A gazebo can be a beautiful addition to a home – if cared for right. Otherwise, the beauty and practical appeal of having a lovely gazebo in the outdoors will only come to financially and emotionally bite you in the rump.
Typically, gazebos are made of wood – this comes with a myriad considerations and annual tasks that need to be met to keep your gazebo in top-notch quality and condition. Thankfully, these considerations are rudimentary and very simply applied.
Maintenance for Gazebos
While a gazebo is most definitely not maintenance intensive, it also certainly is not maintenance free. Working on a gazebo means giving it a very special care package based on what material it’s been made from.
Wood
If your gazebo is made of classic lumber, then the biggest culprit you’ll have to watch out for is moisture. Right off the bat, you can prevent moisture trapping by keeping your gazebo free from vines or shrubbery that has been growing around it as per Cedar For Life.
There are circumstances where you can leave such plants such as on gazebos with a waterproof sealant – however they’ll still need regular trimming in order to clear a space to reapply sealant on the wood.
Speaking of sealant, if your gazebo is in the outdoors, there’s only so long it’ll last without a regular coating of lacquer. While it goes to say that no gazebo should be made and left to stand outdoors while in its raw lumber state, even treated wood needs to be regularly sanded and sealed – or else the wood will wither very heavily.
All things said and done,, most wood gazebos are built so that you really don’t have to worry all that much about sealant more than once a year. The only other maintenance you’ll definitely have to do is keep the roof clear of any debris, particularly leaves from overhead trees.
Iron
While it seems somewhat unorthodox, wrought iron gazebos are a structure with a certain degree of popularity and use. Their extremely sturdy structure makes for a great finished product – but because wrought iron is still susceptible to weathering and rust over time, you’ll want to give it a regular scrub to get rid of oxidized metal, and then coat everything in a specialized polyurethane spray, just as often as you’d seal a wooden gazebo.
Your iron gazebo can be a point of pride in the home when properly maintained – but when neglected, it will very quickly turn into a massive blotched eyesore. Don’t let that happen.
Vinyl
Vinyl is the absolute go-to choice when building a gazebo – if your iron or wooden gazebo rots away and leaves you wanting a much simpler and maintenance free solution, a gazebo vinyl is the way to go, especially when gotten through retailers like Vinyl Craft. It’s also much stronger than wood, and much more customizable as per What is Vinyl.
The only thing you’ll have to do is regularly hose off the dust, dirt and debris – and that’s basically it. Vinyl is susceptible to mold as per Do It Yourself, which is where the hose comes into handy – keeping your vinyl clean keeps the mildew away. Otherwise, it could accumulate with neglect and time.
The final decision is up to your taste in aesthetics and how much maintenance you’re willing to go through with, but knowing what you’re in for can help speed up your decision.