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Fences aren’t cheap , especially if you have hired someone to install if for you! So keeping the weather in mind when you or your contractors are installing it is imperative if you live in colder climates. No one wants a fence that is sagging, falling over, or just looking dingy.

So will cold weather hurt your fence post? Cold weather definitely can damage your fence. This can be a result of softer ground due to large amounts of water, it can be a result of the soil expanding and contracting, and even be a result of the fence post itself changing slightly with the weather.

1.Wet ground is not as solid

Most people will be installing their fence during the dryer parts of the year, so water is not exactly top of mind for them! However once the rain, snow and freezing temperatures hit, that soil can actually get quite wet. With soil being wet, the soil is able to much more easily move around, or possibly even slide. This can even cause your fence to fall over.

2. Winter makes ground expand and contract

Even if the ground isn’t completely moving like we talked about in the last section, it does expand and contract with the erratic changes in temperature that winter brings us. Because of this, your fence post will be moving along with it, and can cause it to no longer stand straight up.

3. Fence posts expand and contract

Even without the ground changing underneath of it, fence posts themselves can actually change with the weather as well! This can cause issues, as it can contract within the cement that you have poured, and cause them to become loose. Thankfully this isn’t quite as common as the other issues we have seen on this list.

How do you make sure that the fence post won’t get damaged?

The best way to make sure none of these things happen to you, is to install your fence correctly! Always have it anchored down in to a cement base, rather than placing the fence posts directly into the ground without cement.

Another great way to resolve these issues is to keep your fence post deeper into the ground. With more surface area in the ground, you have less of a chance to run into small changes making a big difference with your fence post.

Conclusion

So there you have it, fence posts can be affected by the winter weather, however as long as you install them correctly, you should have no problem at all.