Hi all,

I need to replace a rotting 4x4 pressure treated wood post that is supporting one side of our gate. I would l like to replace it with a round metal gate post to hopefully avoid the rotting wood issue in the future and make a very strong support side as this gate is used a lot.

The problem I'm having is two-fold:

First issue is how do I replace the wood post with a round post without having to cut or break the surrounding concrete. The round post will take up as much room as the 4x4 so I don't think there will be much room for pouring in new concrete.

If I have to cut the concrete I'll do it, of course.

Second issue is how to attach the 2"x2" (approx) metal gate frame to a round post.

Or do I just try and sink another 4x4 post in and figure on replacing it in another 10 years?

Or can I use a Postmaster type of post and try to attach the gate frame to it?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

https://preview.redd.it/jqtfxd7o76yd1.jpg?width=2142&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=263b4e3b57526793ee5c48c53107c3df3c679716

https://preview.redd.it/hgzl75kp76yd1.jpg?width=2142&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32d04d929fffcf0e050b98e5cd48672f0729082a

https://preview.redd.it/flu9es9r76yd1.jpg?width=2142&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12a93cfbae6ab79565fcd115b26f706267ff4a9d

160’ fence section between neighbor and I. He’s pretty amiable to the idea of splitting the costs (I’m already paying a contractor for labor for other projects so they’ve agreed to build a fence if I give them materials) but I’m not sure the best kind of fence to build. I’ve seen so many people say having “board on board” pickers on both sides of the fence lead to moisture issues and leaf/debris buildup. Is a shadowbox fence the best option in this case then? I guess a narrow shadowbox?

My main goal is to open the door on the right, to let my dog back in the yard.

The yellow area is the end of my neighbors fence, the red are where I want to put up some terminals, the purple/blue is where I want to put chain link (even tho other styles seem simpler), and the green is a perfect space for a 10ft gate.

I’m sure there are other opinions and awesome insights you all could provide.

I have read up on property lines and neighbor issues, and before I go further with any detailing/schematics/planning…I wanted to ask the hive mind.

Thanks and be well

Hi all,

I’m about to build a 7’ tall wooden privacy fence, but I’m not sure how it should be constructed so that it will last as long as possible.  The plan so far is to opt for a board and batten style for full privacy.

Here’s where I’m torn:

1. PostMasters vs 6x6.  One contractor said PostMasters wouldn’t be a good choice because a 7’ tall board and batten fence is a lot of weight.  He has used PostMasters before and finds they tend to sway and are simply not as solid as 6x6 posts.  I  brought up my concern of rot and how I don’t want to need to rebuild the fence in 20 years, but the contractor assured me that with 6x6 posts and a good stain the fence will last just as long.
2. Should the rails be four 2x4s or three 2x6s? Which would offer more stability?
3. How important is it to use screws instead of nails? Does it matter?
4. How much of a difference does staining make?

Again, the goal is to build a wooden fence that will last as long as possible.

Thank you for your help.

Do I need to fill the nail holes? I was planning to stain the fence with semi transparent ready seal stain and trying to figure out if i need to fill the nail holes with wood putty or filler

Looking for normal pricing help on a 52’ x 6’ fence I wanted to put a rustic type board about 2” wide each I got one quote for $11500 Seems a bit much but I’m still looking to get more quotes

Location: Lancaster, PA

I'm building a block retaining wall, brick sidewalk on top, and a 6ft vinyl fence between. The purple marks indicate fence posts. At the far end, the wall will top out at 2'ft high.

For the posts, I was planning:

-digging a minimum 24" into the soil below the wall base and inserting a 48" form tube and filling with concrete. -vinyl post will be 36"inside the concrete, 12" below the natural ground level

• area behind wall and aboce natural soil level will be 2b gravel

Questions: -Is this adequate strength and depth to avoid pressure on the wall? -because two feet of concrete will be above soil level, should I use rebar? (I have chain link fence posts I could use as well.)

Happy to answer any questions!

Hello I'm looking for help sourcing 4x4x8's (or any 4x4s that are taller than 8 feet) with round edges. I have some photos I will post of what I'm hoping to find but they aren't the best photos. Basically its a 4x4x8 that had the rough edges curved off. I see these posts all over the place in the new cookie cutter neighborhoods but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

https://preview.redd.it/wjglsn5ptzxd1.jpg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7688e961cb079ce8c604c14a17ea427c190900c8

https://preview.redd.it/2gljktoptzxd1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95fcde25d1556bfac193894e547cbc1af2ce637e

Just want to see hear everyone's reactions - Just set 4" round posts down to 20" - 22" for a 3' fence (35' length). Want to go deeper, but after 20" it turns to full on solid clay and rock. Even with a tow-behind auger, pickaxe, pry bar, sledge I couldn't get any deeper. Luckily the one post holding the gate got down to 24". Backfilled with the soil that came out and tamped the hell out of it.

On the bright side, the soil is so dense and clay filled that tamped backfill makes these things super solid feeling. We will see how much repair I'll be doing next summer!

https://preview.redd.it/ujgp6ukifzxd1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb9a55d6bd4ea0ff542251ddceea5e8b0f891743

How are you guys pricing 3 strand barbwire?

Can one weld a socket on a bit for hammer drill to drive t posts in...successfully? Halfway through fence and I don't think my back can take anymore. Don't want to spend anymore money. Need some diy redneck rig options to take the load off. Thank you in advance.

Have to put vinyl posts 33 inches into the ground here and concrete them in. There is about a foot of rock. Wondering how to dig these holes without the gravel continuously caving in.

Also the bottom of the fence needs to be about 4 inches under the top of the wall, so we’ll end up with only about 10 inches of post in the actual ground…how can I be sure my posts will stay stable?

Do I remove the all the gravel and fill it with soil? The landscapers got ahead of themselves, and kinda fucked us. Any ideas are appreciated.

I've got a significant amount of fence to build (300') at my house here in the mountain west. Most of the yard gets all day sun (14+ hours) in the summer, its nuclear. And then we get rain/snow in the winter. I'm searching for the best fence board material so that I can DIY the fence in the yard as well as on the perimeter of the driveway. I'm pretty handy with steel/welding as well as concrete and have built basic cedar fences in the past with timber posts.

Its a newer home with modern aesthetic so I'd prefer the fence to match and ideally with minimal maintenance. What would you recommend?

Some thoughts:

- Cedar: All of the cedar fences in my neighborhood fade to grey after 1-2 years and look like .....

- Composite: I've seen several prefab composite panels that are appealing. There just isn't a lot of customization here and I do have some odd lengths/angles to deal with.

- Vinyl: Feels too cheap and 'classic' for the house. But maybe there is something nicer out there?

- Exotics: It would be pricey but if I DIY I might be able to eek out an IPE or something similar. Will it just fade immediately like the cedar I see around town?

Thanks for the experience/advice!

This should be fun

Much easier and faster to install. Just drill a correspond hole in some scrap wood. Also doesn’t mar up the finish like a wrench.

Nextdoor neighbor is asking to lease some of my 18 acre land for his 14 head herd. I have about 1500 more feet of 5 strand to run to enclose the property before I can lease land to him and am planning on a few thousand more feet of fencing in the future to cut out pastures for my own cattle down the road. He mentioned that he’s cutting tons of cedar trees and that they’d make good fence posts, how might this work? Would cedar make good fence posts for H braces and line posts, and could I have the trees sent to a lumber mill locally to be turned into more uniform 6” round posts? Not quite sure how best this would work, but I’m motivated to do it because I’ll only get a few hundred bucks from a land lease for the year but getting a cheap source of posts could save me thousands with all the fence I’m planning.

Hello Fence Building people of reddit!

I’m hoping i might get some direction/advice here. I’d like to put in a fence around my property to contain my husky, and my toddler. As some of you can imagine, this is no small task. However, i have a corner lot, and as per section “E” of my village code (shown on attached photo of the permit application) i can at most have a 2 1/2 foot fence on the front yard of the property (in other words, a fence unfit for Husky containment). Now, as i drive around my town looking to other homes on corner lots, i find that some homes do in fact have 4ft fencing. My step father insists that this is only because “they know someone in the village” who was able to help those homeowners receive a variance. I suppose my question is, do i really have to “know-a-guy” to get permission from the village to build a taller fence for dog/baby containment? How would i go about this? Am i doomed? Do i resign myself to having a house-husky?

If this is not the proper place to be posting this, where would be?

Any other thoughts or experiences outside of the explicit questions that may be helpful are appreciated and encouraged!!! Thank you Reddit!!!

I’m gonna take this time to suggest using screws. This one was built with ceramic coated washer head 5 inch torque screws.

I'm looking into making a sound reducing fence as I live directly next to the highway. Does anyone have any experience building an all wooden noise reducing fence? I'd like to hear your experiences.

Does anybody know what this thing does? Or what is used for

Is it possible to use a 2x6 to double as both the bottom stringer and a rot board?

Asking because this would allow me to on place my pickets level at the top and prevent gaps at the bottom of the fence without having to use an additional board on the outside of the fence to serve as the rot board.