Making the Most of Your Newly Installed Electric Gates
What are the Things You Should Know About Your New Electric Gates?
There is no doubt that as soon as you have installed some new electric gates, whether wooden gates or metal gates, you will be thrilled to bits with their appearance. Now at TPS Gates and Doors Ltd, all our gates and doors are constructed of the very finest materials, which means from the very onset they will have an extremely impressive appearance. However, nature being what it is, after a year your gates may not look quite as pristine as they originally did. This is no cause for alarm and a few simple and helpful tips will ensure that your gates will remain looking beautiful for many years to come.
The first thing to remember is that an hour of maintenance today can save you a day’s work in the future and as a result, a little bit of regular maintenance will go a long way to protecting your gates over the long term. For metal gates, maintenance is generally very straightforward. If you are ever washing your car on a Sunday morning, and especially if you’re using a pressure washer, it is a good idea to spend 10 minutes giving your new gates a quick clean. With a pressure washer you don’t need any detergent as water alone will be sufficient to remove any dirt.
Where wooden gates are concerned, maintenance for these is a little more time consuming, however your choice of gates has probably been influenced by the beauty of natural wood or a paint colour that complements the look of your home. If you have un-painted wooden gates, we would certainly recommend having a discussion with us here at TPS Gates and Doors Ltd. The reason we suggest this is because there is always a temptation to varnish wood if it is outdoors and exposed to the elements. However, from our experience and over 20 years spent installing electric wooden gates, we would strongly recommend against this. The principal reason for this is because like paint, when it comes time to rejuvenate the surface, and especially with varnish, considerable maintenance can be required as it is prone to blistering and flaking. Before applying a new top coat of varnish you have to sand the gates down removing any loose or flaking varnish and creating a rough surface for the new coat of varnish to adhere to.
There is a far simpler solution where wooden electric gates are concerned and that is to use a specialist wood oil. The beauty of oil is it penetrates well into the wood and is extremely efficient at repelling water and moisture. However, there is an extra benefit to using oil, and that is that all you need to do before applying a new top coat is to give the gate a wash to get rid of any mud or grime and then allow to dry thoroughly. After that all you need do is apply another coat of oil and the job is done. You usually need do this only once a year, if that. However if in doubt just give us a call at TPS.