Maintaining the investment of your fence can be wearisome if you do not know how to keep it clean or know what
you are looking for when there are signs of deterioration.
Whether you have a vinyl fence, wood fence, chain link fence, or steel & aluminum fences, the following will provide cleaning and maintenance tips to help keep your fence looking it's best for many years.
Cleaning Your Wood Fences[]
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A wood fence can be an attractive part of your landscape. But you must remember, once built, it still has to be maintained to get the most years out of it possible. Wood fencing can become damaged from premature fading caused by the sun. If you take care of it properly, you can prolong any fading, having it look better and make it last longer through the years. |
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Power washing is the best way to clean your wood fences. You can rent a power washer or pay a professional to come in and clean your wood fencing for you. If you decide to do it yourself, position the power washer in a good proximity of your fence. Hold the spray tip approximately 18-20 inches away from the wood fencing and spray the surface evenly. Move and spray over all the wood fence surface until you have power washed all areas of the fence. Wait for the fence to dry completely before you add any sealer. The best option is to wait a day or two so that you can be completely confident the wood is dry.
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Applying a Sealer[]
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Apply a coat of sealer over all points of the wood surface including nooks and crevices until it looks wet, using a paint roller. Once completely covered with a layer of sealer, go back and apply a second coat using a soft bristle brush. Keep applying the sealer until the wood fencing looks wet. Once you have applied a second coat completely check for missing spots. It is best to make sure you have evenly applied each coating. Now let your wood fence dry completely, it's that simple, you have just added new life to your wood fence and multiple years to its existence. |
Cleaning Your Metal Fences[]
It's a quick, easy task.
Cleaning a chain link, steel or pipe fence is very easy and most of the time can be cleaned by simply spraying it off with a water hose. However, if you see areas that need to be scrubbed, use the following tips for a quick and easy clean up. You can begin your cleaning process with a bucket of mild household detergent and water.
Using a soft bristle scrub brush, simply scrub the areas of the fence that need cleaning and rinse by spraying with a water hose. Be sure to rinse your fence well.
Cleaning Your Vinyl Fences[]
Vinyl Fencing is known for its stability and easy maintenance, making vinyl fencing a popular option for Dallas, Fort Worth homeowners. Unlike wood, that can easily warp and become discolored overtime, vinyl is incredibly durable and has longer lifespan. However, even though vinyl is designed to require virtually no maintenance, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your fence looks it best always.
You may be surprised to know that cleaning your vinyl fence is actually quite simple. Unlike wood where removing dirt out of the spaces in a wooden fence usually requires a pressure washer and new finish, cleaning your vinyl fence only requires a few things that you should already have around the house. In addition to a bucket, a rag, and your garden hose, all you will need to clean your vinyl fence is some mild dish soap. You can use as much soap as you want and you will find that this is all you need to restore the original beauty of your fence.
Once you have all your materials, simply soak your rag in the bucket of soapy water and wring it out. Using just the rag, wipe the fence to remove the dirt and other debris. You will soon see that very few things that will stick to vinyl, but that even in these cases, they can used be removed with gentle scrubbing. Once you have wiped the entire fence, turn on your garden hose and thoroughly rinse off the soap so that you do not create a film for debris and other particles to stick to. Unless there is any type of damage, this is the only maintenance that you will ever have to do to vinyl fencing.