the fence. If you do use such a cleaner, follow it up with a product designed to balance the pH of the wood or a wood brightener.
Extend Life of a New Fence
Did you know you can make a wooden fence last longer just by taking a few things into consideration at the time of installation?
There are a few modifications and treatments that are only applicable during the construction of a wood fence. If you’re building a new fence, here’s what you can do to add more years to its lifespan:
Use the Right Wood
Photo Credit: ghornephoto / Canva Pro / License
When building or purchasing a new wood fence, the most important consideration is the kind of wood you use.
Some woods resist decay and rot better than others. These include redwood and western red cedar. Research what kind of wood survives best in your local weather conditions. Asking your neighbors about the suitable wood type and their experience maintaining it is also a good idea.
Generally, the most popular choices are cypress, cedar wood, and redwood due to their beauty, durability, and natural resistance to rot and insect damage. The most expensive of these is redwood. Cedar is the least expensive. Cypress is somewhere between the two on the cost spectrum.
Improvise the Design – Make it Preventive
If you’re making some major fence repairs or installing a new wood fence, consider adding design features that will make it last longer. Preventive design features will make fence maintenance easier and more cost-effective. Here are a few ideas:
Add Rot Boards: Rot boards are pressure-treated pieces of wood that you place horizontally on the bottom of a fence. The board is in contact with the ground and prevents moisture from traveling up to your fence. Pressure-treated wood resists decay, rot, and pest infestations.
Rot boards are also known as kickboards and usually go well with cap board or cross-frame design.
Important: Adding rot boards only works if you’re adding them to a new or a good-condition fence. If wood is already warping, rotting, and decaying at the bottom of an old fence, covering it up will exaggerate the issue rather than solve it.
Add Metal Fence Posts: Fence posts are the most vulnerable part of your fence because they constantly are in contact with the ground. They absorb moisture, fall prey to insect infestations, rot, and suffer mildew buildups. You can avoid this by installing metal posts. They preserve the wooden parts of your fence and last way longer than wood.
Pressure Treat the Posts
Fence posts should be pressure-treated because they connect with the ground and are constantly exposed to moisture and insects. Pressure treatment involves applying chemicals to the fence surface that protect it against insect and water damage. The pickets don’t require pressure treatments since they stay above the ground.
Plus, pressure-treated fences don’t need additional treatments to preserve structural integrity. A treated wooden fence will resist fungal decay and termites but can still swell, crack, shrink, and warp without proper maintenance. So, stay vigilant with regular maintenance.
Note: If you installed a pressure-treated fence and plan to stain or paint it, it’s advisable to wait for a year or so to allow the chemicals to dry out. Painting earlier than this can trap moisture which will give way to rot and lots of wood decay.
Coordinate with Neighbors
Discuss your plan to install a new wood fence with your immediate neighbors. You can ask them not to plant anything next to the fence, avoid spraying it with water, and keep debris away as much as possible.
Although your neighbor isn’t responsible for your fence’s condition, they may be courteous enough to help you maintain it.
Need Help?
Keeping a check on your fence, pruning vegetation, washing, sealing, repainting, and all the fence maintenance work is tough. You can make it easier and more manageable by calling for help. FenceGnome can connect you with the best local pro to lend you a hand and prolong your wooden fence’s life.
Main Image Credit: Lex20 / Canva Pro / License
