Fence needs replacing...

[JohnnyM]

I've gotten a few bids, and had some friends tell me they'd help if I wanted to do it myself.

We only need to replace about 120 feet of fence, including one gate...is that something I should pay someone to do or is that a good Saturday and Six-Pack type of job?

Prices on professional fence are ranging from about 10-15 bucks a foot. What could I buy the planks for at HD or Lowe's?

Have one post that absolutely needs replacing, others probably are good enough to hold up a new fence. Most companies wanted, of course, to start fresh and rip them all up.

We're talking your basic 6 foot wood privacy fence here.

 

[ldogg53]

If you've got a nail gun it certainly is a Sat afternoon job... the posts are the only pain in the ***... do the one post the day before so that the concrete cures...

I did about 130' worth of my fence for $1000 in lumber and paid some guys $700 + $80(nails/supplies) to put it up... and figure that I did a 1"x6" rot board.. 3 2"x4" runners... 6' pickets... 18 4"x4" posts... 2"x6" cap rail.. and 1"x2" trim...

if all you have to replace is the 2"x4" runners and the pickets, then your cost should only be around $500.... I'd call around to some lumber yards to get pricing quotes.. then compare that to HD/Lowes... the lumber yards can also deliver which is nice because that is a lot of lumber..

 

[JohnnyM]

thanks. now how much is a nail gun?

also, are there a lot of differences in the 1x6 boards that are out there? i don't want to get dogshit, but i don't need top of the line either.

 

[NickDanger]

You can rent nail guns, but you'd also need a compressor.

 

[politically correct horn]

I am interested in fencing also, do you need to use stainless steel nails or can you use galvanized? Is cedar the best fencing material?

 

[HornHuskerDad]

If your posts are exactly 8' centered, you can save a lot of time by buying panels instead of nailing pickets yourself. Check HD/Lowes - whitewood 8' panels normally run about $30 each.

 

[ldogg53]

nail guns/compressors are expensive.. just rent them...

as for the boards to use... it all needs to be either treated pine or cedar... cedar is more expensive, but does look nicer..

and what HHD said is true... it might be possible to go with semi-assembled pieces...

 

[JohnnyM]

My neighbor is a construction guy, I bet he's got a nail gun I can borrow. This sounds more and more doable.

I want to lay a rot board down as well, so I guess that will up my costs but not too much.

Are there any secrets to lining the pickets up or is it just monkey see monkey do?

 

[wolfman]

If you end up buying your fence supplies at either Home Dept or Lowes remember that they will undercut each others price by 10%. My brother saved around $200 by doing this when he bought his materials.

 

[NickDanger]

Nails for nail guns are fairly spendy. Galvanized is fine. You don't even need anything but steel in my opinion. I doubt they even make stainless steel nails do they?

You can keep the pickets even by running a string from post to post or you can make a template to keep the pickets a certain height above your horizontal 2x4. If you want them 6" above, then you use a 6" piece of wood and make the picket flush with it up top. Periodically you will want to use a level to make sure your pickets are straight up and down. If they get out of whack you can get them back in whack by moving the boards towards level a smidge at a time so you don't have any big gaps.

 

[Texas_Rocks]

I would seriously stick with cedar fore treated pine will bend and warp something fierce after the hot sun has beat down on it for a summer or two.

 

[77horn]

(voice of experience) Be sure to use fencing nails or after a few weeks they'll pop right out. (/voice of experience)

 

[NickDanger]

What are fencing nails?

 

[Tripdaddy]

I have built a few fences and I will say that screws are the way to go. Cedar will look better than pressure treated but will double your cost. Over time, the nails will lose their 'grab' more than screws will. It does not really add any time to the job to use screws either (unless using a nail gun of course). USE STAINLESS. Galvenized will turn the wood a nasty black color that runs down from the nail/screw. For the most part, a 6 inch picket pressure treated is about $1.30 each (for 6 foot pickets) and cedar is about $2.30 or so. I have not priced them lately, but that seems to be the going rate. So you will spend between $3-$5 per foot for boards plus the cross members for support and posts. If you are replacing the posts, I would advise to use steel round posts and use hangers to hang the cross members. This of course if you plan to live there for a long time. You will never have to replace the posts again if so. a couple of things that I do that the fence companies don't do (because it saves money for them) is use three rows of cross members (low, middle, high) all upright. Then I cap the top one with a flat cross piece. The reasoning for this is that the board standing upright have a lot more rigidity to them than laying flat. And the middle one adds more support as well. With cedar, you can get by without it, but for PT, it is good to have the middle one to reduce the warping. The cap board is just decorative (on top of the top upright board)...sort of like an upside down stiffener like you see in your attic. All in all, you can build your own fence for half if not more than half of what you will pay to have it done and it is very easy to do.

 

[77horn]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Dead Horse]

He means "ring shank" nails.

 

[JohnnyM]

Thanks for all the help. A friend has offered to help, so we're going to do it some weekend soon.

Another question....what do I do with all the old pickets and other scrap wood? I have even MORE scrapwood in my backyard and a lot of brush that we just cut down this weekend. What the hell can I do with it all? My large brush collection date was about 2 months ago.

 

[ldogg53]

hmmm... call the city and find out when your next heavy trash day is... we have them once a month in Houston....

if that isn't an option, then load it up in a truck and take it to the nearest dump site... it'll cost something though.. not sure how much..

 

[NickDanger]

For the old wood you could do what I have done several times. Get a 55 gallon barrel and a bottle of Thunderbird or MadDog 55 and just burn them.

 

[JohnnyM]

with the amount of wood and brush we have piled up it would put the smokestack in Lost to shame.

 

[7Titles]

Coated screws would be as good as stainless. IF your going to be there a long time screws would be better. It may have been said but treated lumber will shrink a lot. The cedar, which costs twice as much, wont shrink. So if you use treated planks shove them together and when they dry there will be 1/4 inch gap or so.