question about fencing

Most farms and a lot of rural properties use rough lumber for fences. After all, why bother to fancy up something to be used for practical purposes only?
Go for it.

Thanks Frank. Listen, I'm trying to figure out what the cheapest rough lumber is that I can find that's about 4/4. I can get Western White Pine that's 1.40/bf but it's 8/4 or I can get alder that's 15/16 for 1.80/bf. Can you do a fence out of Alder? Otherwise the pine is twice as thick for cheaper......
 
Cynthia,

All of the fences I've built have been primarily made out of cedar. The only non-cedar pieces typically are the pressure treated, ground contact 4" by 4" posts. The "fencing" material is usually rough sawn all though I think I did build one out of 5/4" decking. Rails can go either way although I prefer to use cedar to batch the fence boards.

In my experience, the Cedar will last a lot longer than the pine will
 
...and alder ought to deteriorate the fastest.

Hold out for cedar unless this is very temporary fence or you want to it redo in a very few years.

If pine or alder are your only choices, choose the pine.

From one who only presumes to be one of the "boys" :rolleyes:
 
There's several outdoor woods that last good. Around here cypress, pressure treated pine, and cedar are the most common in commercial fencing. Pressure treated pine is the worst of the three though, a regular white pine fence I don't think would last long. I've read that white oak is a great outdoor wood a number of times, probably as good or better than the common fence woods.

In the south termites are as much of a problem as rot though, and they love the soft woods. I'm not sure if they're an issue in canada or not. I think if I were making a rough sawn fence I'd try for white oak or cedar.
 
Carol, no disrespect :) I haven't seen a lot of your posts lately.

But Cedar is so expensive :(

On the list I got today, here are the cheapest things:

Alder Common Select 15/16 $1.40
Western White Pine 3/4" X 5" $1.40
Red Cedar Mixed Grain STK 4/4 $2.40

there's Red Cedar "flooring" 1" X 4" V joint STK $1.54 but you can't use flooring boards on a fence, can you?

I've got about 80' of wood fence to do, and it's gotta be at least 7' high.......the rest can be wire......personally I'd do wire everywhere but LOML says it's too ugly.....
 
Is it going to be painted or left natural?

If you are going to paint it then make it out of the cheaper woods. It will last 20 plus years if maintained. I would use pressure treated posts though. They will rot below ground quickly if you don't use PT or cedar. The slats if left natural would last for 5-10 years. You might have to replace one slat from time to time.
My choice would be the pine.
 
Red Cedar Mixed Grain STK 4/4 $2.40

there's Red Cedar "flooring" 1" X 4" V joint STK $1.54 but you can't use flooring boards on a fence, can you?

I've got about 80' of wood fence to do, and it's gotta be at least 7' high.......the rest can be wire......personally I'd do wire everywhere but LOML says it's too ugly.....


Why use 4/4"? Most fences these days are built from either 3/4" or 5/8".

I see no reason why you couldn't use floor boards if that's what you choose to do.

If I may ask, why the 7' versus a the more standard 6'?
 
Why use 4/4"? Most fences these days are built from either 3/4" or 5/8".

I see no reason why you couldn't use floor boards if that's what you choose to do.

If I may ask, why the 7' versus a the more standard 6'?

Yes, Peter, of course you may ask.

My thinking was that if I buy rough lumber from a lumber yard the boards are usually 4/4 or 15/16 or 6/4 or 8/4. 7' because of the dreaded deer population here. If I make it shorter, then I have to add netting or wiring on top--which is ugly. If I make it 7 or 8', I'm reasonably safe.

The fence is some distance, maybe 30 feet from the property line and since I'm rural I can make it any height I want. I figured it needed to be wood or it will look ridiculous next to a stone post and gate.

And yes, I know there are lots of people who don't mind the deer, but I mind. I'm a serious gardener who lived for 20 years in a Zone 3 garden climate. Now I'm in a Zone 7, and I plan to plant a lot of interesting and exotic things. They deer can enjoy a buffet at my neighbors' places.
 
Too bad you're not in Nebraska where we use hedge posts (osage orange or bois d'arc) harvested locally almost as trash wood. This stuff will last just slightly less than forever as a post in the ground. But you need to cut it while green if possible, once it dries it's harder than a buggy hub. If you get some fair sized trees you can split rails and make a lifetime fence. Some searching around your local area might be worth a little extra effort. We have local "sale barns" where the farmers buy and sell items such as this. Good luck.:wave:
 
cynthia,, i woould look into a chain link fence and that way you can see whats going on around yu instead of being fenced in visually as well..plus its very easy to maintain..over in maryland with dave,, they had alot of that around there high dollar homes,, to keep out the deer..
 
Larry, you're right, and we did look into chain link. We got an estimate for $1200 for that span (80'). I'm thinking I can (or get the kids to) build it for a lot less and pay them if I do it out of wood. I'm tending to agree with Bob that I can do it out of pine and it would last a long time except for replacing a board now and then. But yes, I figure the posts and stringers have to be pressure treated.

How do you guys like this fence? I love it, but LOML doesn't.....
 
I'd suggest a simple electric fence if the intent is to keep deer out of the garden. We run 4 strands of wire around a 25' x 125' garden and use a solar charger for the fence. Whitetail deer are definitely around, but NOT in the garden. Raccoons and skunks stay out as does the dog. Rabbits are another story, but that is why they make 22 lr's!
 
Hang on a second. This is a deer fence? For mule deer? Yikes.

Maybe think differently:

deer_fence_large.jpg


http://www.bennersgardens.com/prod-fence-kits.asp

http://www.bennersgardens.com/deer-fencing-info.asp

http://www.invisible-deer-fence.com/

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/Fencing.html

http://www.deerfencing.com/

Lots of solutions out there. Even a split rail fence with wire mesh would likely make for more happiness than a plank fence would... ;)

They'll laugh at a six foot plank fence. Then they'll jump right over. :eek:

Thanks,

Bill
 
How do you guys like this fence? I love it, but LOML doesn't.....

I confess that the style you linked to is a little too random for my tastes. Plus, if it's cedar, the colors will likely even out to a nice silver color over a relatively short amount of time.

Trust me, I understand about your wanting to keep the deer out. Deer were the bane of my late father's existence. He tried everything - and I mean everything, including to my mother's chagrin, urinating around the property line to keep them away from his beloved plants. :doh:

If the fence is going to be set back 30' from the property line, would you consider two fences? My suggestion would be to build a standard 6' cedar and then on the outside, approximately 2 or 3' from the wooden fence install "T" bars every 16' or so feet and run a single wire about 3' off the ground. The deer won't jump over both fences.
 
I'm thinking you are lucky you have to worry about deer. The bane of my gardening are the stupid little ground squirrels that would take just one bite out of every stupid tomato or vegetable we tried to grow last year....

Just try and fence out a ground squirrel... :rofl:
 
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