If you've noticed small cracks appearing in your garden fence panels, decking, or timber furniture during the recent hot spell, you're not alone – and more importantly, you're not looking at a problem.
Wood is a living, breathing material. Even after it's been cut, shaped, and treated, it continues to respond to its environment. In hot, dry weather, moisture evaporates from the surface of the timber, causing the wood fibres to contract. That movement is what creates the fine cracks – or "shakes" as they're known in the trade – that appear when temperatures rise.
It's not a defect. It's nature doing its thing.
At Somerlap, all of our timber products are made from natural wood. That's precisely what makes them beautiful, durable, and sustainable – but it also means they'll always behave the way wood behaves. Expanding in damp conditions, contracting in the heat, and yes, sometimes showing surface cracks when the sun's been particularly fierce.
These surface cracks are almost always cosmetic. They don't affect the structural integrity of your fence panels, decking, or furniture, and in most cases they'll partially close again as moisture returns to the timber when the weather changes.
What you can do
If you'd like to minimise cracking and help your timber weather the seasons in good shape, a little maintenance goes a long way:
- Keep it treated. A good quality wood oil, stain, or preservative helps lock moisture into the surface and slows the drying process that leads to cracking.
- Re-apply regularly. Once a year – ideally in spring before the heat arrives – is a good rule of thumb for most timber products.
- Don't panic about existing cracks. Small surface splits don't need filling. Let the weather do its work and treat the timber when conditions cool.
Still concerned?
If you're seeing something that looks more serious than surface cracking – splitting along the grain, structural movement, or anything that's affecting how a product sits or functions – do get in touch with us. We're always happy to take a look and give you an honest assessment.
But for the fine cracks that appear during a heatwave? That's your garden furniture doing exactly what natural wood is supposed to do.
Sources: Internationaltimber.com, Tuin.co.uk