How to Fix a Rotted Wooden Fence

Wood is a great material with a lot of uses around the home and in your landscaping, but it is not without its drawbacks. Old wood especially can be prone to rot, which can lead to difficult repairs if you haven't worked with rotted wood before. If you plan on repairing a rotted wood fence, you'll want to know exactly which tools you'll need and the proper way to approach your repairs. In this article, you'll find some great tips for repairing and replacing rotted parts of your wooden fence.

Most of the time, rotted wood occurs in either wood that is very old or that has been untreated: this usually means that wooden fences that have been up for a long time will be prone to rotting. This might include boundary fences or even small garden fences that are on your land. How do you know when wood is starting to rot? You'll usually see the rotting spots near the wood that is most exposed to moisture and given poor air circulation - such as closer to the ground and soil.

The first step is to identify the problem in your wooden fence - see how far the rotting has taken effect. You might even pull some of your fence out of the ground in order to get a better look - this is often not a bad idea because you'll be replacing much of the fence anyway.

Gather some standard fence-building tools: hammer and nails, measuring tape, a saw, wood planks, and a level. To start repairing the rotten wood, simply remove the sections of wood that have succumbed to rot. You might even find yourself removing more than that rotted wood because it is easier to replace an entire segment of wood rather than pieces of wood. If this is the case, make sure that you remove enough wood to make replacement easier on you.

Once you have an empty spot, you'll want to begin replacing the wood. This might involve using a 2 x 4 on the ground so that you can keep the replaced wood level. The 2 x 4 can act as your reference point for the replaced area of the fence.

Knowing exactly what to replace on your fence is the trick - you'll want to make it easier on yourself without giving yourself too much to actually replace. Try to consider how you can achieve the best-looking repaired fence with the least amount of stress.

Photo Credits: SMN

This post involves:

fence building, garden fences, hammer and nails, measuring tape, pieces of wood, rotten wood, wood fence, wood planks, wooden fence, wooden fences

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Fence, Handyman, How to Fix

Posted by Fix Handyman on July 30, 2009 in Fence, Handyman, How to Fix. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.