First step to protecting your new fence? Adjust your irrigation…

Getting a new fence is a big investment. And from day one of your new fence being installed it is under attack. But not from bugs or the neighbors kids, it is under attack from your irrigation system. Especially systems that use reclaimed water. It is not something many people think about. They think the water spraying on my fence is helping to keep it clean. But that is so far from the truth it is scary. Irrigation heads are actually very high pressure and can cause pitting in your new vinyl privacy fence or aluminum picket fence. This creates little pockets where dirt can build up, which allows algae and in cases where the fence is constantly sprayed, mold. Plus if you have reclaimed water you are literally spraying dirt on your fence. Reclaimed water is not completed clean and can carry particles of dirt and even feces. Irrigation is the number one cause of staining and discoloration of vinyl fence and the main cause of powder coating lose & chipping on aluminum fence.

Now while the water itself won’t hurt the vinyl fence or aluminum fence it will damage and cause your new wood fence to become soft and age faster. The regular soaking of the wood fence, especially in shaded areas, will keep it wet and cause premature rot. Just like having mulch along the base of your wood fence holds in the moisture and causes the posts to rot and break faster, bi-weekly 45 minutes spraying your wood fence will saturate it and keep the wood wet in the same way. Not to mention the discoloration and extra dirt being added by reclaimed water.

What’s the solution? At Gifford Fence Company LLC we recommend that after your fence is installed either hire an irrigation company to tune your system or you need to adjust all the heads in your system so they do not spray directly on the fence. This may require moving heads and even adding heads in areas where the fence has cut off areas they were being watered. Doing this will help protect your new fence and make sure that you get the full life expectancy from it.