You may have thought that once your fence was installed, you would not have to perform any maintenance on it. What you have to understand is your fence is part of the overall package. It is not enough to stand on the porch and scan the fence, you have to get up close and search for problems. You would naturally want to know about issues and the various things that can attack your fence.
You will see very few fences that have had a coat of fence applied to them unless they are white picket fences. Any wood that is outside, and not a tree, is at risk of being degraded by the wind, sun, and rain. And it also won’t hurt to get more than one opinion on the matter. Do the usual practices with painting and possibly staining which is to use a coating of primer so the outer coating will have something to stick to. You will have to do some looking around for the stain that you like, and remember that it may look different once it is on the wood.
Regular Inspection
Not all wood fences are made using metal nails, and in fact some of them are made the old fashioned way with wooden dowels. Either way, it doesn’t matter because you need to inspect your fence, and when you do, check the dowels to ensure they are still snugly in place. Wood does not have a strong grasping quality with nails, and that is just the nature of wood and the combination. Any nails that have heads beginning to show should be taken care of immediately. The nails will begin to rust out, and the nail holes will become too large for the nail and the whole thing looks unsightly.
Infestation Problem
One of the great negatives or possibly at least is they can become infested with termites and other pests, but at least it is the termite population that you have to be concerned about.
Never allow something like this to go unattended, and any part of your fence will need to be replaced as this is the suggested action. This is a condition that is experienced by many wood fence owners, so do not think that it is only happening to you. Termites do not always move so slow, but if you have enough around, then that will make your house an attractive target.
There’s not a lot involved with wood fence maintenance and care. How you feel about staining will determine the direction in which you go. Then you should just power wash it and use a bleach/water solution once in a while.