Cracks in new wood Fence

While wood will naturally check (crack) as it dries, some of those checks are larger than I would like. Cheap lumber checks more than expensive stuff but even quarter-sawn planks from old growth Douglas Firs can check, although that's rare and nobody would use that type of lumber on a fence. You can hold out for replacement and maybe they will find posts and planks that won't check quite so badly or you can caulk the worst offending cracks (and refinish) and take comfort in the knowledge that checks in your fence indicates that it's real wood.

This looks normal. Not sure what the issue is?

Very normal

My fence looks like that too. It just stands out more on yours because the wood is painted.

My 6x6 posts looked like that from the very beginning and 15 years later still look the same and are just as sturdy.

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ While wood will naturally check (crack) as it dries, some of those checks are larger than I would like. Cheap lumber checks more than expensive stuff but even quarter-sawn planks from old growth Douglas Firs can check, although that's rare and nobody would use that type of lumber on a fence. You can hold out for replacement and maybe they will find posts and planks that won't check quite so badly or you can caulk the worst offending cracks (and refinish) and take comfort in the knowledge that checks in your fence indicates that it's real wood.

Thanks a lot for the info. Is the longevity of the fence affected by the initial presence of checks?

Superbobby wrote: ↑ Thanks a lot for the info. Is the longevity of the fence affected by the initial presence of checks?

It can depend but a wooden fence's longevity is more vulnerable to where it stays wet (and rots) and how the posts are anchored. This is more aesthetic and unlikely to really affect the fence's longevity in a meaningful way. Honestly, I have caulked checks in the wooden siding on my dormer windows but that's because it's on my house and I want to protect the substrate under the siding from water. With a fence, you could do three things: leave it alone; force matching colour stain into the checks with a small brush in order to improve the look with the least amount of effort; or caulk and refinish with the colour matched solid stain. The latter is harder to do well but, if done well, it can look really good.

Wood over time will crack. It's just common sense.

Claim using Tarion and see what they say.

This is pretty normal.

This happens to PT wood, normal.

I know folks are saying this is normal, and maybe it is, but I can tell you that the fence boards of my backyard PT fence I built 9 years ago aren't full of cracks. That said, I handpicked every single fence board myself so maybe you just got shitty lumber.

I also didn't paint mine, so maybe that is a contributing factor. I don't think you're supposed to paint or seal for fence for a full season so the lumber can dry out.

Very normal for the 4x4 posts to crack and twist though.

That left post is a bit more than I would like.

Looks like wood that was dried too quickly.