It is important to understand all wood is susceptible to warping, waning, twisting, cracking, or splitting. Seasonal changes in temperature and weather conditions can increase the possibility or expedite the rate at which this can happen to your wood fence. If you are concerned about warping wood, it may be a good idea to consider having a fence company install a vinyl privacy fence instead of building a wood fence.
What Should be Expected with Weathering on a Wood Fence?
It is normal to experience weathering on a wood fence. Regardless of how good a fence company builds your wood fence; weathering should be expected at some point in time as it dries out or retains moisture. “Weathering” of wood, includes but is not limited to raised grain, splitting, checking, twisting, warping, shrinkage, swelling, or any other changes to the physical property of the wood.
Raised Grain is when the fibers in the wood swell and rise from the surface causing it to feel rough.
Splitting is when the wood begins to show cracks. This can be seen in fence pickets, fence rails, or fence posts. When the moisture in the wood dries out the wood often reacts by splitting.
Checking is a natural occurrence in wood when long cracks show parallel to the grain of the lumber. Checking occurs when the wood dries out and loses its moisture.
Twisting is when two ends of a wood board rotate in opposite directions causing the two ends to no longer lie on the same plane in an even straight line. This is typically caused by uneven drying within the wood fibers of any given piece of lumber.
Warping is a deformity in the wood that is caused by uneven drying that typically shows as a bow, crook, or kink in the surface of the wood.
Shrinkage is when a piece of wood reduces its length, width, or thickness as it dries. Changes in humidity often causes wood to shrink outdoors.
Swelling is when wood expands in size due to absorbing moisture. Daily, seasonal, or annual changes in humidity in the surrounding environment can cause lumber to swell.
What Should NOT be Expected with a Wood Fence.
Pressure treated wood is chemically treated with a wood preservative that is intended to protect the lumber from rot, insects, and other elements that can cause decay. If your wood fence was built with ground contact lumber, you should not experience these issues with your fence.
Universal Forst Products (“UFP”) is a multibillion-dollar lumber supply company that supplies lumber to the globally for retail, industrial, and construction purposes. Universal Forest Products (“UFP”) warranties that it will replace or refund the original purchase price of ProWood® products produced by a licensed independently owned and operated treating facility used in, or in conjunction with, residential or agricultural applications that structurally fail in service due to rot, fungal decay, or termite attack during the warranty term.
This limited warranty offered by UFP, and many other lumber suppliers, covers only products from the date of purchase by the first-owner against “structural failure” caused by fungal decay or termites. “Structural failure” is defined as the inability of a given piece of lumber to perform its intended function due to rot, fungal decay, or termite attack.
The terms “rot” and “fungal decay,” mean attack by wood destroying fungi that disintegrate the wood cell walls, but exclude surface mold, mildew, and/or fungi associated with the “weathering” of wood. “Weathering” of wood is not decay, fungal decay, or rot of any type or definition.
Choose a Fence Company that Warranties their Work.
Big Jerry’s Fencing Warranty Information
All materials will be warranted by applicable manufacturer’s warranty. Big Jerry’s Fencing provides a guarantee of construction to be free of defects in workmanship. This covers installation errors only.
Fence materials will change in appearance, dimension and shape due to the process of aging and exposure to the elements. Wood fence materials are subject to warping and cracking.
Defects to the fence and fence hardware caused by any natural changes to the material are specifically excluded from this warranty. Warranty does not include sagging or warping of gates. Please ask our staff about the upgraded wood gate with Metal Frame.Also excluded are weather, wind, Acts of God, vandalism, climbing, vehicular damage, swinging on gates and normal wear and tear.
Lumber
We use #2-grade or better pine lumber which has been pressure-treated with ACQ or MCQ treatment. Pine is the most commonly used wood for pressure treating because its density accepts and retains the treatment chemicals better than most other species. MCQ is the newest treatment chemical and leaves the wood much lighter than the traditional green color of ACQ.
The grading system (#2 grade) refers only to the appearance of each board. It is normal for #2-grade pine lumber to have knots or small areas of bark called “wane”. Big Jerry’s Fencing hand picks each piece of lumber during the construction process to reduce or eliminate unattractive pieces. If you are concerned about blemishes, #1-grade lumber and alternative wood options, such as cedar, are available at a higher cost.
Wood Appearance
All pressure-treated lumber will be wet when it arrives to the jobsite. As the lumber dries, it will shrink a little. This shrinkage is particularly noticeable in the gaps between pickets. Pickets on privacy fence spaced 0” apart during construction; can be expected to shrink to result in a 1/8” to 1/4″ gap between each picket. Let us know if you would like to know about fence styles which offer total privacy, such as a board-on-board wood fence.
Have your Wood Fence Installed by a Reputable Fence Company
At Big Jerry’s Fencing, we make buying fences fast and easy so you can protect your loved ones and your investments. Let Big Jerry’s Fencing, a local fence company, build your wood fence using superior fence materials. A good fence company will stick build your wood fence with high-quality lumber, onsite, from scratch, every time. Don’t choose a fence contractor that is going to cut corners with your next home improvement project. Big Jerry’s Fencing builds our wood fences with top grade ground contact lumber including 1×6 pickets, 2×4 rails, 4×4 fence posts, and 6×6 hinge side gate posts with upgrade options available. The 6×6 gate posts provide additional support to help combat common gate issues such as sagging, leaning, and hinge failure. Big Jerry’s Fencing uses galvanized ring shank nails when building wood fences. The galvanized coating helps prevent rust and corrosion, while the ring shank design increases the holding power to help prevent nails from sticking out as the wood changes and shrinks over time. Big Jerry’s Fencing guarantees that your wood fence will be built to last. Call us today or click and one of our local fence experts will reach out to consult with you about your fence project. Big Jerry’s Fencing offers free fence estimates with fence financing options.
Big Jerry’s Fencing is a top-rated wood fence company located near you in Atlanta, Charlotte, Clayton, Creedmoor, Durham, Fayetteville, and Brunswick CO, Greensboro, Harnett County, Holly Springs, Nash County, Raleigh, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Nashville, Boise, Baton Rouge, East Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Northwest Arkansas.
Let Big Jerry’s Fencing add protection, privacy, and value to your home. Big Jerry’s Fencing offers free fence quotes and fence financing, get started on a new wood fence for the yard at your home today!
