Logan Voss
You might not think that anything can penetrate or destroy your fence, but the weather is always unpredictable at best. This means that you should always be on guard for any change of scenery due to the weather. There are different ways that the weather can directly impact your yard and fencing—remain aware of it so that you’ll be prepared when the weather strikes. This is how weather can impact your fence long term.
Rain and Humidity
This subject might not seem too important at first, as rain is relatively consistent wherever you go, but for fencing, it matters. When you have a fence, the ground can change based on moisture. Too much moisture can cause shifting, while too little moisture can make the ground harden and crack.
This can uproot your fencing and shift the posts, causing your pickets to warp and, ultimately, the demise of your fencing over time. You’ll need to determine what the best fences based on the weather in your area are so that your fence lasts.
Snow and Hail
These conditions are something you should look out for. Hail is a hard weather condition to avoid, but it has the potential to take out portions of your fence, especially if your fence is vinyl.
With snow, be careful that it doesn’t pack itself down on your fence, adding tons of extra weight that can and will break your fence. It’s always a good idea to check and maintain your fence before and after conditions like these occur.
Wind and Ice
The gales alone can blow away a fence—this has happened many times in the past. With enough strength, there’s nothing wind can’t get through. The only thing you can do to prepare for winds is barricade your structures with extra timber and/or sandbags.
Ice is more dangerous in many ways because the colder it gets, then the harder it becomes. And with that hardness, it becomes like stone, and any kind of moisture adds to that block of ice. This can severely weigh down your pickets and cause them to snap. It will weaken your fence to the point where it can break at virtually any part of the fence.
Sunlight and Heat
As we all know, the heat from the sun extracts moisture from everything. It can take the structural integrity away from wood and polymers alike with enough strength. This could deform a fence or ruin it altogether. If you can, plant trees around your fences to protect them from the weather.
Now that you know how the weather can impact your fence over the long term, take the appropriate measures to protect your fence. There are key features that you will want to remember as time goes on so that you can keep your fence up and running.
