I am building a 6 foot tall privacy fence and I started putting my pickets on and had a question about the bottom of my fence once it's installed. How long will it take before it starts to mold and rot from the wet grass? Also I am worried about how durable it will be when I trim around it with a weed eater. Any suggestions?
Lilly S.
Waco TX
Dear Lilly,
Kudos to you for taking on suck a project! My advice is pretty simple. When you install the pickets on the runners, lay a long 2"x4" flat on the ground against the outside of your posts. set your picket on the board and nail them in place. When you are finished, this will leave at least 1 1/2" between the ground and your fence to allow for the trimmer string to pass without damaging your fence, and it will keep the fence from direct contact with the ground to avoid soaking up constant moisture. You can also install metal flower bed type edging along the bottom of the fence if you would like, in order to keep snakes and such from coming under the fence and out of your yard.
I would also suggest using a flat sheen spar or marine varnish along the bottom 6" of your pickets just to seal them, if you're not planning to paint the fence. If the plan is to paint, then be sure to prime and paint at least one coat of finish paint over every part of the pickets before installing them. Once installed, caulk your nail holes and prime them. Them apply your final coat of paint. This should provide you with ample protection and a beautiful fence for years to come.
Showing posts with label Fencing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fencing. Show all posts
01 September, 2009
18 June, 2008
Privacy Fence
Dude, I need some help here. I bought my house about 4 years ago, and with the close proximity of the neighbors and the fact that I have a very hot wife who like to lay out in the sun, wearing nothing, or next to nothing, I decided to install a privacy fence around my yard. I built an 8', board on board privacy fence with top rail and cap. I used 12' posts and buried them 36" in the ground and concreted them in. My problem is that We have a shallow water line, due to a lake close by, and when I dug my holes, I had about 6" of water in the bottom of each. I believe that this water is the cause of my posts rotting and now my fence is leaning from the high winds that we get around here. Any advice to keep the next posts from rotting? I'm trying to avoid using metal posts, because I like the wood look.
John P.
Flower Mound, TX
Dude!
Congrats on the wife!
In response to your question, I can say with 200% certainty that having lived and worked in the Dallas area, as well as having installed many privacy fences in the Flower Mound area, that your troubles are not only yours. You have neighbors with the same problems. I know this to be a fact.
Before you decide to rebuild with wood posts, check the local codes in your area. I may be mistaken but I believe that in most neighborhoods around Flower Mound, Lewisville, etc., the original fences built during the construction were built with landscape timbers as posts. This was a mass contract with a cheap fence company to do all the fences in the new neighborhoods at once and the posts were the cheapest way to go. I believe that there are local stipulations that upon rebuilding, metal posts MUST be installed, due to the shallow water table and heavy, hard driving winds.
To answer the question at hand, the only way to slow down the rotting process is this: Buy your $20.00, 12' x 4"x4" treated posts. let them dry completely as most treated lumber is still wet from the treatment process. while your buying your posts, go to the paint section and purchase 5 gallons of SPAR or MARINE varnish ( NOT FLOORING VARNISH OR INTERIOR VARNISH). This varnish is made for water application, like boats. It will only cost you around $40 a gallon. Take it home, lay all your posts out on saw horses and brush 2 or 3 coats from the bottom up to about 40" on the post. let it dry completely. Then go get yourself a truck full of gravel. (I assume you have a truck. You are in Texas after all) Dig your holes about 10" in diameter and go down about 36". Pack gravel in the base of the hole around the post about 6" deep. This will help with the water table seepage as well as help hold the post in place. Pour your concrete around the post making sure that you mix it with water as you go and "poke" at it with a piece of re-bar or a stick of sorts to remove all air pockets and pack it in tight. Leave a few inches at the top, to allow for replacing the sod around the post and let it dry. Re install all your fencing and pray, pray pray. Or you could just by 15 dollar, 2 3/8" fence post with the 4 metal runner clips for each one, push your fence back to plumb and install the posts next to the old wood posts, using the same method described above. After the concrete dries, and the posts are solid, use a reciprocating saw, with a good metal blade and cut the posts off, 6" below the top of the fence so you can re install your top cap once you've put on the metal post caps. The only other thing I might add is if you choose to go with metal, which would be my expert advice, you can fill the metal posts with sand to strengthen then even more, and then put your caps on the top.
You're probably going to have some upheaval of posts regardless, due to the weather extremes around there. When the ground freezes, the water will freeze which will move your posts. I've gone to major extremes to keep post strong and in place in that area, and I feel for you.
Again, congrats on the wife............good luck with the fence. might I suggest some Constantine wire???
NOTE: As an after thought It struck me that you mentioned and 8' fence. I know that with 8' tall fences in that area, your posts MUST be no further than 6' apart. If you set your posts at the typical 8' intervals, this is going to be a big problem in the future.
John P.
Flower Mound, TX
Dude!
Congrats on the wife!
In response to your question, I can say with 200% certainty that having lived and worked in the Dallas area, as well as having installed many privacy fences in the Flower Mound area, that your troubles are not only yours. You have neighbors with the same problems. I know this to be a fact.
Before you decide to rebuild with wood posts, check the local codes in your area. I may be mistaken but I believe that in most neighborhoods around Flower Mound, Lewisville, etc., the original fences built during the construction were built with landscape timbers as posts. This was a mass contract with a cheap fence company to do all the fences in the new neighborhoods at once and the posts were the cheapest way to go. I believe that there are local stipulations that upon rebuilding, metal posts MUST be installed, due to the shallow water table and heavy, hard driving winds.
To answer the question at hand, the only way to slow down the rotting process is this: Buy your $20.00, 12' x 4"x4" treated posts. let them dry completely as most treated lumber is still wet from the treatment process. while your buying your posts, go to the paint section and purchase 5 gallons of SPAR or MARINE varnish ( NOT FLOORING VARNISH OR INTERIOR VARNISH). This varnish is made for water application, like boats. It will only cost you around $40 a gallon. Take it home, lay all your posts out on saw horses and brush 2 or 3 coats from the bottom up to about 40" on the post. let it dry completely. Then go get yourself a truck full of gravel. (I assume you have a truck. You are in Texas after all) Dig your holes about 10" in diameter and go down about 36". Pack gravel in the base of the hole around the post about 6" deep. This will help with the water table seepage as well as help hold the post in place. Pour your concrete around the post making sure that you mix it with water as you go and "poke" at it with a piece of re-bar or a stick of sorts to remove all air pockets and pack it in tight. Leave a few inches at the top, to allow for replacing the sod around the post and let it dry. Re install all your fencing and pray, pray pray. Or you could just by 15 dollar, 2 3/8" fence post with the 4 metal runner clips for each one, push your fence back to plumb and install the posts next to the old wood posts, using the same method described above. After the concrete dries, and the posts are solid, use a reciprocating saw, with a good metal blade and cut the posts off, 6" below the top of the fence so you can re install your top cap once you've put on the metal post caps. The only other thing I might add is if you choose to go with metal, which would be my expert advice, you can fill the metal posts with sand to strengthen then even more, and then put your caps on the top.
You're probably going to have some upheaval of posts regardless, due to the weather extremes around there. When the ground freezes, the water will freeze which will move your posts. I've gone to major extremes to keep post strong and in place in that area, and I feel for you.
Again, congrats on the wife............good luck with the fence. might I suggest some Constantine wire???
NOTE: As an after thought It struck me that you mentioned and 8' fence. I know that with 8' tall fences in that area, your posts MUST be no further than 6' apart. If you set your posts at the typical 8' intervals, this is going to be a big problem in the future.
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