Front Fence Replacement

The last wind storm of the season was all the fence could take, if it could have only waited three more weeks!!!

We ordered post caps to match the lights on the front of the house, we're anxious to see them on an actual fence!

We started by knocking down the section between our house and the neighbors.

It only took an hour to get it down and loaded on the trailer to bring to the wood recycler.

This is our first load of supplies, this was what it took to put the right side fence together.

We just got the first two sections built and had all the pieces cut for the last two on this side.

We notched out the back of each of the 6" posts to receive the horizontal rails.

We used three horizontal rails to keep the pickets from warping as they dry and age.

All finished with the cap rails and post caps installed, in a few weeks after the lumber dries we'll stain it.

After taking down the left side we had another load for the recycler.

You can see right into the drainage pond lot beside us, we were anxious to get it closed up.

All the posts are notched and they are set in at least two 80 pound bags of concrete.

The next morning we got the rails up and ready for the pickets.

We were able to attach the old fence sections that remained to the new posts, you can hardly tell we changed anything.

The old section of fence in the back yard had a rotted top rail so we replaced it when we reattached it to the new posts.

After a couple hours, a few hundred stainless steel nails, and 10 bottles of water (it was 88 degrees) we had the drainage lot closed in.

Gregg spent a while drawing up the plans for the gate and this section of the fence, I spent a while digging the 36 inch holes but we were able to get the concrete in just before dark.

Just about half done this side, just have to rip a couple of pickets and then put on the trim pieces.

Done with everything but the gate, we put it together in the driveway, out of the blazing sun.

We decided not to build a large opening section, the 40" gate should provide more than we need for access to the back yard.

The stepping really worked out well, it completely changes the look of the front of our house too.

This is the auto closing latch we chose to use, it's made for 4" posts and we're mounting it on the wrong side of the post but it works great so far.

We had to build our own latch bolt because the one it came with was way too short, it came out great and makes this is one of the most solid closing gates you will ever find.

The street being so narrow makes it tough to get the wide shot of both the left and right fences, this is the best you're gonna get.

We tried the color Sierra from Penofin on the back side of the fence and really hate it, keep watch for attempt number two.

Here is our new blue Alaska weeping cedar, you can see the second stain attempt was a winner, Penofin Sable.