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Beach Bum
Jan 13, 2010
So Hurricane Michael tore up my fence last season, and not really needing it to be all there I tore down the busted sections, stacked the old pails in a pile next to my "eternal project" pickup truck (:banjo:), and wrote it off for "later".

Well, I'm "inheriting" a dog, and since I'm sometimes gone for 12+ hours he will need to pee. Seeing as I don't put dogs on a line unattended, I need to repair the fence so he can do that not-in-my-house (and install a doggy door).

This is just in the very beginnings of the planning phase, but seeing as this is the biggest project I've ever tackled as The Boss, I'm making this thread so everyone else can learn from my inevitable mistakes, as well as I.

House is on the North side of the backyard. The fence will intersect the SouthWest corner of the house, but extend further East at the SouthEast corner. My East and West sections are going to be 56ft, South 44ft, and there will be a small 6.6ft section running E/W on the northeast corner (southeast corner of the house). I plan on 6ft tall 8ft wide panels built on double 2x4 rails, 4x4x8' posts, reusing as many pickets as I can, but with all new posts and rails. Posts will be sunk 28in; 2in of gravel bed, 12in of gravel fill, 12in of Quikrete, 2in topsoil.

I'd like a 16ft double gate on the E side, starting 8ft S from the NE corner. I'll have wire and turnbuckle setups for the gate post, running top-to-bottom away from the gate. Do y'all think maybe I ought to spring for 10ft 4x4's for these gate posts, seeing as they'll be supporting a full 8ft panel? If so I was thinking I'd cut 'em down 8in, and sink 'em into 24in of concrete (2in of gravel bed, 12in of gravel fill, 24in of Quikrete, 2in topsoil).

There'll also be a gate on the S side instead of a 4ft panel, and the N 6.6ft section will be a gate as well (so I can finally stash my garbage cans behind a fence!)

I've done a little Sheet for just the lumber, I'll add more things like nails, hinges, and other things once I get the major stuff accounted for.

This is gonna be a lot more than just a request for advice; there'll be pictures and whatnot as well, when I start building.

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Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


I've got some fencing to do at some point as well, so I'll be following along with interest.

Coasterphreak
May 29, 2007
I like cookies.
My two suggestions are this:

1: check local building/zoning/hoa codes before you go nuts, wouldn’t want to dump a bunch of money into it and have someone make you rip it out because you didn’t have the right form.

2: build that bigass access gate, it’s cheaper now than when you have to rip out your nice new fence to get an excavator in.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Reviving this from last year, but I’ll be putting in a privacy fence here soon and was wondering if anyone had any advice about a few things. Weirdly enough, I’ll be doing roughly the same amount of fencing as OP, on a small plot in the city. Already have the permit and for the most part I’ll just be replacing the existing chain link fence.

The other part did have survey pins on the property line, but I see that one of the neighbors either removed or mowed over the survey pin behind my garage, so I’m probably going to have to get a metal detector and hope there’s a buried pin in there.

For prying out the chain link posts, I was thinking I might try a ratchet strap and 2x4 after watching a few videos on easy methods... if anyone has any suggestions I’d appreciate it, otherwise I sold have a trip report here soon.

As far as the fence itself goes, my plan is to dig 30”, put 6” of gravel in (code is min 24” deep), and use vinyl posts secured with two 80lb concrete bags. I’m looking at the Weatherables fencing from Home Depot, because it seems to be a bit thicker pvc and there’s an aluminum cross beam. Also considering the panels that are half the cost, but part of me just figures it’s probably just better to shell out upfront for the better stuff. I’d love composite, but that stuff is just absurd how expensive it is. All my neighbors in the area have older wooden privacy fences, and they are just in abysmal shape, so I’d like something that doesn’t fall apart after 6-8 years. Menards does have this composite fencing which is less than half the price of the Trex stuff at HD, so maybe that might be another option as well.

Anyone else here installed some fencing and have any thoughts or recommendations before I dive too far in?

Methylethylaldehyde
Oct 23, 2004

BAKA BAKA

OSU_Matthew posted:

Anyone else here installed some fencing and have any thoughts or recommendations before I dive too far in?

If it freezes in the winter, or you have big wet/dry swings, you might have your fence posts settle or heave. Digging it down some can help with that. You can't go wrong with a 4ft section of 8" sonotube as a post hole liner/form. And if you rent the walk behind post hole digger, you can get all of the really poo poo parts of the job done in like one afternoon. If you dig post holes, call 811 for the love of god, even the tiny walk behind hole augers can trace their lineage to the great North American fiber eating backhoe. Nobody wants a 5 or 6 figure repair bill for something because they didn't bother to get locates done.

Use string. Seriously, the fanciest laser in the world is still shitier than a $5 thing of high strength bright pink survey twine. Stretch it like a guitar string between two posts, and use it as the locating edge for all the posts in between it. Its real easy to get the post 90% level, then tap it until it's just touching the string. if you do it right, you can also use it to set the height of each of the posts.

Those vinyl posts aren't the strongest things in the world, but you can make them impervious to anything short of a truck by dropping some 1/2 rebar down it and filling it full of quickcrete once the fence is exactly how you like it and you're completely done with it.

Methylethylaldehyde fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 15, 2020

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Thanks!

Yup! I’ve got some bright pink masons string and furring strips to lay everything out with when I’m ready to start. The fence also runs within 8’ of the gas line entrance, so I’m definitely gonna get everything 811 checked before shoveling willy nilly. I bought a
Seymore hand auger
and a large hilti auger bit with an SDS adapter that I’m going to try to use after loosening up the ground with a root cutter tile shovel. Think my makita SDS drill should be able to run the auger. If that winds up being too hateful, I think renting something like that Toro will be next.

That’s a really great idea about the rebar! I was debating buying the 5” aluminum I beams and cutting them into 3’-4’ sections for post bracing, or treated beams, but I really like the rebar and concrete idea for inserts... simple and cheap... thanks!

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Jun 17, 2020

Methylethylaldehyde
Oct 23, 2004

BAKA BAKA

OSU_Matthew posted:

Thanks!
That’s a really great idea about the rebar! I was debating buying the 5” aluminum I beams and cutting them into 3’-4’ sections for post bracing, or treated beams, but I really like the rebar and concrete idea for inserts... simple and cheap... thanks!

Just be sure to do it absolutely last, and that all your screws and fasteners are tight and exactly where you want them, because that concrete is gonna act like loctite from hell, and you're never gonna be able to change poo poo without a lot of swearing and concrete anchors. On the plus side you can roll a golf cart through one of the panels and the posts won't give two shits.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
quote="Methylethylaldehyde" post="505723848"]
Just be sure to do it absolutely last, and that all your screws and fasteners are tight and exactly where you want them, because that concrete is gonna act like loctite from hell, and you're never gonna be able to change poo poo without a lot of swearing and concrete anchors. On the plus side you can roll a golf cart through one of the panels and the posts won't give two shits.
[/quote]

Duly noted!

Looks like I’m moving up the time frame on installing the fence as the flipper next door just dropped a tree on the existing one:



Bright side is that the fence was going to go anyways, so I guess this just moves up my time table! :ohdear:

Mainly I’m extremely grateful it missed both my Pawpaw trees, and they are unharmed.

I talked to the guy and got some firewood and a few bucks towards the replacement value of the fence. Probably could’ve (should’ve) pushed the issue and gotten quotes to fix it and asked for more, but I’m honestly just happy to have the dead ash tree out as it was ready to fall on my house. Sucks, but overall things worked out well enough.

Just need to decide on which fence panels to order and start removing the old fence!

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Update on the chain link and fence post removal:

Bolt cutters worked great for clipping the chain link ties, got that separated and peeled back easy enough.

Ratchet strap and prying with an 8’ 2x4 sucked. Couldn’t seem to get it strapped tight enough to avoid slipping, and the end kept slipping off the rock I put to pry against. Switched to an old automotive jack and thick scrap board to set it on. Tried jacking the post out with a pipe wrench clamped to the post, which seemed to work well when tightening it down with channellocks. However, the post popped right free of the concrete because it was damaged by the tree and the pour was way off center. Good reason to be using sono tubes when I install the new posts, thanks for the tip!

Was able to easily pull the post free by hand after that. I then dug the concrete out with a spade and pried the plug out easy enough with a bully bar.

Didn’t have as much luck with the second post, as my pipe wrench is too small to get a good purchase on the fence. Going to go to harbor freight tomorrow morning and get a farm jack to use with a loop of chain... hoping that’s the ticket to getting the rest out easily.

More to come!

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Got rained out and had to stop, but the farm jack I picked up this morning is a freaking godsend, I can’t imagine a simpler or better way of yanking up fenceposts.

Got the front done and started along the side:





Just looped some chain along the post, looped the other end around the claw on the jack, and the posts came up quite easily.

Unfortunately Harbor Freight didn’t have any in stock, and Amazon, Menards, and Home Depot didn’t have any jacks in store, so I would’ve had to wait a couple of weeks to order one. Luckily for me Tractor Supply had exactly one in stock, so I snagged that.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


How does the chain hold onto the post?

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Jaded Burnout posted:

How does the chain hold onto the post?

The actual chain link is basically twisty tied to each post and a top rail, (which is held in place by caps on each post). Snip the ties with a bolt cutter, and the chain link just pulls away in a giant sheet.

The ends then have 3-4 clamps that hold a vertical insert that threads through the chain link.

I guess I get the why for if you have a dog, but it really just feels like the most pointless kind of fencing. It’s ugly, offers no privacy, and basically zero security.

Tomarse
Mar 7, 2001

Grr



OSU_Matthew posted:

I guess I get the why for if you have a dog, but it really just feels like the most pointless kind of fencing. It’s ugly, offers no privacy, and basically zero security.

It is cheap and easy and offers a basic and inoffensive border/plot demarcation that doesn't need maintenance (unless you drop a tree on it!).

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


OSU_Matthew posted:

The actual chain link is basically twisty tied to each post and a top rail, (which is held in place by caps on each post). Snip the ties with a bolt cutter, and the chain link just pulls away in a giant sheet.

The ends then have 3-4 clamps that hold a vertical insert that threads through the chain link.

I guess I get the why for if you have a dog, but it really just feels like the most pointless kind of fencing. It’s ugly, offers no privacy, and basically zero security.

I meant the chain on the farm jack :)

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Jaded Burnout posted:

I meant the chain on the farm jack :)

Derp, that makes a lot more sense... I suck at reading comprehension lol.

Basically 2’ of heavy duty chain, looped twice around the pole, with 8” lead to another loop slipped over the farm jack claw. When tightened, lean the farm jack into the post so the claw and the top stop are on separate sides, and keep jacking it :jackbud:

Here’s an example, though I used a 4x4 insert to brace the jack because goddamn tree roots grew up over the concrete plug and a few posts are just stuck tight. Not sure what to do there.




I’ve given up for the day, these might need heavy equipment. Popped one out of the plug, but the other two are stuck fast. Tried digging, but there’s so many drat roots I can’t even make headway. The phrase problematic comes to mind.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
It’s the point where I’m sharpening sds chisel bits and purchasing chainsaw attachments for my grinder that I have to take a step back and realize that I’ve never strayed so far from god before.

I will get these roots, even if it’s the last thing I do :black101:

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


I'm sure you'll get to the root of it soon.

How does a sawzall fare?

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Jaded Burnout posted:

I'm sure you'll get to the root of it soon.

How does a sawzall fare?

A lot worse than I thought it would. These are fairly big surface roots, and the 10” pruning and wood blades just aren’t getting through the whole thing. I’m thinking that hitting it with some sort of grinding attachment and SDS sharpened chisel bit should remove enough material which will allow me to dig them out. Ordered a carving grinder wheel on amazon, and I’m also going to try the hatchet and engineer’s hammer approach as well.

Beach Bum
Jan 13, 2010
You might go get a pickaxe, the flat blade side works a wonder on roots.

Mister Dog
Dec 27, 2005

Have you considered using a truck?
I’m actually serious here, if you’ve got the clearance. About a month ago a spent about half a day digging out a dead boxwood by hand, then about 8 total minutes pulling out the next 6 by just looping a tow cable around base (stalk?), then to the hitch, then driving the other way in my Toyota 4 runner. Probably the best idea I’ve ever had.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Mister Dog
Dec 27, 2005


Yes! Just like this!

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Beach Bum posted:

You might go get a pickaxe, the flat blade side works a wonder on roots.

That’s been my go to for the small aggressive trees growing up in my front garden bed with big 2-3” root systems that kept suckering up even after killing the main stalk. I can usually dig and pry those up with the pickaxe. These roots are so big (30 year old Ash Tree) I hadn’t considered that though.

I’m not sure a truck would work either, by just how large and durable the root system is. I’m just looking to rip out the surface roots in my yard and covering the fence post plug (so I can put in a vinyl fence), and I’m also going to have to trim down the 5’ stump the flippers left behind

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jun 21, 2020

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Here’s some better fence jacking pics:





Super satisfying and works great, especially if the jack is braced with some 4x4

Got a three tooth carving wheel wheel attachment in today, and that worked pretty well on the exposed roots. Tried carving out waffle sections and using the SDS to pop put the carvings.

The SDS definitely underperformed my expectations. The chisel bit did work well when splitting wood with the grain, but pretty useless for actually tearing down into the root flesh. I was hoping the hammer action and a sharp chisel would do a lot more damage.

At this point I’ve probably spent 20$ in different bits to do a slow and painfully mediocre job, when it turns out there is a HD in my area that rents stump grinders for a way cheaper than I expected (104$). I could try composing the stump, but that’ll take awhile, likely needs a few bucks for some starter ingredients and mulch, and I’d like to just get it done so I can put in the new fence without having to angle it around the stump. Lessons have been learned.

Speaking of the fence, I ordered the Menards Richmond Fence panels using their designer tool. 132’ for my bottom three sides came to ~2,900$ (including 200$ tax and 89$ delivery fee). Theoretically I should be getting 11% menards funbux back with the rebate, which I’ll just put towards the North section of fence (once I get the driveway paved)

Oh, a few years ago I killed this honeysuckle-esque scrubby tree that was aggressively growing into the power lines. AEP said they wouldn’t touch it since it was only dragging down the telecom lines and not into the power yet, so I sawzalled it out and roundupped the suckers for a few years. However, I was unable to remove the floating stump because it had grown into the chain link, so thought I’d share some tree gore:

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Jun 22, 2020

Methylethylaldehyde
Oct 23, 2004

BAKA BAKA
Honestly, just go rent the tiniest backhoe you can find at your local AAA+++++++ Tool Rental place. Roots that size are impossible to remove without something like that, because any cutting blade will dull instantly due to the grit and sand and rocks, the roots are too resilient to be easily cut with a chisel, and a shovel and pickaxe are just gonna gently caress up your back.

This is the reason farmers just use a 6 ft long auger bit and like a 1/4 stick (3 sticks) of dynamite to remove irritating stumps and roots. Nothing quite as impressive as setting the new local stump chunkin' record, blasting a 100 year old oak tree stump into smitheroons and launching the main section half a mile across the corn field.

Beach Bum
Jan 13, 2010

Methylethylaldehyde posted:

1/4 stick (3 sticks) of dynamite

Ooh, now there's an idea. My neighbors are only 30ft away though, they might take exception.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Beach Bum posted:

Ooh, now there's an idea. My neighbors are only 30ft away though, they might take exception.

Not for long

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Methylethylaldehyde posted:

Honestly, just go rent the tiniest backhoe you can find at your local AAA+++++++ Tool Rental place. Roots that size are impossible to remove without something like that, because any cutting blade will dull instantly due to the grit and sand and rocks, the roots are too resilient to be easily cut with a chisel, and a shovel and pickaxe are just gonna gently caress up your back.

This is the reason farmers just use a 6 ft long auger bit and like a 1/4 stick (3 sticks) of dynamite to remove irritating stumps and roots. Nothing quite as impressive as setting the new local stump chunkin' record, blasting a 100 year old oak tree stump into smitheroons and launching the main section half a mile across the corn field.

I’m a big fan of that idea... thanks! I need to do some driveway work and remove a buncha rock and dirt from a retaining wall to prep it for driveway installation, so a backhoe tractor may be the way to go!

Also like the dynamite idea, but the locals may not be the biggest fan of stuffing a stump full of tannerite. Though... maybe thermite... which is apparently totally legal and cool to buy... hmmm...

There’s a nonzero chance I’m going to wind up on a watchlist...

Update on the fence... I hosed up on ordering materials. Apparently I never double checked the quantities given to me by the designer tool, and ordered 109 50lb bags of concrete. To set 20 fenceposts.

Literally 2.75 loving tons.

My original plan was 2 bags per post, plus a bag in the center. Fortunately I was able to cancel the concrete altogether from the order, and just bought 20 bags of post anchor foam, which saved me roughly 400$ and the logistical nightmare of storing and using that much concrete. For whatever reason, there was also a completely extraneous fence panel included in the order too :facepalm:

In my defense, the packet you print from the design tool never gives you a list of materials, nor is there an option to just add stuff to your cart (apparently due to covid related materials shortage). Plus the lady at the counter was having a bad day and talking about how her friend had been shot the night before, so I wasn’t thinking too hard about what all was on the order beyond eh this looks vaguely right.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
So I finally got the vinyl fencing materials I ordered from Menards after almost two months from the original promised delivery date. Took multiple calls and in person visits to sort out whether stuff was or wasn’t in stock, and two promised delivery dates where I putzed around for six hours waiting on a delivery that wasn’t coming. Finally after the last one they thought the order has already been delivered, and I had to explain that it had not, yet again. Would not recommend.

Got my fence permit approved, and signatures from all the neighbors okaying the fence being within 6” of the property line (small lot). Thought things would be good, but it’s been a buncha problems since.

I wanted to rent a two man auger last weekend, but all the home depots were either out or had them down for maintenance. No problem I thought, I’ll rent the one man and that should be good! Lol, I’ve never been so wrong. The thing was heavy, unwieldy, and kept getting stuck on fist sized or smaller rocks. Started all my holes at least, and was able to get a few in clean soil to the proper depth (12” diameter x 30” deep). The rest I gave up on, because I’d already spent four hours grinding down a stump earlier that day.

Dead ash tree stump (about 2’ diameter)


Managed to get it a few inches under the soil


About where the auger would get stuck and require hand digging out rocks:


Successful (almost) hole


So, come this weekend, I found out HD has tow behind augers and I figured hell yeah, that’s perfect. Nope, I just have a bunch of gigantic rocks. Much better than the single person auger, and seems to work pretty well, but I managed to get it really loving stuck good, and have been trying to dig it out since. I have it till tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll see what happens.

Where I start hitting rocks with this one


Aaaand the loving hold I’ve dug myself into:



I think I might disconnect the head and see if I can attach a pipe and manually rotate or jack it out. Not 100% sure what to do here honestly.

angryrobots
Mar 31, 2005

I saw your post in the questions thread. If you can find a 1" square drive, I think that's the size of the auger adapter. But putting that much torque on an auger that may be hung on a rock is asking to break something.

Without access to other equipment, I'm afraid that digging beside it until it's free enough to spin is probably, annoyingly, the best answer. Let us know how it works out.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

angryrobots posted:

I saw your post in the questions thread. If you can find a 1" square drive, I think that's the size of the auger adapter. But putting that much torque on an auger that may be hung on a rock is asking to break something.

Without access to other equipment, I'm afraid that digging beside it until it's free enough to spin is probably, annoyingly, the best answer. Let us know how it works out.

Thanks, that was the correct answer after all! Took about an hour with my dad helping to dig it out by hand, with spud bars, post hole diggers, tile shoves etc. Also got some leverage with an old 2’ Ridgid pipe wrench and 6’ of cheater bar, and finally worked it free by prying upwards with a 4x4 post, blocks, and a feathering the throttle.

Here’s the final hole, hope it’s big enough to pass inspection lol

[timg]https://i.imgur.com/2Nqit9u.jpg][/timg]

Took all day and everything we had to tag team manually clearing the holes and drill them. Hopefully I’ll get to setting the fence posts this week. Once I get the driveway side paved, there’s a strong likelihood I’ll either find a professional to do the other half, or rent something like a walk behind with upward/downward hydraulic force on the bit.

There’s one spot where I can’t drill the hole due to live tree roots. The plan is to drive an 8’ T post down in, set the vinyl sleeve over top, and quickrete down the center. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s even stronger than these other posts.

americanzero4128
Jul 20, 2009
Grimey Drawer
I'm really late, but that tow behind auger way over promised and under delivered. I dug something like 50-60 post holes with it and it was at least a three person job. One to hold the auger in place since the wheels don't lock, one to raise/lower it, and one to clear the dirt (because it didn't have enough power to throw the dirt clear - we needed one person specifically to scrape dirt away from the hole). Better than the one or two man augers, but still, not good.

Beach Bum
Jan 13, 2010
All y'all's auger troubles are really making me think I should just bear down and go at it with post hole diggers. I could use the exercise.

No, the op of the thread still hasn't (re)built his fence :v:

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Beach Bum posted:

No, the op of the thread still hasn't (re)built his fence :v:

You should know we have a policy against taking forever to finish projects here.

*looks at 6 year old project thread*

You know, nevermind.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

americanzero4128 posted:

I'm really late, but that tow behind auger way over promised and under delivered. I dug something like 50-60 post holes with it and it was at least a three person job. One to hold the auger in place since the wheels don't lock, one to raise/lower it, and one to clear the dirt (because it didn't have enough power to throw the dirt clear - we needed one person specifically to scrape dirt away from the hole). Better than the one or two man augers, but still, not good.

An extra person would’ve been fantastic for sure... I was completely whipped by the end of the day, and I only had half as many holes to dig.

Not the OP so I’m kinda stealing their thread here, but I’ve made some progress on things! Put in some T posts at each survey marker and strung up a reference line between them. Got the gravel tamped in, first post set, and started assembling. I’ve got about a foot plus elevation drop from the front and a big tree root that we had to work around, so I kept the fence relatively flat and dropped it after clearing the tree. Used a 4’ level and 8’ 2x4 to keep the tops aligned. However, because of the drop in grade I’ll have to shovel in some dirt to fill in under the fence.



Also, because of the zig and because I had to start things slightly further up at the front to better align with the house, I now have cumulative error halfway through the holes, so now I have to use a drain tile spade and expand them out:



The Menards Richmond panels have been extremely easy to use, they come apart into the rails and pickets, and you just pop in the bottom rail, insert the pickets, and pop in the top rail. Then pack in a few rocks to secure the base. Mix up the foam against a wheelbarrow for 30 seconds, and pour into the hole. The panels also do have aluminum I beams for support in the bottom, which wasn’t entirely clear upfront.

Here’s what the foam looks like:



I think using 8’ T Posts and sleeving over where I couldn’t dig down due to the tree will work out great. I wound up using a footlong ship auger to drill a hole through some roots so I could drive one of the posts. That actually worked out far better than I’d anticipated, and the root assasin shovel worked miracles on the smaller ones.







I’ll have to fill in some dirt under the fence where I had to keep it to high because of the roots and tree, but otherwise I was juuust barely able to get it zigged, assembled, and dropped down past that trouble spot. Hoping to get the first half of it assembled this weekend!

Beach Bum
Jan 13, 2010
DIY threads inevitably revert to community property, no worries :)

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Got the first half of the fencing done, and ordered the second half! Was planning to put it off until the driveway is poured, but in retrospect it makes more sense to install the fence and just pour the driveway up to it.

Thought installing the next section would be simple as the holes were drilled... but zigging the fence a tiny bit around the tree, and shifting the start up a few inches to align with the house meant that all the holes were off by just enough to be a problem. I thought I could scoop them out pretty easy with the tile spade and post hole digger, but inevitably nothing with an old house is ever straightforward.

While widening the next hole I was stymied by a concrete plug, which was really surprising as I thought I’d already jacked them all out. Kept poking around it and discovered the remains of an even older wooden fence that’d been cut off a few inches below the surface, exactly where I needed the post.

So I looped a chain around the rotted wood and jacked it out with the farm jack. But that still left the concrete plug. Took a bit of work, but was able to dig around it and bust it up with a sledgehammer, engineers hammer and chisel, and a pickaxe. For the record, trying to get a good swing on something down into a hole sucks.

Next I ran into the fence being about a foot and a half too short on the last section, but I fabricobbled an extension with the cutoff section I’d shortened off the front side. Basically used PVC glue and aluminum I beam inserts, and screwed those in to extend the last panel. Actually turned out fairly well... so far it’s holding up great!



To get over the tree roots, and because the grade drops quite a bit, we kept the fence level from the front to the tree, and dropped it down. I think it turned out well, but we just need to finish filling in the bottom gap with some dirt I’m excavating elsewhere so it’s not so far up off the ground. This also gives it some time before the tree grows up and throws the fence out of whack.

Skipped the PVC glue and just caulked the post caps on. However the clip covers for the routed holes are a real bastard—you have to beat it in with your fist and hope none of the clips break. Fortunately there’s a few extra covers with each post so I think I’ll be fine overall.

While trimming the posts, I discovered a new issue. The liquid foam crept underneath and plugged up the bottom of the post, so about half of them are collecting water. So I don’t wind up with a mosquito factory, I just used a 4’ drill bit for running wiring, and hit the foam with that:




This is the kind of buried junk I’ve been running into while trying to bore these holes:


Getting close now! Just waiting on the last set of panels and I beam inserts for the driveway gate.

Some Guy From NY
Dec 11, 2007
Maybe I missed it, but why do the posts have slots for fencing that are facing out towards your yard?

I have similar fencing, no extra slots... Also when it was installed, it was installed into cement in the same manner you are using that foam, but cement was also put INSIDE the posts, much like how that foam expanded into your post at the bottom. Water intrusion is not an issue because we put decorative caps onto the posts and we do not have those extra openings on the side.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Some Guy From NY posted:

Maybe I missed it, but why do the posts have slots for fencing that are facing out towards your yard?

I have similar fencing, no extra slots... Also when it was installed, it was installed into cement in the same manner you are using that foam, but cement was also put INSIDE the posts, much like how that foam expanded into your post at the bottom. Water intrusion is not an issue because we put decorative caps onto the posts and we do not have those extra openings on the side.

The posts are routed on 3 sides, so each post can double as a corner post. They come with caps for the top and clip on covers you have to beat in for the unused sides.

Adding some quikrete into each post inside may also be a really good idea to displace the water and add some rigidity... thanks! Wonder if I can just funnel it in dry and add water. This old house recommended a 4x4 insert into the sleeve below ground to add stability, so this would accomplish the same thing but be rot resistant.

Even with the covers, because the rails slot into the posts, I figure over time they would funnel rainwater.

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Some Guy From NY
Dec 11, 2007

OSU_Matthew posted:

The posts are routed on 3 sides, so each post can double as a corner post. They come with caps for the top and clip on covers you have to beat in for the unused sides.

Adding some quikrete into each post inside may also be a really good idea to displace the water and add some rigidity... thanks! Wonder if I can just funnel it in dry and add water. This old house recommended a 4x4 insert into the sleeve below ground to add stability, so this would accomplish the same thing but be rot resistant.

Even with the covers, because the rails slot into the posts, I figure over time they would funnel rainwater.

Very interesting to know about those posts. Seems like a waste though since they do sell posts without those extra slots, which also gives a cleaner look to the entire fence.

I believe if you use concrete inside the posts, it MUST BE Quickrete "Fast Setting Concrete Mix". No mixing required, it can be poured in dry and then water poured on top. I would ask around first, but I'm pretty sure this is the mix to use.

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