Bill Lantry
Member
- Messages
- 2,663
- Location
- Inside the Beltway
Hey, folks,
I need a new fence out back. The old one's a joke: 4' of 30 year old battered chainlink, enclosing too small an area. The dogs can clear 4', so there's another foot of green snow fence, held up with stakes and baling wire (did I mention it's an unsightly joke? Not only that, but it's vulnerable at the corners, and the border collie has lately been exposing that vulnerability whenever there's thunder in the area. Then she goes and hides in the shop...
So, I need a good design. It needs to be secure, but it also needs to be cheap. Remember the old rule of thumb for programmers: cheap, secure, pretty: pick two. It needs to be 142 feet long. Did I mention it needs to be cheap?
So: three 50' rolls of 60" wire. How to hold it up? Well, with 4x4 posts, every 8 feet. Ok, need laterals. 2x4s? 1x4s? Three in each section: ground level, top, and middle. Do I notch the posts to receive them? Just attach them with stainless steel screws? Attach them, put on the wire, and then use a one by four vertically up the post to cover the wire? (I saw that technique in horse country last weekend)
I can't imagine anything cheaper than that that's going to strong enough. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Bill
I need a new fence out back. The old one's a joke: 4' of 30 year old battered chainlink, enclosing too small an area. The dogs can clear 4', so there's another foot of green snow fence, held up with stakes and baling wire (did I mention it's an unsightly joke? Not only that, but it's vulnerable at the corners, and the border collie has lately been exposing that vulnerability whenever there's thunder in the area. Then she goes and hides in the shop...
So, I need a good design. It needs to be secure, but it also needs to be cheap. Remember the old rule of thumb for programmers: cheap, secure, pretty: pick two. It needs to be 142 feet long. Did I mention it needs to be cheap?
So: three 50' rolls of 60" wire. How to hold it up? Well, with 4x4 posts, every 8 feet. Ok, need laterals. 2x4s? 1x4s? Three in each section: ground level, top, and middle. Do I notch the posts to receive them? Just attach them with stainless steel screws? Attach them, put on the wire, and then use a one by four vertically up the post to cover the wire? (I saw that technique in horse country last weekend)
I can't imagine anything cheaper than that that's going to strong enough. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Bill