Most Common Fence Repair Work You Can Do Yourself

Contrary to popular belief, woodworking is relatively simple, and learning how to repair damaged fencing is even simpler. Anyone who has a fence knows that it needs constant upkeep, no matter how nice it may be. Owning real estate of any kind means learning how to upkeep it. Here is the most common fence repair work you can do yourself so you will have the skills needed to confidently take care of your fencing.

Broken and Warped Wood

Before running to the lumber yard or hardware store, you should do a thorough inspection of your wood to make sure it’s time to replace your planks and posts. Sometimes the color can fade and the fence can lean, but that may only mean that you need to refinish and adjust your fencing. If you find that there is rot present or that the integrity of the wood has been compromised, then it’s an easy fix.

Take note of the sizes for your slats and posts. If your posts are still solid, you can keep them, but if not, you’ll need to dig up the cement and break it up so you can replace everything once you have new materials. The rest is just replacing and cementing. Now, if you’re refinishing, you will need to pick a stain that matches your wood and sand down the fence where it is discolored. Then, you can stain what you need to give the wood a little more life.

Broken or Loose Hinges

These are an easy fix and one of the Most Common Fence Repair Work. Before assuming that the hinges are broken, see whether they are still moving and that they are in one piece. If they don’t move, you could try to lubricate them to then see if that fixes the issue. If not, inspect the rest of the hinge. Sometimes you can use a pair of pliers to realign the metals that have separated to get a smoother opening and shutting action. If this still doesn’t help, you will want to replace your hinges. But, before you ever jump into that scenario, go with the lowest common denominator and fix what you can. If you can’t fix it, then you can replace it just as easily as replacing barbed wire clips on a barbed wire fence.

Bug Problems

This may be one of the most controversial aspects of keeping a fence up. Bugs love to infest anything they can find, especially if it’s wood. When you find rot or discoloration, you will want to really take a close look to find one what is making that happen and if it could potentially be insect-related.

Sometimes, bugs can hide well, as they can be very small. If it’s termite-related, you’ll know once you get close because there should be a colony. If you see discoloration, poke around and look for soft-wood. Don’t be afraid to get in there to figure out what is really going on, because this is just one plank. This is an easy fix, as you will just take it out and replace it, but if potential bugs keep breeding and move from one plank to another, you’ll have a much harder time.

Most fence repair involves just a few screws here and a nail or two there. If you have treated wood that matches what you already had in place, good concrete, and a nice paint or stain, then you can get the party started and have your project out of the way before you know it. These are the most common fence repairs you can do yourself any time of the day.

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