What I did over 35 years ago in Southern California, where there are termites. I dug post holes about every 8' put in a galvanized pole in concrete. (Drill holes in the poles before installing them using a drill press. Save you a lot of time.) Then I sandwiched the posts between red wood 2 x4s. Attached stringers and my 'pickets.' (I made a herring boned type pattern which took forever...) What this does is lift all the wooden parts off the ground. The posts never rot or get chewed. Has held up great for 35 years. I did wash it down once and reapplied an exterior wood coating (not polyurethane, more like a re moisturizer.) I put the rough side on my neighbor's side. The sun will rake right down along the fence. That side looks amazing... So set up a couple of patches and see what you like. If you just do it on something that moves, you don't have to sit around waiting on the sun, just move your test patch. And the thing about pickets? They don't have to be uniform, just close. You'll noticed if the top is uneven, or if they cockeyed, but you will never notice if you cut out little pockets on the side (if there is some space between the pickets). The repetition evens it all out. My herring bone pattern was a pain because the fence was on a slope. I was half way finished before I figured out how to precut more than one board at a time. The gaps? With butt joints you will get gaps. If you don't want them, and I didn't on my fence, you have to make lap joints or tongue and groove. Lap joints with a table saw and maybe a dado blade would be really easy to do. And give them some space. As the green wood dries it shrinks, but when it rains soft wood can expand across the grain 6 - 8% or more. (Haven't looked this up in a while.) If they warp it would be better to have the stringer closer to the top... but we only learn this later. I love white cedar. I once bought every piece the lumberyard had. They ordered it, the whole pile was all over the place with warping, but the wood looked great. They were selling it cheap to get rid of it. I bought some, went home, made something with it, loved it, but also found that if was nailed down the warping was so weak it laid flat and stayed flat. I've got a 14' table and a large deck. And yeah gate latch hardware is still limited....
I put up the same pickets and had very similar issues with the pickets etc. I too wanted to save some money so I used 2x2 top and bottom and a 2x4 center. I don't have any regrets there, the 2x4 across the center gave it more than adequate strength. Watching this video I remember the pain and time I wasted trying to get everything perfect, wasn't worth it once the pickets started drying smh lol All in all it looks very good and does what a fence should do. I kept the bottom of the pickets off the ground about 2" and ran a picket along the bottom to the ground, kinda like trim molding lol.. This way I'm hoping the fence pickets will last a lot longer without the ground contact and picket running across the bottom gives it a finished looked, plus its a lot easier to replace one of the pickets running across if rot develops on it instead of risking rot on the bottom of all of them over time. 6 years and counting all is well! Great tips for anyone looking to make their own fence, keep up the great work and videos!
Rough- thanks for sharing. About to start a 240’ fence with some slope and curve…. Never done it before but I’ve been watching a ton of videos to make it easier…. Green Wood Bad!!!
I agree the wood quality is like any other garbage your large national hardware stores provide us, but what really helps warping picketts is they should not be nailed to the runner board more than 6 inches away from the top or bottom of the dog ear pickett. You will always have some bad pickets but the wood being green or wet is not the issue. It's mainly the runner placement.
Did you watch any videos on UA-cam. There are several fence companies who put how to videos on how to build a quality fence. SWI, The Fence Expert, Mr. Fence. These guys tell you all the ins and outs of building a quality fence.
The wood is trash today, years ago you can buy straight smooth lumber 2x4, 2x6 whatever today not smooth very rough ragged warped splits, I had taken back so many over n over again & yet they charge much for this junk I still have more to take back & what's frustrating is having to use an electric plainer bring the edges on most are not level.
2 inch ring shank for the pickets . Your pickets will fall off before those nails pull out. Also , even green lumber will have s bow to it. Face your bows the same direction, at least it will watp in same direction......... you definitely don't want your gate hanging off the side of your house.
What I did over 35 years ago in Southern California, where there are termites. I dug post holes about every 8' put in a galvanized pole in concrete. (Drill holes in the poles before installing them using a drill press. Save you a lot of time.) Then I sandwiched the posts between red wood 2 x4s. Attached stringers and my 'pickets.' (I made a herring boned type pattern which took forever...) What this does is lift all the wooden parts off the ground. The posts never rot or get chewed. Has held up great for 35 years. I did wash it down once and reapplied an exterior wood coating (not polyurethane, more like a re moisturizer.)
I put the rough side on my neighbor's side. The sun will rake right down along the fence. That side looks amazing... So set up a couple of patches and see what you like. If you just do it on something that moves, you don't have to sit around waiting on the sun, just move your test patch.
And the thing about pickets? They don't have to be uniform, just close. You'll noticed if the top is uneven, or if they cockeyed, but you will never notice if you cut out little pockets on the side (if there is some space between the pickets). The repetition evens it all out.
My herring bone pattern was a pain because the fence was on a slope. I was half way finished before I figured out how to precut more than one board at a time. The gaps? With butt joints you will get gaps. If you don't want them, and I didn't on my fence, you have to make lap joints or tongue and groove. Lap joints with a table saw and maybe a dado blade would be really easy to do.
And give them some space. As the green wood dries it shrinks, but when it rains soft wood can expand across the grain 6 - 8% or more. (Haven't looked this up in a while.)
If they warp it would be better to have the stringer closer to the top... but we only learn this later. I love white cedar. I once bought every piece the lumberyard had. They ordered it, the whole pile was all over the place with warping, but the wood looked great. They were selling it cheap to get rid of it. I bought some, went home, made something with it, loved it, but also found that if was nailed down the warping was so weak it laid flat and stayed flat. I've got a 14' table and a large deck.
And yeah gate latch hardware is still limited....
I put up the same pickets and had very similar issues with the pickets etc. I too wanted to save some money so I used 2x2 top and bottom and a 2x4 center. I don't have any regrets there, the 2x4 across the center gave it more than adequate strength. Watching this video I remember the pain and time I wasted trying to get everything perfect, wasn't worth it once the pickets started drying smh lol All in all it looks very good and does what a fence should do. I kept the bottom of the pickets off the ground about 2" and ran a picket along the bottom to the ground, kinda like trim molding lol.. This way I'm hoping the fence pickets will last a lot longer without the ground contact and picket running across the bottom gives it a finished looked, plus its a lot easier to replace one of the pickets running across if rot develops on it instead of risking rot on the bottom of all of them over time. 6 years and counting all is well! Great tips for anyone looking to make their own fence, keep up the great work and videos!
Rough- thanks for sharing. About to start a 240’ fence with some slope and curve…. Never done it before but I’ve been watching a ton of videos to make it easier…. Green Wood Bad!!!
Great tips, thanks! I’ve got my posts in and going to buy the rest of the lumber today. Do you think cedar pickets would avoid the warping problem?
I agree the wood quality is like any other garbage your large national hardware stores provide us, but what really helps warping picketts is they should not be nailed to the runner board more than 6 inches away from the top or bottom of the dog ear pickett. You will always have some bad pickets but the wood being green or wet is not the issue. It's mainly the runner placement.
Did you watch any videos on UA-cam. There are several fence companies who put how to videos on how to build a quality fence. SWI, The Fence Expert, Mr. Fence. These guys tell you all the ins and outs of building a quality fence.
The wood is trash today, years ago you can buy straight smooth lumber 2x4, 2x6 whatever today not smooth very rough ragged warped splits, I had taken back so many over n over again & yet they charge much for this junk I still have more to take back & what's frustrating is having to use an electric plainer bring the edges on most are not level.
I think you did outstanding!! Mistakes and all!!
Are you going to stain it?
That's why I always get a professional to install my fence. Cheaper in the long run.
I saved about $3000. Definitely cheaper in the long run for me to do it myself.
2 inch ring shank for the pickets . Your pickets will fall off before those nails pull out. Also , even green lumber will have s bow to it. Face your bows the same direction, at least it will watp in same direction......... you definitely don't want your gate hanging off the side of your house.
Buying cedar pickets solves all the picket problems
Great tips. Green wood…
Picket or paling fence? The title of the video is the 11th i guess
Think about using gravel boards next time rather than having the palings touch the ground.
All i see its a watermelon 😋