Building a fence

[1st Gen]

Several months ago, we had a huge wind storm that took down my ceder fence. I have a good idea of what I'm going to do already so if you have pointers, don't be pissed if I don't follow them. Still, I love the information and hope anybody who has experience doing this kind of thing will chime in.

The distance from the neighbors fence to the gate, the part that blew down, is a little less than 40 feet. That's 5 posts, about 6 foot high. I'd like to draw up a picture to help with the bill of materials but am not sure if "paint" is the best tool for the job.

We set the posts in cement last time and they rotted off in under 10 years, and this repair is happening at 13 years. I had it propped up in several places. This time, I'm going to make sure that the bottom of the post sits firmly in gravel to aid in drainage, and then capped with cement. I'm thinking of a sealing product to paint on those pressure treated posts to help them stay dry.

I also plan to use the same holes so I'm going to yard those cement plugs out of there with my engine puller and a tow strap. A half a yard of gravels is around $50 and will fit nicely in the back of my pickup. I'm going to set a 4x6 for the end post, and use a survey line to keep it all straight.

One thing I'm not sure of is whether I should wait for the ground to dry out first. It's going to rain for days and days which could push this back a while. If it doesn't matter, then I'll do it as I have time.

If anyone is interested, I'll toss some pics up.

[Iantboyd]

Post pics

[FE3-323]

subbin. very interested to see this progression. i don't know much about fence building, but i enjoy learning new things

[1st Gen]

As it turns out, our homeowners insurance will cover the cost of the repair, minus the deductible. The insurance adjuster says he's able to give us an estimate for the repair based on what we had already so we're waiting on that information. We may still have a contractor give us an estimate depending on which will bring us more money. I plan on using all new materials so I hope the adjuster accounts for that. If I was able to write my own estimate, I'd not only pay myself for labor, I'd also pay myself for disposal of the old and rotting material.

[FE3-323]

yay for homeowners insurance.

[1st Gen]

Until the insurance gets back to us, we're kind of on hold. Here's a pic of the area after the clean up.

[worldhazard]

right on man. Give me a shout if you need a hand. That windstorm destroyed our roof...

[1st Gen]

Sorry for the funky pics. We had to dig down a foot to get a goods bite on the plug, and I had to wiggle it back and forth with the crow bar while she put the pressure to it with the cherry picker. We had a few failed tries. I wasn't expecting it to come out so hard.

I'm going to replace this end post with a pressure treated 4x6, painted with a tar product, and set in a gravel base. The cement I poor in is going to have a form so it sticks up above the ground slightly so water won't pool.

This was one of the first posts to rot off. I think I see why now.

[Kitty]

See if anyone in your area still provides creosol treated post. It'll give you cancer if you cut it but it'll last longer than you or I will.

[1st Gen]

I think that stuff was outlawed a while back.
I might be confusing it with creosote.

[Kitty]

It's the same thing.
Just because things are illegal doesn't mean you can't get them.
When I was doing landscaping it was possible to find places that had "old stock" they would gladly sell you.

[1st Gen]

How i spent my Sunday.
This pics are all out of order, and what is that big round thing?

[Wildfire0310]

How i spent my Sunday.
This pics are all out of order, and what is that big round thing?

Any chance you have a septic tank at your place. It kinda looks like the cap of some buried septic tanks I have seen here in the south. Seem kinda crazy that it would be so close to the road =/

[1st Gen]

The septic tank is straight back from the house, or a few hundred feet away. It might be a part of the drainage field, I guess. Maybe something to do with storm water run off. I think I decided it was a portal to Middle Earth. I'll think I'll leave it at that.

I've been using two bags of cement per post which is just too much. I bought some forms that I'm going to try and use to keep that under control a bit better. Fill around the forms with dirt and pack with shovel handle, or at least that's the plan going forward.

[FE3-323]

neat find either way, id be intrigued to open it. but thats me