Yes, your brand new wood fence needs a little tender loving care from time to time, and think of it as good maintenance practices, and it’s in your best interest to protect your investment. Definitely and by all means, any fence you have will be an important thing people will look at. There are many ways to get motivated with this because if you are similar to other homeowners, you will not want to do it. You have to become knowledgeable about maintaining your wood fence, and this article is a perfect way to get off to a great start.
One thing you have to remember about wood is it can be attacked by pests, and this is why visually checking on it is recommended as a second line of defense, the stain is the first. Logging or writing down what you discover during the inspection will give you a track record. Records and logs about inspections are the professional way to approach fence maintenance. Look all over your fence to include the posts and all the split rails if you have them. One of the greatest risks or threats aside from moisture and rot are termites, and not much needs to be said about them.
Older fences are usually prime candidates for the need to replace some things with new parts. One of the nice things about split rails is they are thicker and can resemble posts which are very sturdy.
If you like working with wood, then you’ll enjoy it and then you’ll always be prepared, but of course you want to match exactly the stain that is currently on your fence. Of course this may be out of the skill set you have, but you can still hire a contractor carpenter or cabinet maker who knows about this.
There are several approaches available to you if you want to clean your fence, and the best maintenance practice is regular cleaning so you can prevent mold, etc. The only time you want to use bleach water is to kill mold that is growing on the fence. So you can easily use your garden hose and make sure you have some decent water pressure which brings us to power washers which are really good for cleaning wood fences. A regular hand regulator could work all right, and in the beginning you just have to test and experiment.
Proper care and maintenance of your wood fence should become part of your schedule for property upkeep. It is easy to become complacent about these things, and that is one of the dangers you have to avoid. Hopefully you can make all this second nature, so that you are always aware of the status of your fence.