A Yard with Distinction

If you have recently installed a wood fence around your property, and you live somewhere that gets a significant amount of snow and rain during the winter, you need to take certain steps in order to ensure that your wood fence makes it through the winter  without becoming damaged. Here are three steps you need to take this fall and during the winter to protect your fence.  

Prevent The Build-Up Of Moisture By Staining Your Gate & Fence

During the winter, your gate and fence will have to deal with not only rain but also snow. Unlike rain, snow can build up next to your fence for days at a time. Depending on where you live, the snow may not entirely melt until spring time comes. 

All of that snow against your fence is full of moisture. When wood is exposed to moisture for a prolonged period of time, mold, mildew and even rot can result from the exposure. 

In order to protect your fence from damage caused by prolonged exposure to moisture, you should stain your fence with an oil based stain before winter starts. This stain will seal your wood and will help repel the moisture away from your fence. 

Keep Your Gate & Fence Free Of Debris

Many wood gates and fences are constructed with gaps between each wood plank. These gaps can vary from less than an inch wide to a couple of inches wide. You need to keep these areas free from debris. You don't want leaves to build up in between these cracks in your fence. 

Over the course of the winter, the debris that builds up in the cracks will break down. This could cause your wood to break down as well. This type of debris could also attract  pests, both large and small, to your fence. Insects and small rodents like to hang out in piles of leaves in the winter time; they provide them with a nice, safe place to hang out. Unfortunately, these very same pests can destroy your fence.

Clean any debris that gets into the gaps in your fence during the fall, and walk around your fence throughout the winter time and remove any additional debris that accumulates. 

Remove The Snow Next To Your Gate & Fence

Finally, to protect the wood that your gate and fence is made out of and to keep the soil from shifting under your fence, you should shovel the snow away from your fence. Try to remove the snow at least one or two shovel lengths away from your fence.        

If you take the three steps above before and during the winter months, your wood gate and fence should be able to survive even the harshest winter without becoming damaged. 

For further assistance, contact local professionals, such as those from Morris Fence Co.