Thursday, May 10, 2012

5 Things You Can Do to Care for Your Wooden Fence


A new wooden fence is a beautiful thing. The repetition of plank after plank of treated pine, stained just to perfection, can calm the mind, and give your yard a feeling of calm, serene, privacy. Over time however, the beating sun and pouring rain can weather your fence, causing it to fade into a greyish color. For painted fences, after a few years it is natural to see paint fade or peel. If left unattended, the wood will continue to decompose, making it more susceptible to mold and fungi, and eventually necessitate replacement. Regular fence maintenance will go a long way to protecting your investment. Here are five things you can do to care for your wooden fence. 



You undoubtedly already have a long list of to-dos as a homeowner, but fencing guidelines suggest that your fence only needs to be cleaned and re-stained once every three to five years. This is a comparatively little amount of time compared to what you spend mowing the lawn or cleaning and making repairs to the interior. To maintain your wooden fence, simply follow these steps:

1. Use plastic sheeting to protect the grass under your fence. This step is optional, but if you are using any cleaning solutions with harmful chemicals it is important that you do not allow it to seep into the groundwater, where it will then become an environmental hazard.

2. Prepare your mixture. Many people prefer to purchase a wood cleaning solution from their local hardware store, but a mixture of one part bleach to two parts water will work fine.

3. Soak the fence. Using a paint brush, apply the cleaning solution to your fence, allowing the mixture to completely saturate the wood grain. You should notice that the grain becomes brighter and cleaner.

4. Spray clean, dry, and repeat as necessary. After the cleaning solution has been allowed to soak into the wood. Spray the fence clean with a high pressure water sprayer. Hold the sprayer close to the wood to get off old paint and debris. Allow it to dry, and repeat the process until the fence is clean and ready to be re-stained.

5. Re-stain or re-seal. Now simply apply your sealant or tinted stain with a clean paintbrush. Many people prefer a sealant over a stain because they enjoy the clean wood grain look. However for a little color on your fence, always use a colored stain rather than paint. Paint will not seal and protect the wood as well as a stain. 

For more fence maintenance and repair tips and services check out Titan Fence & Supply today! 

3 comments:

  1. Actually wood fence looks very nice around the house.But the wood fence design and material to be perfect so that wood fence looks beautiful.
    Thank providing info.
    Everett Fence Company

    ReplyDelete
  2. Among the types of wood fences are the stockade, post-and-rail and picket styles. Here's some help with choosing between all the different designs.

    Fences Toronto

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not a huge fan of picket fences, but they look nice on the right style home for sure. I just did 80 feet of cedar fencing with a flat top and it came our really nice.

    http://www.oceansidefencefixers.com

    ReplyDelete