A gazebo is an excellent addition to your garden. However, installing it in your garden isn’t the end of the responsibility. To keep it like anew for years to come, you must maintain and take care of it religiously. Then again, maintaining a gazebo doesn’t mean just washing and painting it. There are other factors to keep in mind for precise maintenance.
In this article, we have discussed everything about the maintenance of different types of gazebos just to make sure that you can do the work easily.
Importance of Gazebo Care And Maintenance
If you want your gazebo to stand still in your garden for an extended amount of time, then caring for and maintaining it properly is extremely important. However, in addition to prolonging the durability of the structure, there are also some other reasons to maintain your gazebo. Let’s discuss them to know more.
- Proper maintenance keeps the structure as sparkling as a new one.
- It also ensures incredible safety and security.
- When you care for them, the accessories inside the gazebo would also last longer.
- A well-maintained gazebo increases the value of your property as well.
Different Types Of Gazebos And Their Care And Maintenance
Gazebos are made from different types of materials. And these versatile materials need versatile care. Below, we have discussed how to maintain different types of gazebos [made with different types of materials] precisely so that they remain in your yard for generations to come.
Wood Gazebos
Wood is one of the most popular gazebo construction materials. It not only makes the structure strong and beautiful but also brings earthiness to the whole yard. However, when it comes to maintaining it properly, you have to be a little cautious and patient because wood can get affected by moisture easily and therefore, requires special care nonetheless.
Some prominent ways to preserve wooden gazebos are:
- Ensure adequate ventilation around the structure. This will keep moisture away from your wooden gazebo.
- Trim off plants, shrubs, and weeds from the surrounding. This will let the sun shine through the framework precisely and help to absorb any excess moisture.
- If your wooden gazebo is painted, paint it every couple of years to make it look new again.
- If it’s not painted, you can coat the frame with a transparent wood sealant to preserve it from water and moisture for a long time.
- You can also varnish the structure every other year to protect it from wear and tear.
- If it is affected by elements and suffers from wear and tear, don’t forget to call a carpenter immediately. A carpenter knows the best ways to repair your wooden gazebo.
Metal Gazebos
There are also a whole lot of gazebos in the market, made from different types of metals, like steel and aluminum. People prefer these structures because they are easy to maintain yet offer extended durability to the users. Having said that, metal gazebos also require a maintenance routine to keep them shining in your beautiful garden.
Let’s discuss how to take care of a metal gazebo perfectly.
- Rust is one of the main concerns of metal structures. If you want to keep the rust away and maintain the look of your gazebo, coat the framework with rustproof paint. It will make sure that the gazebo doesn’t suffer from corrosion anytime soon.
- Also, clean it on regularly with mild soap and water. When you wash it regularly, your metal gazebo would shine like a new one. This will also increase the durability.
- If you see even a slight sign of rust or corrosion in your favorite garden structure, don’t wait to scrap this off with sandpaper. Removing this will make sure the other parts don’t get affected by the rust.
- If you haven’t taken care of the structure properly before, and now it is suffering from extensive rust, wear and tear, call upon the experts to restore it properly. Once the framework is back into its normal form, maintain it as described above.
Vinyl Gazebos
When it comes to maintenance, vinyl gazebos are the easiest to take care of. As there is no fear of rust or moisture-attack, you don’t have to worry much about its maintenance after installing it in your garden.
Then again, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care of it at all. To extend its life and also to make it look exquisite in the yard, you must go through some maintenance work every now and then. Let’s find them out.
- Clean it regularly with mild liquid soap, warm water, and water. Use a soft sponge to remove any accumulated dirt and debris, and bring back its former glory.
- Even though soap is just fine for the cleaning process, don’t use bleach to make it cleaner. Bleach can damage the vinyl badly.
- If the dirt on your vinyl gazebo is stubborn, and simple soap and water are not enough to remove it, try a pressure washer. However, don’t use a harsh scrubber. This will cause severe damage to your structure. Remember to keep the pressure to the lowest.
Also read: How To Paint A Gazebo
Other Parts Care And Maintenance
Caring for just the frame or structure is not enough when it comes to maintaining your gazebo perfectly. When it comes to prolonging its life and keep its look intact, you must also provide attention to the other parts and take care of them simultaneously.
Nets And Screens
Dirt can accumulate in the nets and screen of your gazebo pretty quickly. As these are used mostly to protect you from dirt, dust, winds, grime can build upon them easily, and therefore, require thorough cleaning.
Cleaning nets and screens is quite easy. All you need to do is remove them from the rails and wash them with soap and water. Rub with hands to remove any excess debris. Dry and iron the screen before hanging them again on your gazebo.
A clean gazebo with clean screens is a sign of a well-maintained structure.
Roof Care
While cleaning and maintaining all the other parts, don’t forget about the roof. The gazebo roof is one of the most important sections to maintain regularly as it provides shade and protects you from elements. Because there are two types of roofs used in the gazebos, we have discussed the care routine for both of them so that you never fail to maintain them precisely.
Hardtop
As hardtop gazebos use solid material for the roof, it’s normal to show cracks in them over time. If you use a ladder to check the top regularly, then these cracks would be evident to you quicker than ever. When you see the first sign of cracking, repair it promptly. Leaving it as is thinking that it’s just a small crack will lead to bigger ones in no time.
Also, even though most hardtop roofs are water-resistant, don’t forget to inspect them every now and then. If you think the water-resistant mechanism is not working properly after a few years, call upon the expert and coat it with a water-protectant for better protection.
Hardtop roofs also feature a drainage system. Remove the dirt, debris, and other garbage from it regularly to make sure that they don’t block the drain holes in any shape or form.
Also, check the drain holes to ensure seamless water removal.
Soft Top
It’s true that soft top gazebo roofs don’t experience cracks, but they do suffer from wear and tear easily. That’s why you need to check the fabric roof more often than not to assure incredible protection for the people underneath.
If you spot any tear in the roof fabric, mend it immediately. Even the smallest of tears can drench you in rain and snow.
Moving on, for general maintenance, try to wipe off the fabric top once a month to keep it clean and tidy. You can also uninstall the gazebo once a year and wash the roof with soapy water to prolong its longevity.
The Sitting Area
Taking care of the sitting area inside the gazebo is probably the easiest. Every time you seat on it, you can wipe it off with a towel to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. This practice also increases the durably of the sitting area.
Once in a while, you should disinfect the total sitting area and keep it top notch for your regular lounging.
A Few Pro Tips
We know we have already shared a lot about gazebo care and maintenance. Let’s also share some general care tips that you should follow to keep your favorite gazebo as glimmering as a new one even after years.
- It doesn’t matter what your gazebo is made of, check for insect and bird infestation frequently in the exterior and interior. Remove them ASAP after you find them in your structure.
- Clean and trim the surrounding of your gazebo regularly. This will not only make the area look more appealing but will also preserve the structure well.
- Make sure that you don’t lean or stack anything against the framework. Doing this might potentially damage the structure.
- Inspect the structure once in a while casually to observe its condition. Such regular inspection will help you to determine when you should do maintenance works in it.
Final Thoughts On Care And Maintenance Of A Gazebo
Even though it might seem quite a chore to maintain your gazebo, in reality, it’s not that much work if you take care of it frequently. It’s not always that the structure will suffer from all the mishaps at once. If you maintain it from time to time, the workload won’t seem as heavy.
Maintain your favorite gazebo. It will serve you for a lifetime.