Wooden fences are favored across the globe for their easy construction, affordability, and natural appearance. However, if you live somewhere that gets snowy in the colder months, there’s a downside. Wooden fences that aren’t properly protected can break down rapidly because of snow. So, how do you snow-proof a wooden fence? Let Toronto’s fence-building experts give you some pointers.
Paint Your Fence
Perhaps the most common solution to snow-proof a wooden fence is painting it. After all, paint is relatively cheap and rolling it on with a paint roller isn’t that difficult. It mostly just takes time and patience.
Paint can be bought in many different forms. If you’re going to use paint to snow-proof a wooden fence, be sure to get a paint that’s waterproof and mold-resistant. This type of paint will not only look nice, but keep your fence in good shape for years. Just be sure to touch up the paint if it begins to wear out. If the paint begins to wear out and water seeps into the wood, the thick coat of paint on the outside will only hold that moisture in. That’s a slippery slope to your fence rotting.
Stain Your Fence
A lot of people don’t realize it, but stain can also snow-proof a wooden fence! So, if you’re partial to the more natural wood look, skip the paint and stain your fence instead.
Staining a fence is best done before it’s put up. Therefore, if you’re planning to build a fence and haven’t yet, go ahead and stain your boards ahead of time. It’s much easier to stain them while they’re laid out on some sawhorses, rather than vertical and exposed to the weather. Plus, staining your boards ahead of time means sealing the edges and the parts that overlap when assembled.
Replace Rotting Fences
If you have a fence already and you’re looking into how to snow-proof a wooden fence because it’s already fallen victim to weather damage, City Wide is here to help. With a rotting fence, you have two options: try to salvage it, or start over.
If you want to salvage your fence, it’s not going to be easy. In fact, you’ll only be able to salvage part of it – assuming you can salvage any of it. To salvage your fence, you’re going to need to remove all of the rotten boards and replace them.
If some boards seem to be starting to rot but haven’t yet, you may be able to save them by buying a boric acid spray. Boric acid is a powerful fungicide and can kill off the beginning of wood rot before it destroys the wood entirely. All of the boards that were removed will have to be replaced. If you want to prevent wood rot in the future, seal your repaired fence, then spray the entire thing with boric acid. This fungicide doesn’t just kill wood rot, it also prevents it.
If your fence seems beyond repair, it might simply be time to replace it. Call us at City Wide Post Hole Digging to get the best fence building service in Toronto. We’re happy to help you with your new fence, and the results will leave you happy we did.
