6 Tips on How to Fix Your Fence

Storm, heavy snow fall, insects or simply the age, wooden fences can get damaged easily if not installed or maintained correctly.

Your wooden fence plays a key role in the overall protection, privacy and beauty of your property. Sometimes things can go wrong and unexpected! 

Sometimes damage from a storm could occur or something else that causes a portion of a fence to be in disrepair, even though the rest of it is still in great condition. Rather than replacing the entire fence, you may still be able to get a few more years out of your current fence if you just repair the damaged section. But starting such costly project could go sideways if important rules and practices are not followed. 

We have put up 6 important tips for you to help you through this process:

Determine the Damaged Area: 

This might be the simplest task of them all, there is the fence, let's fix it! Not so fast! Assess the damaged area first: look for obstacles, are there any hazards (swimming pool, underground wires...), how is the soil (is it muddy or dry). Once you asses the situation, decide if it’s worth repairing or if you need a new fence altogether.  This is usually a personal decision and is based on how much repair you really want to tackle, your budget, know how and the aesthetics you wish to have. If the damaged area spans more than two consecutive panels (roughly 20ft) it may be time for a new fence. The larger the repair area, the more difficult the repair job.

Get Replacement Material and Necessary Tools: 

Before you start tearing down the old section of fence, it makes sense to get the proper tools and replacement material ahead of time.  In some instances, you may just need a few support brackets to reconnect your fence, in others you may need to replace entire panels and posts.

That means, cutting down old posts or removing it all together from the ground, drilling new holes and securing posts with concrete.

Tear Down the Damaged Section: 

Now it’s time to remove the damaged area of the fence. Most important aspect of your project is the safety! Make sure there are no hazards, no dangerous circumstances while working. If you have a pool in your back yard, make sure you secure the area. It is your responsibility that no one gets harmed in the process. Once that is taken care of can continue with your project. You may be able to re-use material here so be careful in what you tear down. Obviously, try and salvage as much of the old fence as possible.

Repair the Fence: 

Install your replacement material, making sure that everything is square and level. Give the fence a good shake to make sure it is stable enough to handle winds and random impacts from the environment.

Adding new posts:

This might be the trickiest and most crucial part of your fence repair success. Unstable posts mean, unstable fence with low probability of long survival. Digging that old concrete out of the ground might be next to impossible, what most contractors do is to cut the old post as low as possible and they dig a new hole just beside the old one. You want to dig at least 3 ft. into the ground, 4 ft. is preferable depending where you live. If you live in Canada, you might want to dig as deep as possible due to winter frost which will lift your concrete and your fence if not secured below frost line. Once the hole is dug out, place your post in, level it from all sides, secure it with 2x4 and poor the concrete. Wait a day and your post should be rock solid.

Adding new lumber:

If your old fence was nailed instead of screwed, you will know where I am going with this! If you intend to have easy replacement of fence parts down the road, you should consider using screws instead of nails or staples. Yes, it is more expansive and more time consuming, but you will be glad you invested few dollars more.

Repairing a fence is not an easy task and if at any point you are in doubt, contact professionals in the GTA who can accomplish your goal for you in no time.