My sister moved into a great little fixer-upper a couple of years ago and this past spring our Mum joined forces with her for a three-week landscaping caper. One of the most striking changes was this fantastic fence project.
Even though the old fence had seen better days, the next door neighbors weren't ready to replace the structure outright. Rather than just sprucing up her side with some paint, Big Sis designed a modern facing to glam up the area beside her deck and patio. This two-person DIY project was done in a day, with dazzling results!
Here’s what they did:
1x6's were affixed vertically to the existing fence posts at 6-foot intervals and shimmed accordingly to create a level surface to work from. From there they added horizontal strips of wood (1x2's and 1x4's) secured with a pneumatic nail gun, which made the job incredibly quick. For a project like this it is well worth the rental, especially if you are on a tight timeline. Once the strips were all in place they finished off the seams with vertical 1x4's, and added sweet little tea-light sconces.
Because this spot is a real suntrap the grass along the fence was dug out and replaced with a herb garden and climbing perennials. Modern planters (made from recycled plastics) house even more perennials, which, come late fall, will be transplanted throughout the rest of garden.
(Images: MaryAnne Petrella)
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@medusa12120: The fence wasn't replaced. They just added boards to improve the appearance.
My concern is it looks like they used non-pressure treated pine and haven't applied any sort of protective finish. It's going to start splintering and looking grey pretty quickly (unless that's Phase II to follow soon).
Weird, this is the exact fence design I used for my home. I build a front driveway gate first, and for the pattern I matched my craftsman homes siding, two 1x4s alternating with a singl 1x8. I just did the smaller front fence this weekend, two. 1x3s alternating with a single 1x6.
however I regret to inform this person did not do their research. For fences you used redwood, cedar, or pressure treated. This appears to be neither. You also want to use screws, not nails.
as is this fence will barely make it to 5 years, if that. The least you can do to help it survive is slap a deck stain on it or something for UV protection.
excuse my atrocious spelling/typing in the previous response, but I just wanted to agree with medusa, what is this doing on renest? there is nothing green about it, I 100% agree it looks better (well would be better if it were redwood or western cedar) but there is nothing green about replacing or covering up an existing and functional fence, green would have been pressure washing it, sanding it a bit and giving it a new coat of paint.
Is it the neighbors' fence or theirs? The article was fuzzy on that. If it is the neighbors' fence, always get permission before you even touch it...
This is a weird post for ReNest.
All the old fence needed was a fresh coat of paint.
what happens when the neighbor replaces the old fence?? yikes! however having a yard where the fence belongs to my neighbors and is literally falling apart i do like this idea. i have had to patch it with odd boards to keep the do and kid on my side. this would look a lot nicer and i wouldnt have to worry about yet another board falling off.. which has happened. sigh.
dog not do. whoops. lol
In regards to some of the comments about fence ownership...this is not the neighbor's fence, but theirs. A wooden stockade fence like this one should always "face" outward toward your neighbor's property, so that they are not dealing with the "ugly" side of the fence. It seems illogical at first glance, but it comes out of simple courtesy. That said, I agree that it doesn't seem very green to do what was done and it also seems that the wrong materials were used.
In our township fence disputes are no longer covered by the city using by-law.If a dispute should arise,it's off to civil court.The only basics that relate to fencing is by-law regarding property lines.To that end,in our city,the person who has the fence posts visible from their property is the owner of the fence.If the fence view is visible/finished from your property,you do not own the fence.You can always tell when a fence was installed by agreement between neighbours because bothe the post and facing boards will be visible from both properties and on the property line.New developments are now doing this also.Wood, labour and maintenance is expensive here.This makes fencing done with a permit,in our city, the responsibility of all owners equally.
My own property is enclosed by fencing.As the homes on either side were sold etc..I made sure the posts were visible to my property. As they are on the property lines,two inside my property a few inches,the neighbours are stuck with whatever I decide shall be there.I am allowed access to the fence,through their property ,to maintain it as I please.Technically,I own it now weather a previous owner of my property installed it or not.Our homes are over a hundred years old.When I had a survey done because neither adjoining properties has proper filed surveys,the fence ,as is ,was filed as indisputable fact.Their land agreements with the city/province can not claim back any rights because none of them put a claim in when the survey was being declared before finalized.
Bottom line of this comments is.....make sure you understand your own obligations and rights,concerning fencing BEFORE buying any property.Had I pushed the fence into their properties a few or MANY feet,they still would have been stuck with it forever.As it was,I did knock back a few inches on the back fence because the property was being sold as commercial development .I did not want to have to take respo0nsibilty for the over 10 storey, rotten maple trees.The new buyer now has to remove them in order to build on the property they bought.
so i stumbled upon this post, and i can't help but laugh at some of the comments...
1)"A wooden stockade fence like this one should always "face" outward toward your neighbor's property, so that they are not dealing with the "ugly" side of the fence. It seems illogical at first glance, but it comes out of simple courtesy."
HAHAHA common common common.. So you approach your neighbour about replacing the old fence and attempting to split some of the costs for it's replacement or repair. They say now. WHY, oh WHY on earth would you want the uglier side out of "simple courtesy" to your neighbour so that they get the nice side?!? Now, if it's the fence that splits you from say the street, then yes, the nice side should go on the outside for the good old fashioned "curb appeal". But between properties? NO WAY! If i'm paying for it, and building it, I get the nice side! If it's a split cost, come up with a design that benefits both sides.
2) the idea that the "person who has the fence posts visible from their property is the owner of the fence" is also insane. So what happens with a well designed fence that has no "post side" aspect to it? a fence between two properties on the property line should in fact belong to both sides.
3) CLEARLY there are to many variables. I'm just glad i have sensible neighbours whom we work with on such issues to come up with fair ideas for everyone..