Privacy Fence Project

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Aquabrit

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My wife and myself had some fencing contractors try to build us a 6 Ft. privacy fence. They tried to rip us off, did a crappy job (so far) and it turns out they are neither licensed, nor insured. So, I'm gonna rip out all 300 Ft that they have done so far, and start over. :rolleyes:

Any good tips? Good quality wood recommendations? Best place to go for the stuff?

I thought to myself, ''I know, I'll check out those good, professional videos on Youtube by Expert Village - I mean, they helped me with the tree cutting'' :rolleyes:

This guy makes me LOL. Maybe I too can build a good fence... Just need some weed! :lol:

YouTube - Build a Privacy Fence : Bracing Stakes When Building a Fence
 
How serious are you?

I would personally never do a fence without concreting in the posts... but that is a lot more than most are willing to do... and I also have access to a post hole digger and a cement mixer...

That guy sounds so burned out/stoned.... lol
 
100 percent serious. I'm fed up with contractors. Fence is gonna come down over next two days. (it's wobbly as hell and unsafe)

Yeah, It's gonna be concreted in. Want it to be solid and long lasting.
 
use pressure treated 4x4's for posts at home depot, get a post hole digger, and use a bag of quickcrete on each post, that stuff is awesome you can dump the bag in the hole dry, take your hose and dump water in ontop of the dry mix, use a thin stick and poke through the mix a few times, set your post in it and fill over with dirt to hold the post in place, dries fast. i'd buy the sections of fence from home depot you just stand up and nail to your posts. i like the looks of shadow box fence.

shadowbox-convex-3.jpg
 
Cool, maybe I'll just give the good 'ole HD a try. I never thought about doing a shadow fence - that would certainly help with eliminating gaps between pieces - only thing is, means using more wood, plus may not look as elegant as a simple 'slat to slat' fence.

You see, i was looking at our fence today - it's wobbly as hell (even though the posts are concreted) and HUGE gaps have appeared between some of the slats, now that the wood has dried out and shrunk. Some considerable warpage too!

I was wondering if I could either buy pre-seasoned wood, or buy normal treated wood and dry it out in the garage a month prior, so that when I install it, less gaps and warpage will happen.
 
Gaps and warps kinda just happen, you could try and let it season sitting in your garage but you might wait a month and after 2 months it will finish changing size :D I just can't beleive it's wobly and they concreted the posts... I have seen "contractors" just backfill the post with dirt and the fences are wobbly as hell....
 
Yeah, they didn't use enough concrete. (they cut corners and tried to make one bag do 3 posts, plus, some of those posts aren't even into the ground 2Ft.)

I will definitely season the next batch of wood I get - try and reduce gaps and warpage as much as possible.

One of our neighbors recently had a similar fence done. Theirs looks awesome! Solid, minimal gaps and extra thick posts used at gate and corner sections. That's what I'm shooting for next time.
 
93' Blue on blue said:
Yeah, they didn't use enough concrete. (they cut corners and tried to make one bag do 3 posts, plus, some of those posts aren't even into the ground 2Ft.)

I will definitely season the next batch of wood I get - try and reduce gaps and warpage as much as possible.

One of our neighbors recently had a similar fence done. Theirs looks awesome! Solid, minimal gaps and extra thick posts used at gate and corner sections. That's what I'm shooting for next time.
Click to expand...

How will the Hoff see you if he dicides to visit. :D
 
pepperman said:
How will the Hoff see you if he dicides to visit. :D
Click to expand...

:lol:

That's ok - he's over 6 Ft. He'll see over the top!

And... If he comes in KITT, well, he can simply do a turbo boost over the fence and into the garden. :D
 
I built about 325' of fence around my place last summer to keep the dogs in and the neighbor kids out. It was hard work for sure. I got one good friend to help throughout the process, and the girlfriend when it wasn't too hot outside. Took me about 2 months worth of (mostly) weekends to get it done. Rented a gas powered post hole auger with a 12" bore to drill the holes (shoot for 2' deep).

Set the post in the bottom, pour in the bag of quikcrete and water it with a hose. Mix it up with a bar/board/shovel, verify the pole is vertical and go on. I recommend digging all the holes, setting the corner posts, pulling a string to maintain alignment, then setting the poles in the runs. You should wait at least 24 hours to let the concrete set prior to putting any weight on the posts.
You will want 4"x4"x8' posts for the runs and can go with 4"x6"x8' posts for the corners & gate posts if you wish. I used the same size all around and have had no problems. Cut the posts to height after they have all set.
I did not buy the premade pannels. Used 3 2x4's (bottom, middle, top) all the way around as the runners and nailed the pannels to them.
One thing I wish I would have paid a bit more attention to was the post spacing. You want them 8' center to center (±2") so you dont have to cut your runners. The post hole digger was not a precision machine so some of my holes were off by 6" and that made for more hand digging.
The gates were a bit tricky to make but just be patient and it will work out for you. I highly recommend some sort of reinforcement for them as they will sag.

A couple things to consider:
which side of the fence do you want to see? the flat side or the runners? the flat side obviously looks better but the runners are easier to climb over.
Be sure to know where your utilities are.
Wood warps when it dries. There is no way around it. Some does more than others but all wood warps. I had to pull out a post after I got the runners on cause the top warped out by about 8". I had one other post warp after all was done and it bothers me a little but not enough to redo 16' of fence.
Consider painting/staining your fence to keep it pretty. I'll post some pics later.....
 
Thank you Mr. Vila :D

Actually that was a very nice thorough description. I've wanted a fence for a while now. I have a 2 year old who will be playing outside this summer, and wanted a safer area for him. Maybe I can tackle this. With premade panels though. I don't have the time for building the fence panels.
 
Cheers, n8bachelor - just the kinda stuff I needed to know.

Well, the fence that's up now is a 6Ft (ish) privacy fence, 4x4x8 treated pine poles and the deck panels are 6''Wx1''x6ft length.

Figured I'll rip out, start over and see what wood I can re-use. I'm totally not happy with what the fencers did - posts wobble, they didn't follow the plot line exactly like I told them to three times! And now, the gaps are unacceptable. (to me, at least) Also, they made fence straight top (rather than slope with land, like I told them to) Means fence is 5Ft 3'' at one end and 6Ft 8'' at the other! Totally against the Home Owner's Association rules!

If I season the wood first (put it in garage for a month to dry out) then hopefully I can assemble and have minimal gaps appear.

For the corners and gate sections, I've figured I want at least 5x5x8Ft poles. Gates themselves are gonna be fully X braced. Also, at corners, I'm gonna add braces top and bottom for extra rigidity.

We already had our plot surveyed, and I have a plot map. Nothing other than easement borders me, so I'll go right to the plot line.

Fence is gonna have it's supporting structure on the inside.

Already have permission from home owners and the utilities are already marked out.

Damn redneck fencing people tried to say our survey was wrong and our plot was actually twice the size! Wanted an extra 5600 to complete! LMFAO. When I confronted the woman about it, she tried to say I didn't know how to use a tape measure... And that the measure I used wasn't builders approved! A fight nearly ensued... Now, we find out that all their stuff is bogus! :rolleyes:

If you wanna job doing right - learn and do it yourself! That's all I can say after this experience. :rolleyes:
 
pektel said:
Thank you Mr. Vila :D

Actually that was a very nice thorough description. I've wanted a fence for a while now. I have a 2 year old who will be playing outside this summer, and wanted a safer area for him. Maybe I can tackle this. With premade panels though. I don't have the time for building the fence panels.
Click to expand...

Don't bother with pre-made panels!

Setting the posts in and getting everything lined up is the hard part - nailing boards to the cross sections is absolute cake!
 
jamie97lsc said:
use pressure treated 4x4's for posts at home depot, get a post hole digger, and use a bag of quickcrete on each post, that stuff is awesome you can dump the bag in the hole dry, take your hose and dump water in ontop of the dry mix, use a thin stick and poke through the mix a few times, set your post in it and fill over with dirt to hold the post in place, dries fast. i'd buy the sections of fence from home depot you just stand up and nail to your posts. i like the looks of shadow box fence.

shadowbox-convex-3.jpg
Click to expand...

Shadowbox is nice, it lets the wind thru.
But it is a total PITA when it time to stain, just ask me how I know.
 
ford nut said:
Shadowbox is nice, it lets the wind thru.
But it is a total PITA when it time to stain, just ask me how I know.
Click to expand...

only if you do it by hand!!!!! best and fastest way to stain it is a wagner airless power sprayer, dump the stain in and shoot!!
 
I just did 250 feet for more sister. Mostly privacy but some lattice top as required by code, can't do privacy per code here accept in the back yard. Doing her neighbors soon.


I would recommend 2.5-3' deep for the posts. If the are to shallow the fence will lean in time. I recommend pouring the concrete the whole depth for the same reason. I use a 8" auger and with a 4x4 post you will use about 1.5 to 2 50lb bags per hole. I space equally for the run of fence. In other words I don't space any particular size, I figure it out so the sections are equal for the whole length. Usually 6-7' between posts but type of construction may allow a little wider. Don't want it to sag over time. Hers I made an A brace into the construction.


Premade fence sections suck. The are made as cheap as possible and fall apart as they are usaully stapled and the lumber is thinned out. They also look terrible is the yard has any up and down to it.

Measure over all length, figure out how many sections, firgure out spacing. Corners first, string between. Set the rest, don't expect to space perfectly. Cut the cross pieces per section as they will not all be exact....

Pressure traeted lumber ain't what it used to be. It wraps and twists alot. I used Cedar for hers. Does shrick but not as much.

I've used P.T. in the past and have done maintanance fencing too.
 
Thanks, TC. Yeah, 3Ft deep sounds better to me - just means I'll need longer poles.

Yeah, all the P.T. wood we have is warping and twisting to some degree. Maybe Cedar would be a better choice? Good against termites I suppose...

No rush with this at all. I'll do a little each week. Just as long as the end result is good, that's all that matters. Total fence length is gonna be around 475Ft with an 8Ft double gate at the side where the garage is.

Digging out the current concreted poles is gonna be fun! Can't wait! :rolleyes:
 
Also plan the raise and drop in advance to best can. If the yard has a consistant drop say 10" overall and the length of fence is to be 10 sections....make the fence with 1" of drop each section.

If the yard drops 6" for the first 4 sections the 4" for the next 6. Then build the first 4 1 1/2" drop. And the next 6 11/16" drop.
 
93' Blue on blue said:
Thanks, TC. Yeah, 3Ft deep sounds better to me - just means I'll need longer poles.

Yeah, all the P.T. wood we have is warping and twisting to some degree. Maybe Cedar would be a better choice? Good against termites I suppose...

No rush with this at all. I'll do a little each week. Just as long as the end result is good, that's all that matters. Total fence length is gonna be around 475Ft with an 8Ft double gate at the side where the garage is.

Digging out the current concreted poles is gonna be fun! Can't wait! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Maybe space it out differently than they did so you miss them....corners probably no way around digging.

Digging out sucks. I had 1 post end up where a old post was for an old fence was, that took longer than digging almost all the rest.
 
It's ok TC, I'll dig out and fill in best I can. Just see how it all pans out I guess... The fencers have only ruined two sides of the yard, so I still have a virgin side to play with! yay! Also, they came too far in off the plot line on one side, I'm gonna have to come behind at least a foot - that means some more trees will be going bye bye. (I already cleared out 40 something trees - gonna need a good rope for the ones close to the house though)
 
I used 10' posts.

By using a longer post you can dig, set the post and not worry about height. You just leave them long and cut the rest off later. Trying to set the posts to the right height takes more time. I did that on a few fences. This last one I left them long. The yard had a fair amount of up and down too, this helps with that too. You just leave them long and build between.....cut off last.


Longer posts cost more is the only bad thing.

Also I used a decorative cap so the cut doesn't have to be neat afterwards. If you aren't going to cap them, then I guess setting to the right height may make sense.
 
You will use alot more concrete in the holes you dig out....alot more. You end up with a pretty big hole. I ended up with like 6 frickin bags in the one I had to dig out. That will add some cost.
 
Plan is: 4x4x10Ft post and try to set it in at exact height - maybe using some gravel underneath it to get it just right (and help with water drainage)

Basically, I want every post exactly 6Ft tall above the ground, hopefully then, no cutting.

Also want 3 2x4 cross sections to nail the boards to. (rather than the 2 there is now)

Wish I'd just set about doing it myself in the first place - just wasn't confident enough, but now that I've seen how not to do it - hell, I couldn't make it worse!

Live and learn...

Drying the wood out is gonna be a priority I think - get it nice and dry so I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

I'll fill the holes right in, TC, then dig them out after some time - I have access to a big dirt pile.
 
93' Blue on blue said:
Plan is: 4x4x10Ft post and try to set it in at exact height - maybe using some gravel underneath it to get it just right (and help with water drainage)

Basically, I want every post exactly 6Ft tall above the ground, hopefully then, no cutting.

Also want 3 2x4 cross sections to nail the boards to. (rather than the 2 there is now)

Wish I'd just set about doing it myself in the first place - just wasn't confident enough, but now that I've seen how not to do it - hell, I couldn't make it worse!

Live and learn...

Drying the wood out is gonna be a priority I think - get it nice and dry so I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

I'll fill the holes right in, TC, then dig them out after some time - I have access to a big dirt pile.
Click to expand...

Actually gravel under the post is a good idea, I do that too. Just a shovel full.

3 cross peices are good.

I think going 4 ft deep may be overkill.
 
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