Warranty

While a fence can hold up for quite a while without any care or attention, we advise that you read over these tips to understand how to properly care for your fence. It is necessary that these guidelines be followed to ensure your fence will achieve its full lifetime potential. Our cedar, galvanized, and painted steel products are fabricated and installed to last, however, there is an expiration date on all materials. 

The date your fence expires is subject to 3 main things: 

1.) Materials and Workmanship-These two factors are completely under the control and liability of Rustic Fence, we take full responsibility for the usage of improper workmanship or any sub-standard materials. 

2.) Surrounding Environment- There are two main sources of decay in a fence: Water/moisture and extreme heat (mainly sunlight). It is impossible to completely avoid the effects of either of these elements, but preventative measures can be taken to minimize these effects. Our salesman can work with you to foresee any potential problems concerning your fences environment and how to prevent or solve them. 

3.) Maintenance- After the construction of the fence is completed, now the care of that fence is ultimately in the hands of the owner of that fence. Here are the main issues that may arise and some solutions to prevent or minimize their occurrence:

• Warping and Splitting Wood Products All wood warps and splits to a certain degree, it is an inevitable attribute of the product. Extreme heat amplifies this natural occurrence. Pressure treated pine tends to warp a great deal more than cedar but is a cheaper alternative with the same life expectancy. For this reason, we offer cedar rails as an alternative for those who might have an issue with the look of warped rails. Our cedar rails carry the same warranty as our pressure treated rails. Solution: Proper shade is the only thing that can help solve this problem, however, because providing shade for a fence is not a cost-effective solution, we can only recommend to our customers a fence made of material that can withstand extreme heat better than wood. Consult your salesman about these other alternatives. 

• Paint Maintenance Iron fences should, in the proper environment, last at least 30 years. Recoating your iron fence with quality paint is an essential step that must be taken to ensure an iron fence reaches this full lifetime expectancy. Rustic fence can refer a painter we trust to take care of our customers painting needs. Solution: Repainting an iron fence every 5 to 10 years, depending on its environment, will give it the protection it needs. 

• Post Shifting Extreme post shifting is not a common issue, but all post can shift to small degree. In the extreme heat of the Texas summer the earth can contract causing the dirt around your posts to pull back, allowing for a gap between the concrete and the surrounding earth, causing your posts to lean, wobble or shift. There are numerous other ways for soil to shift, many of which can simply not be foreseen. Solution: Watering the soil around your posts at least twice a week will help the dirt remain moist, causing the dry dirt to maintain its stability and better support the posts. Keeping the areas surrounding your post covered in grass is another curtail factor in maintaining the moisture content and stability of your soil. It is particularly important that the soil is properly maintained around hinge and latch posts for all types of gates, as the slightest post movement can prevent the gate from working properly. 

• Lawn Sprinklers Sprinkler heads that are spraying directly on a fence can cause discoloration and decay on wood fences, and premature rusting and corrosion on metal fences. Solution: We strongly recommend that our customers run their sprinkler systems after a new fence installation to make sure that no heads are spraying directly on the fence. Hire an irrigation specialist to redirect the spray direction of the heads if necessary. 

• Standing Water Around Posts The constant presence of moisture at the base of posts can cause them to rust and corrode prematurely. Soppy soil can also make posts lean or sink into the ground. Solution: If your dirt has poor drainage, or your fence is in an area where water tends to stand for whatever reason, we suggest you consult an irrigation or landscape specialist to find a drainage solution. Proper drainage will help to ensure that your fence lasts through its full lifetime expectancy. 

• Pools Most pool water contains corrosive chemicals that can deteriorate paint and corrode steel faster than regular water. Solution: Making sure to properly prep and repaint pool fences as soon as the original paint begins to show signs of corrosion is especially crucial to ensure it lasts its full lifetime expectancy. 

• Fading Paint All paint fades over time, extreme heat due to direct exposure to sunlight speeds up this process. It may take a fence that is installed in shade twice as long as a fence in direct sunlight to fade considerably. Solution: The only solution to this problem is to repaint the fence that is in direct sunlight more often than the one installed in the shade. 

• Growth of Vegetation on Fences On iron fences vegetation can rub off paint, and the moisture it retains can cause premature rusting and corrosion to occur. On wood fences vegetation can cause the wood to rot prematurely, and trees and vines can actually separate the fence’s assembled materials from each other. Solution: Keep any sort of vegetation from growing on or even touching any type of fencing material. Also keep soil from having direct contact with fencing material. Keep dirt from building up against any fence product, the moisture retained by soil can cause premature rotting, rust, and corrosion. This is especially important with iron fences