Oppopinionites -- Assemble! ... It's about fences.

"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck) 08/12/2020 at 10:31 • Filed to: None

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My current existential crisis is how to put up these pickets. The old fence was (it appears) installed with no gaps. It is supposed to be a full privacy fence. There is a mixture of old and new posts. Some posts are okay, my posts are plumb, but a few are very much not plumb. The pic kets are cedar.

So my options are:

1) install everything tight and cut down the last picket with a table saw on each panel to fill the remainder.

2) take the width from post to post, divide by the width of the picket, take the remainder and divide by pickets minus 1 to determine spacing. This means spacing will vary on each panel, in theory. Even if slightly.

I don’t want the space to be excessive because I expect the pickets to shrink over time. 1) souuuuunds like it’s quicker option because I can just run through with the hammer and no math until I get to the last picket on each panel, but 2) will be probably do the job and not require the table saw. But it will more critical to make sure the pickets are hanging plumb and having to worry about multiple gaps so I gotta make a jig... PER panel! Because every post-to-post measurement is just different enough to be annoying.

Thoughts?

InFierority Complex > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 10:43

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Future ND Owner > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 10:43

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If you go with option 1, y ou need to leave at least a 1/4 " width gap between pickets , as they will swell when wet.

Don’t use a nails; half of them will pull out in 3 years and the pickets will all warp . Use stainless screws and the fence will last you at least 20 years .

TheRealBicycleBuck > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 10:44

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I t all depends on the look you’re going for. To make it easier, m ove t he stringers to one side of the post so you don’t have to cut pickets down to size and you get to hide the post on one side of the fence.

When I built my fences, I bought pre-made panels to make it “easier”. I learned that those pre-made panels are just slapped together and they don’t care about consistent lengths. Some were way too long to fit between my carefully measured and centered posts. The worst were the ones which were too short to reach between two posts.

The next time around, I’ll put the stringers either between the posts, flush to one edge or I’ll just nail the stringers to the side of the post and go from there. This is definitely the easiest thing to do.

Pickup_man > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 10:48

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When I put my fence up I just used a carpenters pencil as a spacer and cut the last boards down with the table saw. Was super easy and went really fast with a nail gun. One piece of advise , c heck every post or two that the pickets are vertical with a level, I did one side of my fence only checking the first picket and then using nothing but my spacer the whole way down, by the time I got to the end the bottom of the last picket was crooked by about 2". I just cut a filler piece and called it good enough but would check more often if I had to do it again. 

Sovande > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 10:50

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Do the pickets fit inside the posts? If so, I’d f ind the middle and start there and cut the last pcikets as you said. If they go over the top of the posts then I’d just start at one end and cut the final picket to size.

Maybe I don’t understand what you are asking?

jeepoftheseus > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/12/2020 at 11:05

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I feel you on that. I built a fence a couple of years ago out of livestock panel... there was a good 1-2” variance between the panel lengths. That first week of carefully measuring and setting posts here and there after work before I picked up the panels that weekend  and realize that my progress was, in fact, not progress. Live and learn!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 11:08

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#1

Make sure to string a line at the top to keep everything nice and straight/lined up at the top edges.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > InFierority Complex 08/12/2020 at 11:18

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Nom De Plume > Future ND Owner 08/12/2020 at 12:01

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Shrinkage wasn’t my concern where he lives.  You covered the actual concerns.

RPM esq. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 12:27

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#1 for sure but I’d still make sure each picket was straight/plumb along the way, having once had a similar experience to the one Pickup_man described. And like him, I just said “fuck it” and then was only mildly annoyed every single goddamn time I walked by the ridiculously crooked last board for the next five years before I moved.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Sovande 08/12/2020 at 14:14

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No I think you get it. You're even saying to start in the middle and cut down BOTH ends. That will probably be necessary...

Sovande > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 08/12/2020 at 15:08

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Now that I think about it, I would do exactly as you described and start at one end and end at the other.  That way you only have one cut board.

glemon > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/12/2020 at 22:01

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So I just assumed I mucked up my posts and the fence sections were equal when I did mine years ago.  Self confidence restored.