I have a 17-year old fence that is look a little worse
for wear. I'm hoping some simple repairs/maintenance
will give it a few more years of life since most of the
lumber is in very sound condition. In particular, all
of the posts appear to be rock solid. Some pics he

http://www.malch.com/DSC_5189.jpg
http://www.malch.com/DSC_5190.jpg
http://www.malch.com/DSC_5191.jpg
http://www.malch.com/DSC_5192.jpg

This fence in a shared responsibility and hence I
won't be doing anything until I've spoken to the
guy who lives on the other side. Fortunately, the
relationship is cordial.

Quite a few of the vertical slats need re-positioning
and re-fastening. I'm concerned that a lot of nail
hammering will only shake more slats loose. Therefore,
I'm thinking about using screws. This will given me
a chance to test a recently acquired and seriously
heavy-duty Bosch drill/driver!

Is this wise? What type of screws should I use and
where should I insert them? Should I screw the overlapping
slats to each other? Or screw them to the horizontal
retaining strip along the bottom of the fence? Some
completely different approach?

I've not really tackled anything quite like this so
any advice or comments, general or specific, would
be most welcome.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Nov 30, 12:47 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
I have a 17-year old fence that is look a little worse
for wear. I'm hoping some simple repairs/maintenance
will give it a few more years of life since most of the
lumber is in very sound condition. In particular, all
of the posts appear to be rock solid. Some pics he

http://www.malch.com/DSC_5189.jpghtt...m/DSC_5192.jpg

This fence in a shared responsibility and hence I
won't be doing anything until I've spoken to the
guy who lives on the other side. Fortunately, the
relationship is cordial.

Quite a few of the vertical slats need re-positioning
and re-fastening. I'm concerned that a lot of nail
hammering will only shake more slats loose. Therefore,
I'm thinking about using screws. This will given me
a chance to test a recently acquired and seriously
heavy-duty Bosch drill/driver!

Is this wise? What type of screws should I use and
where should I insert them? Should I screw the overlapping
slats to each other? Or screw them to the horizontal
retaining strip along the bottom of the fence? Some
completely different approach?

I've not really tackled anything quite like this so
any advice or comments, general or specific, would
be most welcome.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Random thoughts....

How are the slats that are in their original postions attached - to
each other or to the retaining strip? (I'm guessing the retaining
strip.) Re-attach the others the same way.

Galvanized deck screws would work, but if you try to screw too close
to the ends, you'll probably split the uprights unless you pre-drill/
counter sink. Consider renting a nailgun to save time and eliminate
the pounding you're concerned with.

Chicken or egg question: Did the vines grow through the openings once
the slats became displaced or did the slats become displaced because
the vines pushed them out of the way? In either case, you're going
have to deal with the vines or you may find yourself in the same
situation a few years from now.

Are the displaced slats warped to such an extent that it's going to be
tough to put them where they belong? You be surprised what a few well
placed wood clamps can do to pull a warped board into alignment and
hold it in place while you add the fasteners.

How is it that the fence is a "shared responsibility" Typically, one
or the other of the homeowners owns the fence and the land beneath it,
assuming it was placed where it should have been based on local codes.

In article , DerbyDad03 wrote:

Random thoughts....

Not so random. Good stuff, thank you!

How are the slats that are in their original postions attached - to
each other or to the retaining strip? (I'm guessing the retaining
strip.) Re-attach the others the same way.

You guessed right and it makes sense.

Galvanized deck screws would work, but if you try to screw too close
to the ends, you'll probably split the uprights unless you pre-drill/
counter sink. Consider renting a nailgun to save time and eliminate
the pounding you're concerned with.

Hmmmm, I had not considered the nailgun option. I should have
and will!

Chicken or egg question: Did the vines grow through the openings once
the slats became displaced or did the slats become displaced because
the vines pushed them out of the way? In either case, you're going
have to deal with the vines or you may find yourself in the same
situation a few years from now.

I think the vines displaced the slats. You're right -- they
will likely cause more problems in the future.

Are the displaced slats warped to such an extent that it's going to be
tough to put them where they belong? You be surprised what a few well
placed wood clamps can do to pull a warped board into alignment and
hold it in place while you add the fasteners.

No serious warping. There's just a ton of good lumber in
this fence. However, it wasn't well fastened together.
It's a shame. But that's builders :-(

How is it that the fence is a "shared responsibility" Typically, one
or the other of the homeowners owns the fence and the land beneath it,
assuming it was placed where it should have been based on local codes.

My understanding and recollection is that both parties have
to pay equal shares of any repair or maintenance costs. Yes,
I think that's a little unusual too. I will be checking the
original title documents in due course because it seems that,
these days, my memory is sometimes a little ummm, porus ;-)

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Nov 30, 1:42 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , DerbyDad03 wrote:

Random thoughts....

Not so random. Good stuff, thank you!

How are the slats that are in their original postions attached - to
each other or to the retaining strip? (I'm guessing the retaining
strip.) Re-attach the others the same way.

You guessed right and it makes sense.

Galvanized deck screws would work, but if you try to screw too close
to the ends, you'll probably split the uprights unless you pre-drill/
counter sink. Consider renting a nailgun to save time and eliminate
the pounding you're concerned with.

Hmmmm, I had not considered the nailgun option. I should have
and will!

Chicken or egg question: Did the vines grow through the openings once
the slats became displaced or did the slats become displaced because
the vines pushed them out of the way? In either case, you're going
have to deal with the vines or you may find yourself in the same
situation a few years from now.

I think the vines displaced the slats. You're right -- they
will likely cause more problems in the future.

Are the displaced slats warped to such an extent that it's going to be
tough to put them where they belong? You be surprised what a few well
placed wood clamps can do to pull a warped board into alignment and
hold it in place while you add the fasteners.

No serious warping. There's just a ton of good lumber in
this fence. However, it wasn't well fastened together.
It's a shame. But that's builders :-(

How is it that the fence is a "shared responsibility" Typically, one
or the other of the homeowners owns the fence and the land beneath it,
assuming it was placed where it should have been based on local codes.

My understanding and recollection is that both parties have
to pay equal shares of any repair or maintenance costs. Yes,
I think that's a little unusual too. I will be checking the
original title documents in due course because it seems that,
these days, my memory is sometimes a little ummm, porus ;-)

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My understanding and recollection is that both parties have to
pay equal shares of any repair or maintenance costs.

In any case, if the look of the fence bothers *you* then volunteer to
fix it even if someone else owns the whole thing.

A long time ago I "extended" a neighbor's wooden fence from where his
lot overlapped mine so the back of my lot had the same fence, some
his, some mine. His older fence now looked even older, so I knocked on
his door and let him know that I would like to fix it up a bit. He was
so open to the idea that later that afternoon his wife handed me a six-
pack for the work I had done to their fence!

In article , DerbyDad03 wrote:

My understanding and recollection is that both parties have to
pay equal shares of any repair or maintenance costs.

In any case, if the look of the fence bothers *you* then volunteer to
fix it even if someone else owns the whole thing.

Absolutely, that's my plan. These neighbors spend very little
time at home so we don't see them often and don't know them
well. But things are very cordial and I intend to let them
know I'd like to take a shot at some maintenance. It will
be a lot easier if they'll allow me to work both sides of
the fence and have every expectation they'll be agreeable
to that and most likely offer to help with any costs.

Either way, I won't touch the fence without their permission.
And if they have some requirements/preferences/suggestions
I'll be more than happy to respect those too. I think we'll
work something out amicably but, as with any job like this,
I need a decent plan before doing anything. Actually, I
think I'll go stare at the fence for another half hour to
help those thought processes along ;-)

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~