A strong fence on your property gives you a sense of security and helps demarcate your area. Moreover, a fence provides a personal space wherein your family, kids, and pets can roam and play around freely and safely. But come fall, proper fence maintenance is crucial and requires timely attention.
Over time, fences can sag due to different climatic conditions. Some of the top issues include fence boards that can loosen up due to rust, problems with its foundation due to termites, water clogging, soil erosion, and many other incidences. Many such issues can cause significant problems with your fence. During the fall season, many of these issues are brought to the fore, posing a hazard to your wooden fence. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the fences right before spring to avoid any risks during the fall season.
Why Is Fall Fence Maintenance So Important?
Among all the types of fences available, from ornamental to chain link, vinyl, and wooden, wooden fences are the most susceptible to heavy rain and extremely cold conditions. In this weather, the fence can become moist, wet, and rusted. Also, due to the lack of warm days available, the fence does not get enough sunlight, creating a hazard for the overall health of the fence.
To help you ensure that your fence is in optimum condition and stays despite the hazards, here are a few simple reasons why fence maintenance is essential during the fall season.
Stop the Soil from Shifting
The soil around and beneath the fence can loosen up when the frost thaws or due to heavy rainfall. Since a fence is constructed by digging up the soil and creating the proper foundation for the fence, it is essential to ensure that the soil around the fence area is always in place.
Not enough soil around the fence makes the fence shift from its original place and dislocate its position, damaging the overall fence position. Therefore, when inspecting the fence, it is always best to make sure that it is deeply installed inside the soil to avoid the soil loosening around it when the frost thaws or due to heavy rainfall.
Prevent Your Fence from Deforming
Fences are damaged not only due to moisture or wetness but also by extremes, and a sudden fall in the temperature can warp your wooden fence. It contracts and expands the fence suddenly, making it look very messy, creating holes and changing the elevation of your fence, making it very unalluring. It is especially true if your fencing is done using natural materials like wood, gravel, or others.
Furthermore, it can even develop mold and pests on your fence, further deteriorating the condition. Therefore, it is essential to select good quality wooden fences and maintain them periodically by staining them, installing cedar wood fences, or ornamental non-rust fences.
Painting, Sealing, and Staining
It is crucial to coat your fence with a fresh sealant layer after cleaning it before the fall season. You will need to paint the fences annually if there is not much wear and tear. Use an oil-based waterproof paint for the fence, which shields it from harsh climates and heavy rainfall or snowfall.
Wooden fences are more susceptible to damage due to retaining moisture. Therefore, it is advisable to seal the wooden fences with waterproof sealant from time to time. Painting the fence reduces the chances of rotting, leading to a healthy and extended fence life. Your wooden fence should be sealed with a water-repellent stain before fall, and the wet season will maintain your fence for a long time.
Plus, it is essential to maintain the fence periodically, which will eventually reduce the costly repairs you may need to undertake if the fencing deteriorates over time.
Why Should You Check the Fence Regularly?
Keeping track of your fences throughout the fall and winter season is essential to check for any termites, mold, splits, cracks, and other problems. Fence stability and alignments should be checked for any issues. Also, don't let the leaves, branches, or snow sit on your fence for a long time, which usually happens in the fall season.
Leaving it on your fence for a long time can lead to underlying faultlines in the fence, and it will be tough to rectify in the long run. The accumulated debris can cause gaps in your fence, block easy movement, cause defects in structures, and prevent the fence from functioning quickly.
So, periodically or biannually, ensure that you check on your fence, clean it properly after a heavy winter or autumn season, and keep an eye out for any defects or signs of deterioration that you can spot. It always helps to have an expert look at the fencing from time to time, as they can easily pick up on issues that are not easily visible to the naked eye.
Conclusion
After considering all the above points, it can be assumed that it is imperative to maintain your fence regularly to avoid any significant issues soon—like rotting, infestation by termites, decaying, cracks, and warping. Routinely checking, cleaning, painting, resealing, and staining the fence will help you avoid these problems. It is highly recommended to have the maintenance of your fence done before the fall season, and having a professional look at your fence will help avoid any undue issues in the long run.
Midwest Fence & Gate is one of the Midwest’s premier providers of fencing, access controls, gate automation, gate operation, and residential fencing systems. From installation and maintenance to financing, we have a professionally trained crew to help you get the highest quality materials and ensure the optimal health of your fence at all times. It helps you always get extended peace of mind while you get superior service and lasting security.
Reach out to our experts to schedule your maintenance and get a free quote today!