Winter if finally thawing, much to the relief of many across the nation. While the warmer temperature may certainly be more enjoyable than the bitter realities of winter, spring time is also repair time.
Snow, sleet, hail, ice, and rain all do terrible damage to wooden fences, which, if left untended to, could fall into disrepair, and need to be replaced.
Rather than spend hundreds replacing wood fences, homeowners would be much better of simply taking a weekend to repair their house fences. Here’s what they should look at doing.
Fixing the Gate.
One of the most obvious areas where wooden fences need repairs after winter is the gate. Metal hinges and locks get rusty during the winter, which make wooden fences difficult to open. Rather than spend the next half of the year struggling to open their gates, homeowners should derust and lube their wooden fences’ gates and hinges, or otherwise replace them.
Repairing the Rails.
Rails that have come loose from one or more of its posts might not be salvageable, depending on the level of rot that’s set in to the joint, but homeowners may be able to repair it with a a two by four and/or a couple of metal T-braces. If not, they’ll have to rip out the old rail and put a whole new one in.
Reconstructing the Posts.
Homeowners would also be wise to see if their fence posts wobble. If so, it may be fixable with a pair of splints depending on how severely the post is rotted or broken. That being said, the entire post may also need to be replaced instead.
Moisture is wood fencing’s natural enemy. It causes splitting, cracking, and rot. If wooden fences are left uncared for, they’ll fall into disrepair, which will be quite the costly problem to solve. Instead, homeowners should simply make these repairs to their wood privacy fences, and let that be that.
If you have any questions about fixing wooden fences, feel free to share in the comments.