Anyone living in Central New York is familiar with our wild winter weather.  As you prepare many things in and around your homes for winter, don’t forget to take care of your wooden fencing. It’s easy to forget that the snow can have serious consequences on your wooden fence. While many people in Oneida and surrounding areas opt to have Vinyl Fencing, the classic wood fencing is always popular for a variety of homes and uses. Check out our tips to help keep you ahead of the winter damage and inevitably save you money on repairs and replacements to your wood fence in the future.
Get Ahead of Moisture Build Up
Excess moisture from winter snow and your wooden fence are not a good combination. With our long and usually very wet New York winters, your wood fence isn’t allowed the time to dry out like it does between rainstorms in the spring, summer, and fall.
Allowing moisture to build up on your wood fence also allows its bad friends to come along as well.  Damaging mold, mildew and rot are can cause serious problems for a wooden fence and decrease the life of a fence dramatically.
To prevent these issues make sure to stain your fence well before winter with a good quality oil based stain. When the leaves begin to fall in autumn get ahead by keeping leaved and debris away from the bases of your fence and clip trees and bushes that hang over or have grown to closely. During the winter months be sure to shovel out the spaces between your fences to keep the snow from heaping directly against it.
Quality Wood Prevents Warping
Have you ever noticed that your doors become harder or easier to open at different times throughout the winter? The expansion of wood between different temperatures strongly effects your wooden fencing too. When your fence begins to expand and contract due to cold weather, knotholes are formed. They are not only unattractive, but they become havens for all sorts of pests that can cause further damage.
Poly Enterprises is sure to choose high quality wood that is less likely to allow knotholes to form especially if you’ve treated them with stain. If you already have a wood fence, and you aren’t sure of the wood, be sure to seal the wood properly with stain.
Prevent Falling Limbs
As snow overloads tree limbs they can break, snap, and fall. If they hit your fence they can do some serious damage.
By trimming your branches before winter comes to New York, you can avoid most branches becoming an issue for your wood fence. Keep in mind that it is important to keep up on this even through the winter just in case unexpected branches fall.
Even with preventative measures, winter damage can still happen. If you find any boards or posts that are damaged you should take steps to repair them as quickly as possible so that they don’t ruin your entire fence. If you need a fence repair or replacement, call Poly Enterprise for a free estimate!