120' fence

[fizzy]

The ex has a long garden - old terraced house. The fence keeps getting blown over and guess who has to keep patching it up! I wouldn't care but have to keep the doggies safe!

Currently it is feather edge - aptly named!

The biggest problem is that the ground is awful - 3" of soil then hardcore. In other words it will be a sod to dig. That is half the trouble - the current posts just aren't holding very well.

She doesn't have much cash - someone quoted her £1000 to renew with more feather edge. I was thinking of concrete slotted posts - hard to dig in but worth it in the end. Basically for £1000 you can buy all the stuff you need and then do it a bit at a time.

She doesn't want chain link or anything - needs to be solid as next door neighbour's garden an eyesore and full of brambles.

Any thoughts on the best fencing options? What are the cheapest or best panels to use with the concrete posts?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Concrete posts with pre drilled holes for cant rails then concrete gravelboard and featheredge.

Solid fence and cheap to maintain over the years.

 

[fizzy]

Concrete posts with pre drilled holes for cant rails then gravelboard and featheredge.

Solid fence and cheap to maintain over the years.

That is what I was thinking. Any tips for digging them in? No access for a digger. I tried to hammer in a piece of angle iron before just as a temp fix but it wouldn't budge. I suppose a pick is the only way? I have a post hole borer but it would be a total waste of time! 20 posts to dig in............

 

[fizzy]

By the way I am totally useless at this building lark type stuff!

 

[gaz1]

my suggestion is change the feather edge into a blow through fence as thats your problem i bet



id suggest using an sds drill set for hammer only to break up the hardcore and dig it out when loose

 

[fizzy]

One question - if she is the ex....why are you doing this FOC?

 

[fizzy]

Fence for the doggies!

 

[fizzy]

my suggestion is change the feather edge into a blow through fence as thats your problem i bet

View attachment 122202 View attachment 122203

id suggest using an sds drill set for hammer only to break up the hardcore and dig it out when loose

They look great - yes too much windage. Swansea is rather windy!

That is a brilliant idea - I have a nice SDS drill set - sadly my SDS drill doesn't have hammer only - never mind I can still try drilling it out! It will break up the ground nicely!

 

[gaz1]

buy a long drill bit and work from there or get 2 of them just incase you break one of them

a 1 ft one and also a 3ft one i bet you will need both or maybe if you can get them is a 2ft drill bit a thickish one say 10mm

 

[fizzy]

buy a long drill bit and work from there or get 2 of them just incase you break one of them

a 1 ft one and also a 3ft one i bet you will need both or maybe if you can get them is a 2ft drill bit a thickish one say 10mm

Yes got a set with some really long ones. Pretty big diameter as well. Should make life so much easier!

 

[mechman]

I hired an electric breaker for a weekend, made the job easy peasy.

 

[gaz1]

instead of buying it buy what you need to replace

if you have this stuff then strip it all off the rest of the panels


then stagger it between reverse side and this side allows air to blow through instead of a full wall of board


or use this type instead your choice

 

[bs85]

If its only hardcore than one of these will go through it nicely https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p48155

I also have one of these when the going gets tough.

 

[knighty]

no room for you to add some bracing ? - a bit at an angle going to each post ? couple of feet out from the bottom of the post going up to the top of the post... even if you just do every 2nd or 3rd post it'll add a lot of strength to the fence

 

[rtcosic]

Can I take my weekly daft question allowance now please?

How would you mark out those curves?

 

[Brad93]

You'll be fine with concrete posts concreted in, with concrete gravel boards and wooden rails with feather edge.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

The trouble with any 'blow through' design is that the neighbours overgrown garden will be through into the ex wife's in no time flat.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

As the grounds mostly hardcore will be fine. 9foot posts. 2'6" in the ground. 6" for gravel board and 6' above.
Use a drymix and compress well with a heavy bar. Sacrificial wood and sledgehammer if you can wedge the occasional lumps of hardcore in to pin the post at the bottom middle and top it helps too. Once there in give a little water on top to aid curing. There's enough moisture in the ground to set it anyway but it helps.

 

[bigegg]

How would you mark out those curves?

Make your panel with square top.
Put a 3" nail in each end, protruding an inch.
Put another nail in the centre, offset by the height/depth of the curve.
Use a strip of 25x1mm galv or plastic (or a springy length of timber) between the nails and use it to mark the curve.
Cut with jigsaw.

If youre doing loads, use a piece of 8mm plywood - mark and cut the curve as above to use as a template.
For an adjustable curve, use a springy flat bar as above. Cut a notch in each end and stretch a piece of string like when you made a bow as a kid.
If you tie knots at different places on the string, you have an adjustable, repeatable template.

 

[bigegg]

The trouble with any 'blow through' design is that the neighbours overgrown garden will be through into the ex wife's in no time flat.

Roundup...