How Alexandria Weather Impacts Your Decks, Fences and Outdoor Wood

The Alexandria area is a great place to live.  But when you live in Alexandria, the winter months can be rough. 

The changes in the weather can cause stress to your outdoor structures, like your fences and decks. Due to the weather changing so drastically, the wood planks in your deck and fences can begin to bow. Decks, fences and sheds in neighborhoods like Huntington, Belle View, Hybla Valley and Groveton are in need of extra care due to Mother Nature.

The summers in Alexandria are hot and humid, and because it's so humid, it can cause the wood in your decks and fences to swell, warp and crack. The UV rays can also cause deterioration to the protective finishes, which in turn can cause fading and splintering in your outdoor structures. Sometimes boards even start lifting, which makes decks and fences uneven and unstable.

Spring rains that penetrate your wood, paired with high humidity, are the perfect recipe for rot and mold. The untreated areas act like a sponge, allowing moisture to seep into the wood and essentially weaken the entire structure from the inside out. Fences and decks can become rotted rapidly in these wet months if not properly drained and ventilated.

How Outdoor Wood Structures Can Suffer Seasonal Damage

Won't do much, yet winter brings freeze-thaw cycles that are especially harmful. Water gets into minor creaks, freezes and then expands, causing widening spaces that can cause the structure to weaken. Come spring, that can result in cracked boards, nails that are loose, and railings that may have become too unstable.

Fortunately, keeping up on maintenance and performing repairs as needed can save homeowners thousands of dollars. At Huntington Handyman, we can fix those small problems before they become big problems. Typically, late fall early winter is when people start looking at their decks and fences but by then it’s a little too late to do any work on them and your investments won’t be protected. So call us to fix your small problems.