Hi everyone,
I need to replace the fence in our backyard, which is close to falling over. Our yard is elevated above our back neighbors, so our entire back yard has railroad ties that act as a retaining wall, about 2 ft high. Many of these ties are looking like they won’t have many more birthdays. The posts of our fence are attached to a bracket, and this bracket is attached to the top of the railroad ties. So the posts rest on the top of the ties, and are not buried in the ground. Altough it would be ideal to replace all the ties and replace the retaining wall, it’s not something I want to do due to both cost, and since we don’t plan to be in the house more than onother year or two. So…the question is how do I replace the fence? I would like to not move the fence in very far and lose some of the backyard space. I’m hoping there is a product available that one of you might know of that would be buried in the ground, but then runs laterally allowing the post to be placed over the railroad ties again, allowing us to conserve space in our yard. I don’t think the ties are good enough the posts could be supported by them in any way underground. Do I have any options? This is the best place for ideas, so I hope someone has had their coffee today…
Thanks!
Ryan
Replies
Can you drive metal fence posts inboard of the ties, leaving only about two feet visible, and the fasten your (presumably wooden) posts to the metal ones? (Of course, this assumes that the fill behind the ties isn't too rocky.) The wood posts could then be mounted behind the metal ones, so that they in effect rested on the ties.
I sort of had that idea too, and that may be the only option. I don't know what kind of fill is behind the ties, but there is drainpipe below. The soil is not very rocky, so hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult. If you can think of another solution, please fire away. I'm hoping there is a solution out there that would reduce the need to customize the job very much, and reduce my time doing this.
Thanks,
Ryan