As the weather continues to be unpredictable, it is important to ensure that your fencing is prepared to withstand the winter season.
Read on to find out the best ways to prepare your fencing for winter:
High-Quality Timber
When picking your fencing, one of the main reasons why your fencing keeps losing the battle against the snow, ice and colder weather in the winter seasons, is the quality of the timber.
Fences that lean to an angle are generally down to damage caused to the fence post due to the type of timber used for the fence post. The type of damage that can be caused is the fence post rotting at the ground level.
When choosing fencing or materials for your fencing, ensure that is the highest quality timber for your fencing to maximise longevity and reduce further costs.
Removing Debris
With strong winter storms comes the potential for loose-blowing debris, and if you have any overhanging branches or heavy plants near your fence, these can ruin and damage your timber.
Once you notice that you have debris, think about clearing and cutting back these hazards. Though a timber fence is strong, it doesn’t need the extra burden of falling branches or debris in the winter.
It would be a shame for the fence to deflect the threats of the cold, wet weather only to suffer nasty damage from an unruly tree branch, so give your fence some breathing room before things get out of hand.
Maintainance
When choosing materials for your fencing and other materials accessories such as screws, it is important to choose items which are non-corrosive to ensure that they won’t rust and lose their longevity.
When choosing these materials which aren’t corrosive, will increase the longevity of the timber and other accessories.
When putting up your fencing, if they aren’t placed correctly at an accurate depth, the wind can blow them out of place and destroy your fencing. To ensure there isn’t any movement with your fencing, it is crucial that your fencing is placed at least 3 feet down
Water-Proof Your Fencing
For timber fencing, using wood oils and preservers will prevent your fence from becoming damaged by rain, snow and other moisture. As well as the weather, you can also preserve the colouring of your fencing for years to come.
Ideally, you should re-treat your fence every couple of years. After all, the more you take care of your fence, the more likely it is to last longer resulting in fewer maintenance costs and longevity.
Fitting Your Winter
When getting your fencing fitted, it is crucial, that is important to ensure it is all perfect so you don’t have any knock-on effects.
We know what a headache fitting and installing fencing, can be especially when you’ve got to ensure that it is fitted properly so you don’t get issues due to poor installation. That’s why we care just as much about the finish and fitting of our products as we do the quality, with Hillsborough Fencing’s professional fitting service.
Whether you are a commercial customer that needs assistance with a contracted job or a residential customer that needs help fitting the decking in your garden, our 5 full-time teams of fitters have 20 years of experience to ensure the job is seamless from start to finish.
If you are feeling like doing a bit of DIY or wanting to fit the fencing yourself, here are 3 tips to ensure you fit your fencing for lastingness:
Fencing Depth
A mistake you can run into when installing fencing is not installing fence posts deep enough. The problem again is that if your fence posts aren’t deep into the ground, this causes your fencing to be able to be blown over or destroyed in stronger winds and worse weather.
For the depth of the fencing, the fence posts should be a minimum of 2 feet below ground level, but it can vary with the height of your fence. If you’re not sure of how deep you should set your fence post, a good rule is to place one-third of your fence post under the ground.
Use of Galvanised Nails
When you’re planning the fitting of your fencing, you should make sure to get all the best materials – including the right nails. If you don’t use galvanised nails, which are treated specially for the outdoors, your nails will rust much more quickly. This will result in further maintenance costs and changing of materials once they become rusted or damaged.
Without the right materials, especially with the nails, rusty nails don’t just shorten the lifespan of your fence, they also cause unsightly staining on your brand-new wood - which is never good!
Wooden Materials
As mentioned throughout, materials for your fencing are important. This means it is crucial to be careful to make sure you build your fence with the right material.
If you’re choosing the wooden materials for your fencing, don’t make the mistake of using any old wood – your fencing timber needs to withstand many outdoor conditions over the years, from the wettest and colder weather to the hottest, sunniest days.
