How to prepare a fence for winter

Reduce The Rust

One of the ways that winter weather can deteriorate a fence is the acceleration of rust on metal components. This is due to the fact that winter weather regularly features rain and snow, increasing moisture in the air, therefore increasing the chances of rust.

An easy way to prevent this is to first remove the existing rust that these metal components may have, then add a protective sealant or rust resistant paint to slow down the rusting process as much as possible during the winter months.

Scrubbing away rust is as simple as using a small wire brush and some manual efforts to not only stop the current rusting process in its tracks, but improve the appearance of your fence. However, the Soudal Degrip All Penetrating Anti Rust Oil will lend a helping hand for any stubborn patches. This multi-purpose oil not only helps with the cleaning process, but can be used as a sealant to prevent new rust and corrosion from forming, keeping rust at bay throughout the cold days and months.

Plant Problems

As previously mentioned, moisture is the enemy of fences, and overgrowing plants near fences not only creates additional moisture, but can block sunlight from getting to the panels to help them dry out from the excessive moisture already in the air from the winter weather.

A very simple solution to this issue is to remove any overgrown plants directly on or around a fence, especially climbing plants. Although some aesthetically appealing foliage will be lost from a garden, they can always grow back in the warmer months.

Decrease The Decay

Extra moisture in the air not only increases rust production, but puts a fence at risk of rot and decay, and if the problem isn’t taken care of, there is a risk of having to replace the entire fence.

There are several ways to prevent rot and decay on all components of a fence, from posts to panels.

Just like the metal components, the first step in maintaining fence panels and fence posts is to remove any existing mould and mildew from the wood, this can be done quickly and easily with the help of a pressure washer. This will not only stop the current rot process in its tracks, it will also improve the colouring of your fence.

For small areas of panels that are showing higher risk of rot and decay, WD-40 can be used to prevent moisture from penetrating the wood, although this is not advised for entire fence panels on a practical level. For entire panels, it is recommended to apply a protective sealant to preserve the wood.

While the same process can and should be applied to fence posts, there is an extra step that can be taken increase your chances of a perfectly preserved fence.

Adding Fence Post Caps to fence posts provide a direct barrier between the wood and the moisture in the air to prevent rot and decay. Added benefits of Fence Post Caps is that they are incredibly easy to install, most of the time only requiring a few woodscrews or even just some wood adhesive. As well as this, they can add extra aesthetic appeal, with our range of Fence Post Caps available in multiple colours and designs to suit your/your clients specific needs and preferences. If the Fence Post Caps are metal, the same maintenance should be followed as that of any existing metal fixtures.

To ensure that any fence is winter ready, check out our range of Fence Hardware, as well as our range of Sealants and Adhesives.