Weather is a notional thing. We name storms and hurricanes, historically all-female until the last 20 years, and many people still refer to “she” when speaking of a bad storm or hurricane. We hear weather forecasters refer to “preferred paths” and otherwise indicate a storm’s personality. It’s a hard thing to resist, isn’t it?
A cyclonic storm can whirl around one spot, never touching the house or anything in the yard or close by, then move a hundred feet or so and shred the next spot to splinters. Predictions say this will be a busy and destructive storm season. So Floridians are getting their houses and property ready by stocking up on necessities, charging cell phones and battery power banks, battery and crank lights and radios, iPads and computers, radios, and other broadcast tools.
No matter how ready we might be, prediction is still an exercise in irritation because that storm will twist, turn, settle for days and pick up again, and generally drive us crazy.
Have you ever noticed how picky a hurricane can be about what it picks up and where it puts it down? Almost… intelligent, wouldn’t you say? But, of course, it can be picky about what it picks up; it can also be very detail-oriented – picking off a few slats of this fence and leaving the rest alone but delivering the fence pieces to a home miles away.
Fences and parts of fences
Your landscapers from Custom Acres knocked after mowing to tell you that your fence has a couple of problems. They notice everything!
It doesn’t take a giant storm to have wooden fences fall apart. Simple aging can loosen a slat or two, cause the fence to lean, or even fall. You might find that constant maintenance will be a deciding factor in choosing a fence.
Some new vinyl fences look good, but many people feel that they are not as aesthetically pleasing as wooden fences. On the other hand, they might be less expensive than wood over time, and they are resistant to biological or chemical breakdown. The downside is they are difficult or impossible to repair.
You can expect a wood fence to last about ten years with consistent maintenance, while a vinyl fence will last about 30 years with no maintenance beyond hosing it down once in a while.
Metal fences are a different prospect; most people don’t choose them for home use. They are excellent for schoolyards and other institutions, but they are not very pleasing to the eye.
Repair or Replace?
Are you trying to decide if you should replace your wooden fence? Check the fence. No, not just the part around the house or in the area where the kids play, check the whole fence – posts, slats, screws, and all the components you can see. Make a list as you check.
As you go along, figure that if your fence needs repair along more than ⅓ of its length, replacing the whole fence might be more economical.
Does your fence need to have a few slats or planks replaced? A whole section? Is more than half the fence damaged, broken, or missing? Are the fence posts leaning or broken? As you walk along and make your list, you might find yourself thinking about what could have caused this slat to pop loose or that section to lean or fall down. 
Slats pop off for a lot of reasons. For instance, some weeds can behave in a vine-like manner. If they are using your fence as a support, it could speed up the process of deterioration. Another factor is that plants can get heavy, even vines, bringing down a fence from their sheer weight.
Bugs and insects can factor in parts of your fence rotting away. In addition, wood is subject to many biological factors and needs regular maintenance to keep those factors away.
Kids and pets are also pretty rough on a fence. Remember the runner bean experiment when they were in second grade? It was a fun experiment, but it did damage the fence.
The big dog next door is also one of the elements that can damage your fence. He’s curious when he hears the kids playing. And when you got the puppy, he was excited and wanted to visit. Then, POP! Two slats just knocked right out of place! As the puppy grows, it, too, may become a factor in fence maintenance.
No matter what you decide, your landscaping team at Custom Acres can help you with your fencing needs.