Mending Fences

On one side of our house, we have had a four-foot stockade fence that has needed to be replaced since we moved into the house. It just was never a high priority nor something I wanted to do. It did it's primary job - keeping the kids in the backyard. About a week ago, it failed it's primary job. The boys pushed the fence over. One of the fence posts broke off cleanly at ground level where it had rotted through. So for this past week, the boys could not go into the backyard without supervision, as they could just run out and play in the front yard or even the street.

So my task this weekend was to replace the fence. Now one advantage of having the old fence was that it was loose enough that I could force the stockade panel free of the posts. This allowed the small backhoe into the backyard when we connected up to the newly installed city sewer system, allowed me to drive the pickup into the backyard and allowed us to walk a mostly assembled swing set into the backyard. So I wanted to be able to allow the same kind of access to the backyard if needed with the new fence, but without it being loose.

I decided on a six-foot stockade panel (is 8 feet wide) as that's what makes up most of the fencing around our yard, except for the back fence, which is five-foot. Last year I had replaced the gate on the other side of the house. I had used eight-foot posts and cement to secure those posts. Despite all that, the post that the gate is attached to has shifted some. I did not want shifting this time but also did not want to use concrete as that's expensive. So I purchased ten-foot posts. My original thoughts several months back, to be able to make the backyard accessible, was to make the eight-foot wide panel into a gate, either as a single unit or by cutting it into two and hinging both sides. But that would take a whole lot of bracing, some really husky hardware and would definitely require cement. So I decided that I would buy four hardy sliding bolts (like the kind used to latch doors or gates) and use them to attach the panel to the posts. That way, it would take just a moment or two to free the panel from the posts should the need arise.

The boys and I took the pickup to Lowes on Saturday morning to purchase the required materials and hardware. Once home, my first task was to remove the remaining parts of the old fence. The section being fenced is about ten feet wide, so it takes one eight-foot wide panel plus a little. The boys had successfully demolished one post and so the panel was free. However that left two posts and a little section still standing, plus the remainder of the broken post that was below ground. The sledge hammer made short work of the small panel. The post that had been between the two panels was fairly easy to remove. I grabbed a piece of rebar I had in the garage, put it through one of the holes in the post and used it to apply leverage to twist the post and lift it out of the hole. The next post was the hardest. It was right up against the house and, since it was an end post, it did not have a hole all the way through it. So I had to drill a hole through it so I could get the rebar through it. Then, because the post was against the house, the range of motion was limited. It took a lot more twisting, lifting and exertion to get that one out of the ground.

At that point, Stephanie came over and told me that my neighbor's brother, who has been staying with him, had offered to let me borrow his power auger (hole digger) to help with the holes for the posts. This was great I thought since I only had one of those muscle powered post hole digger models. So I went over, received instructions and lugged the power auger over to where I was working. I measured to make sure I knew where the posts needed to be. As I thought, I was going to be able to use the existing holes. Now the power auger's drill was only a two-footer - the same as the depth of the existing holes. So it would not be much help there. Now remember that I still had a part of a post in one of the holes. I hoped that it would not be an issue for the power auger. But no such luck, it stopped the auger in it's tracks. Disappointed, I returned the auger without having been able to really use it.

To get the remainder of the post out of the ground, I pounded the rebar into the post with the sledge hammer and was able to lift it out that way. Since I had ten-foot posts (4" x 4" x 10') I needed to deepen the two holes. I decided that 3 and a half feet would be good. That would give me about six inches of length above the fence. Once the fence was installed, I could then cut off what I didn't need, leveling it at that point instead of trying to install them perfectly level.

I set off to work with my trusty post hole digger and about an hour later had two three-and-a-half foot holes. Next I cutoff the ends of the stockade's support beams, the ends intended to be inserted into the holes on the fence posts to hold it up. I did this so that the panel could be placed right up to the posts.

I put the first post in, leveled it, and, with the boys' help, filled in the hole. Stephanie was recruited to help with the last post. I moved the panel into place and she positioned the post against it. Then I leveled it and filled in the hole while she held the post. The next step was to attach the sliding bolts, put the panel in place, drill the holes to receive the bolts and attach the fence. That was all the work for Saturday.

This afternoon I only needed to install the small panel. I used a piece of paneling that I already had from when I installed the gate last year. I used L-brackets to attach it to the post to fill the gap between the big section and the house. To help stabilize the small section, since it was only attached to one post, I drove a piece of 2x4 into the ground next to the house, straightened an L-bracket and secured the lower corner of the small panel to the 2x4. Due to the way the exterior wall extends out over the foundation wall, there was a gap that I blocked with an old piece of quarter inch plywood. That was to help prevent critters, such as skunks, from coming and going as they pleased.

The work is now all done with the exception of trimming off the tops of the posts. I'm going to wait to let the posts set in for a bit before I start sawing on the tops of them. The kids can now move about the yard freely and not escape. I like projects that I can accomplish in a weekend.

The finished product

One of the bolts used to hold the big panel in place

The 2x4, straightened L-bracket and plywood critter-preventer