This summer, one of the outdoor projects will be a replace the 4′ high chain link fence with a 6′ wood fence. We like the neighbors, but we’re all feeling the need for a bit more privacy.
I’m looking for some design ideas. My wife is bored with all the usual fence designs, so she’s hoping for something different and I like the challenge of that.
I plan to make it out of pressure treated wood (cheaper, er I mean, cost effective) and use the posts in place as my posts (I think I will hollow out two 2x4s to create a 4×4 post that wraps around the metal post). The fence will be about 60′ long and the yard is narrow, only 18′ wide. I think the garden design plans will also include planter boxes suspended from the fence. And, oh yeah, there will be a gate at the end, perpendicular to the fence.
If you have built a fence that is a neighborhood hit and have a picture, I would love to see it.
Thank you in advance for sharing.
Replies
this is called a good neighbor fence. it uses cedar fenceing and trim peices with pressure treated posts and rails. there is a 1x4 cedar running along the top and bottom of the face of the fence along with on laying flat on top of the fence rail and boards to protect the ends.
I'm more familiar with "good neighbor" including gaps between the boards. Though I guess the key element is the same look/finish on both sides.
Here's my version - since we are left coast it's redwood. I've since added an 18" tall section of lattice to support the vine - which has gotten a whole lot bigger since this picture was taken.
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In this section I put all the boards on the same side of the support 2x4 to better hide some ugglies below.View Image
Edited 4/12/2009 11:30 pm by wrudiger
I don't have any photos on hand, but I've incorporated lattice at the top of fences to give them a nice, unique look. One customer I did this for planed ivy to grow up and fill the lattice. Took a few years for it to reach the lattice, but looks really nice now that it has.
~ Ted W ~
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I probably have some pics somewhere, but this is gonna be your yard....
I think you should spend some time thinking about what you want this fence to be.
Will it be a back wall around an area that will host entertaining events?
Or will it simply be a backdrop behind a natural-looking wildflower garden?
The design ideas that I'd be working with would be VERY different between these options. One calls for formal designs, with some molding and maybe some frames and trim. The other calls for the fence to blend into the landscape -- not protrude from it.
(I found a couple pics that are more formal. Both were done with treated lumber.)
For the informal (fade-away), I've used a naturally-weathering wood like cypress or cedar, and done a simple stick fence, or maybe a board and batten. When it weathers, it looks like part of the garden.
Blessed are the meek, if that's OK with you?
(edited to manage attachments)
Edited 4/9/2009 8:31 pm ET by YesMaam27577
Thanks very much for the photos. I like the look of your design and the detailing. This fence will invariably be a major part of the landscaping simply because the yard is so small (18'wide x 60'long), so it has to look good.
One of the other posters mentioned that if I hollow out two 2x4s and put them together that it won't provide enough strength for the fence.... what do you think? I'm confused on this because I recall reading an issue of FH where they did the same thing.
Thank you again for the help.
Hollowing out the 2X4's at first seems to be a good idea. But if that's the way I had done it, I wouldn't be able to sleep very well.Although the steel post is still there giving lateral strength, there is nothing (seemingly) which bonds the wood to the steel. And if the steel isn't bonded somehow, then it really is not adding strength.Secondly, once you hollow out the 2X4's, there is very little wood left to attach the fence panels/stringers to. And even if you can get some screws to bite, its likely that they will not hold for the decade or so that you will expect.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
So, if hollowing out a pair of 2x4s to create a 4x4 that encases the metal pole isn't the answer, what is? And please don't say dig out the pole and the concrete footing - they go down 4' - and the thought of this much work is enough to make a weekender DIYer like me melt.
Thanks
The first-choice, high-quality job would be to remove the steel posts, and the concrete that's gripping them.Second-best would be to cut the steel off below ground level (if that's possible), and bury the evidence. Then dig new post holes, being sure that you don't need to put a new one in any of the old locations (like that corner that you are already thinking about).The only other thought I've ever had was to cut the steel off at the top of the concrete, and then figure out how to fasten a post anchor to that existing concrete. It could work, I guess, but I'll bet that its even more work that A or B above.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Hmmmm.
I'm going to have to give this one some thought before I start. Thank you for your thoughts and advice. I really appreciate it.
Was unsuccessful with multiple attachments in a single post -- here's another
Blessed are the meek, if that's OK with you?
Very nice!View Image"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Thanks for the compliment.FWIW, both of those pics are of fences that I did using pressure treated wood. That was before the corrosive ACQ lumber -- IIRC it was CCA treatment.Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
And just one more......
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
...and again, very nice also!View Image"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
A pair of 2x4s hollowed out will not have enough mea left to function as a post for a 6' tall fence
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Not only that but it would take twice as long as pulling up the old and putting in the new post in the same holes.
I would measure my run and space my posts evenly.
If you wanted you could make your posts taller than the fence boards and add another rail on top of a capped fence and do an arbor feature down the whole length.
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That's kinda what I was getting at when I mentioned lattice at the top. I'm not very good at describing by typing. Maybe when I get home from work today, I can dig through and see if I can find a photo of that one. ~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netSee my work - TedsCarpentry.com
I just finished a hundred feet or so of a style that I call "Classic". It's fairly simple and fast but it looks nice and I like it. It takes a couple minutes more to carve the posts a bit and layout the fence pickets but I think it's time well invested.
That is my daughter helping me in the first or second pic.
I like the notch detailing that you put on the posts. A simple but effective way to add elegance. I think that will make it into the final design.
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"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
that what I want concrete wall around my house
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"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Huck......(after seeing the pic of the "wavy" gate)I hope you realize that guys like me steal designs like that one. And although I usually give credit to where I got the idea -- I keep the money.Good work, love the look!
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Not my work nor my design - I just love to walk around snapping photos of stuff that interests me. Point and shoot!"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
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"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
That's my favorite, with the 4-petaled viewports. It looks like something out of Rivendell (Lord of the Rings)Bill
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"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
I would also definitely check out
http://www.gardenstructure.com
and http://www.kirsch-korff.com/
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Huck,
You are the man. Great variety of styles in your pictures and some of them are really nice. The door with the fern silouette is very inspiring as is the hand-made lattice detail that crosses gently.
Thank you very much for taking the time to upload the pictures.
Check out theres guys for wome design ideas:
http://www.walpolewoodworkers.com/
Click on "fence".
Fence design IS important. As well as gates (although you might ot have one here). If you do it correctly it makes a nice frame for the yard.
Runnerguy
Edited 4/13/2009 3:02 pm ET by runnerguy