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I just could not bring myself to buying pre-fab privacy fence panels. I don't like the 6 foot height, although my wife does. I prefer a 5 foot high fence. We compromised and I went with a 65" tall fence. It is something I designed up myself. I have no idea if it is something that is normal or not. But it was the best bang for my buck I could think of, and let me tell you, I spent a lot of time thinking about my bucks.
My wife did convince me to go with cedar though. I think that was an expense worth spending. It is looking great and it should last a nice long time.
So far we have one side up, and I am slowly digging the post holes along the back of the yard. Originally we used a auger to dig the first 18 holes, but when my helper broke his knuckle on the neighbors existing fence pole, I thought, as a much older man than my helper was, that it would behoove me to, instead dig those poles that are close to other poles by hand. It is a slow go but I dug 3 1/2 post holes in about two hours last night. And I would say there is about 4 1/2 more along the back fence line. Then I will probably rent a auger to finish up the line.
This is what I am doing for the fence. I am digging 30"-32" deep for the poles. I purchased 2 3/8" diameter metal corner posts. They are 8' long. I am leaving about 65" above the ground. I am using a 8" auger bit and I am filling the hole to about 6" from the top with quickrete. It takes either almost one bag, or one bag, depending on depth and actual diameter the hole ended up being. we spray the hole with water, then bury it the rest of the way with dirt. Leaving the pole level and plumb.
After the poles are set, I am using fence post clamps for chain link fence, pinched between a 5/4 board that has been ripped in half. I use one at the bottom and one at the top. I run a 1/4 x 2 1/2" lg lag bolt through the wood and through the hole in the pipe clamp. Then, in between that, I am using the 5/8 x 5 1/2 dog eared fence pickets available at home depot. I cut the dog ears off, since my fence is not actually 6' tall. I then cap this with another 5/4 board on the top of the fence. After all that, I go back and cover the pole with another picket, one on the inside of the fence and one on the outside.
Both me and my wife gravitate to a mid-century modern look. Privacy fencing, in a very general term is completely anti-mcm, because of the fact that one of the things mcm tries to achieve is a sense of one with nature. The large windows, through and through the homes so you can stand outside, see through the house and back outside again is not a mistake, they actually do that on purpose so you are always looking at organic things. And the furniture design as well, all though looks funky, is trying to achieve an organic feel.
Anyway, privacy fence doesn't do any of these things, it is a wall, plain and simple. We tried, but I would say it ended up with a more contemporarty feel than mcm. It is still pretty cool, and I still like it a lot.
Coming up? Lots of stuff. We have the excavator back out today to re-grade, and eliminate some of these dirt mounds. He will also be digging trenches for us, since the ground sucks so much it would take us a week to dig them by hand.
Also, more fencing of course. Plumbing, and rough electrical. This will include bonding the pool. I am not a trained electrician and if you are not comfortable doing the electrical I do recommend you find help. There, I have given my disclaimer.
So far we have one side up, and I am slowly digging the post holes along the back of the yard. Originally we used a auger to dig the first 18 holes, but when my helper broke his knuckle on the neighbors existing fence pole, I thought, as a much older man than my helper was, that it would behoove me to, instead dig those poles that are close to other poles by hand. It is a slow go but I dug 3 1/2 post holes in about two hours last night. And I would say there is about 4 1/2 more along the back fence line. Then I will probably rent a auger to finish up the line.
This is what I am doing for the fence. I am digging 30"-32" deep for the poles. I purchased 2 3/8" diameter metal corner posts. They are 8' long. I am leaving about 65" above the ground. I am using a 8" auger bit and I am filling the hole to about 6" from the top with quickrete. It takes either almost one bag, or one bag, depending on depth and actual diameter the hole ended up being. we spray the hole with water, then bury it the rest of the way with dirt. Leaving the pole level and plumb.
After the poles are set, I am using fence post clamps for chain link fence, pinched between a 5/4 board that has been ripped in half. I use one at the bottom and one at the top. I run a 1/4 x 2 1/2" lg lag bolt through the wood and through the hole in the pipe clamp. Then, in between that, I am using the 5/8 x 5 1/2 dog eared fence pickets available at home depot. I cut the dog ears off, since my fence is not actually 6' tall. I then cap this with another 5/4 board on the top of the fence. After all that, I go back and cover the pole with another picket, one on the inside of the fence and one on the outside.
Both me and my wife gravitate to a mid-century modern look. Privacy fencing, in a very general term is completely anti-mcm, because of the fact that one of the things mcm tries to achieve is a sense of one with nature. The large windows, through and through the homes so you can stand outside, see through the house and back outside again is not a mistake, they actually do that on purpose so you are always looking at organic things. And the furniture design as well, all though looks funky, is trying to achieve an organic feel.
Coming up? Lots of stuff. We have the excavator back out today to re-grade, and eliminate some of these dirt mounds. He will also be digging trenches for us, since the ground sucks so much it would take us a week to dig them by hand.
Also, more fencing of course. Plumbing, and rough electrical. This will include bonding the pool. I am not a trained electrician and if you are not comfortable doing the electrical I do recommend you find help. There, I have given my disclaimer.
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