How to Protect Your New Fence For Years to Come?
Fences are costly and normally take a lot of efforts to install them. However, a beautiful fence can significantly increase the value of your property. For this reason, you need to do everything possible to maintain your new fence. To safeguard your fence against the weather elements like sun and the rain, you can go for different resorts like staining or painting the wood. Below are some steps which you can take to ensure that your new fence lasts many years to come.
There are three common choices which are used to protect wooden fences from the elements of weather namely painting, semitransparent staining and solid staining. Painting a new fence is a good way of covering its surface with a thin layer or film which prevents moisture to getting through into the wood. Moreover, paints offer UV protection to the underlying wood. Despite this, care must be taken to ensure that the paint is applied properly on the wood surface otherwise it will peel and expose the wood. Just like paint, stains can also be used to protect a new fence. By staining your wood fence, the stain soaks the wood and fills the pores which prevent water from reaching the interior.
In order to protect new fence, semitransparent stain can also be applied, although it has less pigment when compared to standard stains. But it has a translucent finish, the texture and the grain of the wood can be seen throughout the stain which makes it appealing. But the remarkable thing is that it doesn’t protect the wood from UV rays as much as solid stain or paint does. Solid stains have more pigment when compared to semitransparent stains. And this is the reason; it tends to cover the texture and grain effectively. Therefore, you might find it to be an excellent choice for weathered or previously stained surfaces. Just like a painting project, the prior preparation of the surface ought to be done particularly if you want that the paintwork last for many years. Painting a new fence is pretty straightforward. To prepare the surface adequately, you need to wash it with some water to remove any dirt or dust from the surface. However, if you are dealing with a previously painted fence then it would be best to sand off old paint with the help of a scraper and a heat gun.
However, if you plan on repainting again soon, you can just scrape off loosely or flaking paint. You should also make a point of inspecting fence on a regular basis and especially focus on those sections where posts are fixed into the ground. Such areas tend to encounter problems over the period of time. Therefore carry out some occasional inspections of the same so that you can apply preventive measures early enough. Overhang tree branches also need to be trimmed as they can cause extensive damage to your newly installed fence. Debris like fallen leaves also needs to be removed from the base of the fence otherwise they can cause moisture and mould build-up. Drainage is yet another aspect that needs to be looked into. Direct drainage should be away from the new fence posts to prevent rotting. Follow these simple guidelines and your fence will be undoubtedly last for a long time. If your interested in a new fence then go to our main page www.fencingbristol.org.uk
