Posted: 5/29/2007 7:54:16 AM EDT
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Fence builder? I need to replace my fence and want to do it the best, yet most cost effective way. Anyone? |
I could do it myself. I prefer not to. I really can't do the fence until the trees are out of the way. Now that the weather has turned nice, the tree man has dissapeared. I guess I should have let him cut the trees down in the rain afterall. 
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If you own, and plan to stay, I'll offer a small tidbit of advice; Choose a style & material that you can inspect after having been installed for a few years at least. Many designs promote rot (hold moisture in the wood), and many sag in the field areas over time. (it doesn't need to be strong enough to hold the load, it needs to be strong enough to hold the load over time) Also keep in mind labor is a large part of fencing costs. A stringline and a nailgun make fences appear almost instantly once the posts are set... wicked fast, and very easy. |
Understood. The fence currently around my yard has been there since the house was built in 1973. It's cedar and has withstood quite a few years of abuse. That being said..... I think I could do the fence myself.... It's the whole never done a fence from start to finish by myself thing.....
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Fencing is relatively easy, though I certainly appreciate your reluctance if you haven't done it before. I really haven't done it as a trade either. My experience has been repair and replacement of existing mostly. I have a dryside friend who did new custom fencing for wages for a few years, and he told me some of how it worked. Big money, short time, low overhead. Appealing small biz IMO. You might try going to one of the home centers and getting one of the how-to books on the subject. I taught myself how to cut stair stringers and many other assorted deck building tricks the same way, with just a few hours reading. (I built custom decks for a couple of years, for side work in my 20s) |
I got most of this week off to work on my shop, but I'm still around. Call me to discuss the details about the trees. Far as the fence goes I'd hire the same tree guy to dig the post holes with an excavator mounted auger  , the rest is easy. Once you get the corner post up, run a string from corner post to corner post and set the rest. Then nail the rest together. Come out and look at the one I just built and you will see a sturdy good looking design easy to build.
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Thanks for all the responses guys. I really appreciate it. I truly would like to do the work myself. There's more satisfaction in it. It's not a large fence and I think two days would do it. Bob, I'll give you a call so we can talk about the trees. I really want to get those done before I do the fence. I want to put in a wider gate to the back yard so I can pull an RV back there. 
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I will offer this advice for free and some will disagree but you will have it to consider. I have built a few decks/fences and as you know there are various methods. Dig the holes about a foot or so deeper than you need and about 4-6" larger diameter. Get a load of stone/gravel. partially fill the holes with some gravel before even setting the posts. Once that is tamped down and you start setting the posts us a tamper to push the post to level with the gravel you are tamping in. Make sure the top stringer isn't too high and just let the face boards go as high as their length when installing. Cut them with a circular saw after the fence is completely up (of course if you want fancy edges then ignore this and do it the hard way).  If you leave the posts higher than the face boards and want them semi-fancy you can just set the angle of the circular saw to 45° and put a chamfer on the top. Keep in mind I was thinking 6-7' privacy fence and not some silly picket type fence. Those I know nothing about but would probably set the posts the same if I did one of those. ETA: Just noticed the "wider gate." Will it be one big gate door? If so for shear bracing I suggest cable and a turnbuckle rather than just wood bracing. You will thank me in a few years when it sags and all you have to do is crank the turnbuckle. I think I would do that for two smaller wings also and maybe even go from the top of the posts that the gate is on to the bottom of the next outside post. |