This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect. Pictures on
a.b.p.w, sorry for the quality, I was using a camera phone. A tape measure
was only used to measure post hole depth and final post height after
cementing them in and attaching the bottom rot board. PT lumber on every
thing except for the cedar pickets.

"Leon" wrote in message
. net...
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect. Pictures on
a.b.p.w, sorry for the quality, I was using a camera phone. A tape
measure was only used to measure post hole depth and final post height
after cementing them in and attaching the bottom rot board. PT lumber on
every thing except for the cedar pickets.

My neighbor had a new fence put in about 3 years ago. He bragged about what
a cheap price he was paying. He got lots of quotes and found a slimeball
firm to build him a fence that barely stood there. I pointed out the poor
construction and he kept yelling about how he got a 20 YEAR GAURANTEE!!

A big windstorm came up about a year ago and totally trashed his fence. Not
from the wind, it was those big branches that broke off his trees and landed
on the fence. Ir it had been built well, he could have just patched up the
holes. But the fence was crap and the whole fence was just destroyed.

He was building the fence right this time himself. He kept complaining that
the other guys were ripoffs because they had a "act of god" clause in their
gaurantee. LOL

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
. ..

"Leon" wrote in message
. net...
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect. Pictures on
a.b.p.w, sorry for the quality, I was using a camera phone. A tape
measure was only used to measure post hole depth and final post height
after cementing them in and attaching the bottom rot board. PT lumber on
every thing except for the cedar pickets.

My neighbor had a new fence put in about 3 years ago. He bragged about
what a cheap price he was paying. He got lots of quotes and found a
slimeball firm to build him a fence that barely stood there. I pointed out
the poor construction and he kept yelling about how he got a 20 YEAR
GAURANTEE!!

A big windstorm came up about a year ago and totally trashed his fence.
Not from the wind, it was those big branches that broke off his trees and
landed on the fence. Ir it had been built well, he could have just patched
up the holes. But the fence was crap and the whole fence was just
destroyed.

He was building the fence right this time himself. He kept complaining
that the other guys were ripoffs because they had a "act of god" clause in
their gaurantee. LOL

Well I am not a pro fence builder but have learned a lot. I prefer to add
the middle 3rd rail to add strength and if the customer wants treated
pickets they are less likely to warp being fastened top, bottom , and
middle.
The rot board on the bottom is a must. It helps the pickets last longer and
it is cheaper to build the fence with the rot board than to save a few
dollars on materials and not have a rot board. The beauty of the rot board
is that you only have to level those boards and not worry about the height
on the individual pickets. You simply set the picket on the rot board and
nail it up. It is a huge time saver. If the customer does not want the rot
board, he pays more. I have not had a problem selling the rot board with it
explained that way. ;~)

Homeowners insurance ought to fix it for him.

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
. ..

"Leon" wrote in message
. net...
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect. Pictures on
a.b.p.w, sorry for the quality, I was using a camera phone. A tape
measure was only used to measure post hole depth and final post height
after cementing them in and attaching the bottom rot board. PT lumber on
every thing except for the cedar pickets.

My neighbor had a new fence put in about 3 years ago. He bragged about
what a cheap price he was paying. He got lots of quotes and found a
slimeball firm to build him a fence that barely stood there. I pointed out
the poor construction and he kept yelling about how he got a 20 YEAR
GAURANTEE!!

A big windstorm came up about a year ago and totally trashed his fence.
Not from the wind, it was those big branches that broke off his trees and
landed on the fence. Ir it had been built well, he could have just patched
up the holes. But the fence was crap and the whole fence was just
destroyed.

He was building the fence right this time himself. He kept complaining
that the other guys were ripoffs because they had a "act of god" clause in
their gaurantee. LOL

"Leon" wrote:
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect.

Never built a wooden fence, but sure helped my dad build some hog fences
when I was a kid.

Still remember digging all those post holes in hard clay, driving those
staples into those locust posts.

Stretching the wire tight with a manila rope fence stretcher with maybe a
4:1 purchase, one strand at a time.

I was all of maybe 8-9 at the time, but as you can see, have vivid memories
of that project.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:


"Leon" wrote:
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect.

Never built a wooden fence, but sure helped my dad build some hog fences
when I was a kid.

Still remember digging all those post holes in hard clay, driving those
staples into those locust posts.

Stretching the wire tight with a manila rope fence stretcher with maybe a
4:1 purchase, one strand at a time.

I was all of maybe 8-9 at the time, but as you can see, have vivid
memories of that project.


Yep hog fence is tough, you have so many woven strands. When I had to do
it, I bolted a couple of 1x4's together to try to pull everything straight
at once.

Fun times



--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news:hI0Ej.7295$%Y2.2162@trnddc08...

"Leon" wrote:
This was about my 20th fence and practice does make perfect.

Never built a wooden fence, but sure helped my dad build some hog fences
when I was a kid.

Still remember digging all those post holes in hard clay, driving those
staples into those locust posts.

Stretching the wire tight with a manila rope fence stretcher with maybe a
4:1 purchase, one strand at a time.

I was all of maybe 8-9 at the time, but as you can see, have vivid
memories of that project.

Lew



Yeah I bet you can remember digging post holes in that clay. I have the
same problem in Houston, clay, clay, clay.
My buddy and I used a gas powered post hold digger on a previous job. To
tell you the truth IMHO the gas powered post hole digger in clay is more
work. First of all it digs a bigger hole so it requires more heavy bags of
cement to fill the holes. It is marginally faster, if you hit a root a
regular manual post hole digger is just as fast. It takes 2 men to control
and it is pretty noisy. I went back to the manual labor method. Now in
regular soil it may work much better of if the auger was on a PTO. ;~)

I suspect you did not have a staple gun for those locust posts. ;~)

"Soby1" wrote in message
. net...
Homeowners insurance ought to fix it for him.


There is a thought but in Houston that may not pan out. In coastal areas
typical home owners insurance has a wind storm clause that usually requires
that the deductible be double. Thank you Katrina. 2% of the value of the
home is often more than the cost of a good fence. That's common in Houston
but probably not every where.

"Leon" wrote:


Yeah I bet you can remember digging post holes in that clay. I have the
same problem in Houston, clay, clay, clay.
My buddy and I used a gas powered post hold digger on a previous job. To
tell you the truth IMHO the gas powered post hole digger in clay is more
work.

Maybe it's because I was a little(lot) older, but the dirt here in SoCal
seems to be a lot more difficult to dig hole in than that Ohio clay, but
when I had to dig some holes here, sure appreciated that gas powered hole
auger.

Yes, needed a helper, yes, needed hearing protection, yes it was smelly, but
my tired old back felt a whole lot better, and it took a fraction of the
time.

I suspect you did not have a staple gun for those locust posts. ;~)


Back then, I suspect the best part of the guy who invented the pneumatic
staple gun hadn't yet run down his father's leg yet. G

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news:vPbEj.4471$Nr1.1930@trnddc01...
"Leon" wrote:

Maybe it's because I was a little(lot) older, but the dirt here in SoCal
seems to be a lot more difficult to dig hole in than that Ohio clay, but
when I had to dig some holes here, sure appreciated that gas powered hole
auger.

Well if the clay is dried out it can be like digging in rock. Moist, it
cuts OK but becomes sticky.




Yes, needed a helper, yes, needed hearing protection, yes it was smelly,
but my tired old back felt a whole lot better, and it took a fraction of
the time.

I wish I could say that he gas powered saved time for us. We did spend at
least 1 hour drilling the 10 holes and chopping roots.




I suspect you did not have a staple gun for those locust posts. ;~)


Back then, I suspect the best part of the guy who invented the pneumatic
staple gun hadn't yet run down his father's leg yet. G

Yeah.

On Mar 19, 5:40*pm, "Leon" wrote:
"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message

news:vPbEj.4471$Nr1.1930@trnddc01...

"Leon" wrote:

Maybe it's because I was a little(lot) older, but the dirt here in SoCal
seems to be a lot more difficult to dig hole in than that Ohio clay, but
when I had to dig some holes here, sure appreciated that gas powered hole
auger.

Well if the clay is dried out it can be like digging in rock. *Moist, it
cuts OK but becomes sticky.



Yes, needed a helper, yes, needed hearing protection, yes it was smelly,
but my tired old back felt a whole lot better, and it took a fraction of
the time.

I wish I could say that he gas powered saved time for us. *We did spend at
least 1 hour drilling the 10 holes and chopping roots.



I suspect you did not have a staple gun for those locust posts. *;~)

Back then, I suspect the best part of the guy who invented the pneumatic
staple gun hadn't yet run down his father's leg yet. G

Yeah.

It wasn't long ago that I saw a distant neighbour in need of an
ambulance because one of his crew hit bedrock when they were having an
easy time drilling a 12" auger into topsoil. I guess the sudden stop
flung two operators quite a ways.

I guess them little 13 HP Honda engines actually deliver what they
promise...LOL

"Leon" wrote:

Well if the clay is dried out it can be like digging in rock.

Yep, it's dry and yep it's like digging in rock.

After all, SoCal is desert.

Lew

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...

It wasn't long ago that I saw a distant neighbour in need of an
ambulance because one of his crew hit bedrock when they were having an
easy time drilling a 12" auger into topsoil. I guess the sudden stop
flung two operators quite a ways.

I guess them little 13 HP Honda engines actually deliver what they
promise...LOL

We were not using one that big but to make the fence building fun and
interesting I told Bryan, my son, that George and I looked like the top
blades on a helicopter when our gas operated post hole digger hit root.
:!)
Actually it had a brake similar to a chain saw brake but what fun is a story
that does not add mental visuals?