Cedar Fence

[Goldeneagle]

I did cedar on mine. All screws, not a nail in it anywhere. My fence is on the north side and I used wood posts. The reason being, if you look down the street that runs behind us, all the pipe post fences are leaning from the N wind. All the wood post are still straight. On my 8' side, I just put my posts closer together for more strength. One word of advise on the cedar pickets. Butt them against each other when you put them up. They shrink in width and if you space them apart, the gap will open up. Like in my case, the gaps wound up being wider than what I wanted.

[rdkerrville]

Im a contractor and we use galvanized ring shank coil nails . You can screw it if you want to be there all day. Ring shank nails hold very well, but screwing it will hold better than a nail. Good luck. Home depot in Kerrville has cedar planks on sale right now.

[jeff-fro]

TXTime - I will be putting the pickets directly on top of the curb. As far as weed eating I will be able to edge it against the outside of the curb so it will be just like edging around the street curbs, just a little taller above ground level.

The 16' gate will not have a post in the middle of it. I will probably rig up a way to drop some round bar into the ground from the end of each side of the gate to help support the middle from win when it is closed. I plan to build the gate from some 2" square tubing and attaching the pickets on the outside to make it look just like the rest of the fence. When I get farther along in the process I will have more details on how the gates will function.

The angle I'm using is 1.5" x 2". The 2x4 rails will sit right on the 1.5" side of the angle and I will drill a hole to run some carriage bolts through the front side of the 2x4's into the 2" side of the angle. If you have a welder it is a fairly cheap and easy way to mount the rails.

I am doing about 300' total of fence, 132' of 7' fence across the back alley, and 6' fence on 80' across north end, 60' on east side, and 24' of gates (2@4' wide, 1@16' wide).

[jeff-fro]

Better be sitting down.

Haha, they do hurt the pocket book. I was hoping to use my tax return to build the fence with, but it barely covered the cost of the pickets. I have already purchased the pickets since the prices are sure to go nowhere but up as the weather warms up and the demand starts to rise. I am using 6" wide pickets in 6' and 7' lengths. After pricing them around I ended up driving to San Antonio to purchase them at around $2 each for the 6' and $3 each for the 7'. I could have gone to local big box places and paid about the same for the 6' but they are thinner and just seem like cheaper wood. Not many places carry 7' pickets besides fence companies so I had the option of either buying 8' pickets for around $3.99 each and cutting them down or finding one of these places that will cut them specific for you (Abilene city code only allows 7' fence without getting approval). If you want more details on the place I purchased from send me a PM.

[jeff-fro]

I will be sure to put the pickets right against eachother. I hope they won't shrink too much as I'm not fond of being able to see in or out through a fence. My experience with wood vs. pipe posts has been the opposite of yours. All my neighbors used the thin wall 2" galvanized tubing you can get at the big box stores and their fences are all straight and still standing. My treated 4x4 posts are leaning and some are starting to curve. I'm sure it has alot to do with how deep you dig the holes, cementing them in well, etc. I hope to be able to go 3' down with my posts and even deeper on the corners.

[shilohman]

I have built a fair amount of broad privacy fence with cedar. I used 2" galv. Sch. 40. Set at 7' apart using l brackets from masterhalco out of san antonio. The nails that i used were alluminun ring shank in coil form. Set your post 24" deep in a 8" hole. Wish you were closer we could work out some kind of trade. Any questions pm me.

[TransPecos]

I used the coated screws on mine. It took forever but screws have seven times the holding power of your average nail. Plus in the future if a picket gets damaged it is easy to remove and replace without damaging other pickets. 2 years and the screws have not bled. In fact they are almost invisible because they are cedar colored.

[Cotton]

I used the coated deck screws on mine 15 years ago. No problems so far...

[ra61hunting]

If you are pouring a concrete curb around the base don't forget to allow for drainage every so often. I placed 2" pvc between the forms every 8ft.

[N Dubya]

That is a tough decision to make when looking at cost. Ring shank nails are cheaper than screws, but the cost of a nail gun and air compressor (even if renting) drives that amount well over the cost of screws.

I noticed nobody mentioned using Stanless Steel nails or screws... Is this just because of the higher cost or are there other issues that might come from using stainless???

TXTimetravler - The curb I will be pouring is 8" wide and about 8-10" thick depending on ground level (4-5" below ground). I will run 3/8" rebar on each side of the posts in the curb for strength and stability. There are several benefits of the curb, it will help keep dogs from digging out of the yard, raise the pickets 4-5" off the ground to prevent rotting and make the fence slightly taller for better privacy.

I can post progress pics if anyone is interested. I am basically trying to do this all by myself with a little help from family on the weekends. The only hired help will by the load of cement for the curb and foundation and someone who knows how to build a rock pillar for the corner.

The time you save will be well worth the money, rent the nail gun.

[jeff-fro]

I am working on the idea of drainage right now. The alley side of my fence is on lower ground than the rest of the fence. Does anybody know of a good way to make a 1 way flow drainage tube that will keep the water in the alley from backing up into my yard but still allow flow from the yard out to the alley when it's flooding in my yard?

[Codie]

READY SEAL for your stain! We have used it on our fence, our house, and my father in law used it on his boatdock. It does not fade out and it really protects it from the weather. Last time I bought it I bought the 5 gallon pales of Natural Cedar color and it was about $90 per pale.

The only suggestion I have is to make sure you put a treated 2x4 rail close to the top of your fence. If you put the highest rail too far down the fence, your going to have the picket tops angling off in all different directions! I know this from experience. I have built quite a bit of privacy fence around my house and I always use Wood screws (usually a 2 1/2 - 3") (#8 or #9) screw.

[jeff-fro]

I will be sure to look into the Ready Seal after several recommendations.

Why are you using such a long screw? I was thinking if I'm going through a 1.5" thick 2x4 and a .75" thick picket I would only want about a 2" - 2 1/4" max length so I don't have them sticking out the back side.

[jeff-fro]

It looks like I should start a poll. Nails vs. Screws

[Codie]

I will be sure to look into the Ready Seal after several recommendations.

Why are you using such a long screw? I was thinking if I'm going through a 1.5" thick 2x4 and a .75" thick picket I would only want about a 2" - 2 1/4" max length so I don't have them sticking out the back side.

Mine just BARELY stick out. You can't see them, but if you run your finger down the railing you can feel the tips coming out the back of the railing. I might mention that I bought all my Cedar pickets from the same place and they were high quality pickets and were about 1" thick instead of your standard .75" thick. With that being said, I probably used 2 1/2" screws, not 3"