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Picket Fence

clarkatron, member

6 users recommend

View of the fence from the street.  Keeping everything level on what could generously be called uneven terrain was an interesting challenge.

We adjusted the lengths of the individual sections on this side of the house to better frame the tree.  We also didn't want to cut into any of the tree's roots; hence the raised lower rail.

View of the side gate, from the inside of the yard.

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This is a fence my father and I recently completed for a small home here in Houston. The plan was to build a white picket fence that would more or less match the house's existing trim, but wouldn't interfere with either the landscaping, or more importantly, the giant oak tree in the front yard.

The fence itself is about 3' tall (more or less, depending on where you stand.  Sidewalk repair doesn't seem to be a priority here in our fair city) and 60' long.  There is a double gate in the front, and a smaller single gate on the side.  The large posts on the corners and at the gates are pressure-treated 6x6s, and the smaller posts are stock 4x4s.  All of the pickets and rails were milled from rough, 8/4 western red cedar.  The gates swing on 4" x 4" ball-bearing brass hinges, and the fence sections are bolted to the post-tabs with bronze carriage bolts.

The posts are set 2 feet into the ground.  Once the posts were set, we took careful measurements, and built and painted each section of the fence off-site, back at the shop.  We left the individual pickets over-long so that we could adjust the distance between the the ground and the bottom of each picket once we were back on-site.

This project was truly a labor of love, and a great learning experience.  All in, there are about 300 man-hours in this fence.

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Bernie's House

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Cabinet with copper trim

Comments (2)

Huck writes: No, but in a pinch I've cut the posts off flush at the ground, poured in some Temin-X, and relocated the new posts.
Posted: 4:28 pm on October 3rd

MB101 writes: Just wanted to say hat is a beautiful fence! Looks great. I'm in California right now during the fires and heat wave and in the middle of pulling out some cedar fence posts. I'm not sure but it seems like whoever installed these posts used a 50lb bag on each one! Maybe it's just the heat but does anyone know of a better way than to just dig these posts out???

Thanks so much!

Michael B.
Posted: 6:29 pm on September 3rd

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