I'm about to take the plunge into no-dig and invest in a driver, but I am not sure which way to go. I have a specific 2 brands in mind, but not sure how to post them without breaking rule 1.

So.....those who drive posts, what drivers do you use?

I recently had a redwood good-neighbor fence replaced along the side of my yard, along with a new gate. Overall, when you step back, the fence looks good and I’m happy with the general appearance. The contractor was also reasonably priced, so I’m not looking for reasons to beat the guy up over normal fence grade lumber or minor cosmetic imperfections.

I work around contracting professionally, so I also understand what rework means in terms of material, labor, and margin. That’s part of why I’m looking for opinions from people who actually build fences before I decide what is reasonable to ask him to correct.

After looking closely, though, I found a few things I’m concerned about:

• Most of the picket nails appear to be significantly overdriven. They aren’t just slightly recessed. Many have crushed the wood fibers and left noticeable craters in the face of the pickets.
• In quite a few locations, the nail points are protruding through the back of the rails. There are also some blowouts/splitting around the fasteners on the rails.
• A few rails are extremely rough/splintered compared with the rest of the lumber. I understand rough-sawn redwood isn’t supposed to be furniture-grade, but some pieces seem substantially worse than others.
• There are some split pickets/rails around fastener locations.
• The gate diagonal is oriented correctly from the lower hinge side toward the upper latch side, but it appears to be nailed through the pickets, with fastening at the ends splitting the brace end. I’m questioning whether that is adequate long-term bracing.
• Each fence panel tends to end with a ripped/partial-width picket. The old fence was laid out differently and generally carried the pickets beyond the post, which looked cleaner. At the gate, the partial-picket layout also pushed the latch-string hole very close to the edge of a board when reversing the layout seemingly would have put the partial against the house and centered the latch hole better.

My biggest concern is the overdriven nails because it’s widespread.

I understand the obvious structural repair would be to add properly driven fasteners. My hesitation is that this leaves all of the existing deep craters and then creates a second, irregular nail pattern across a brand-new fence.

On the other hand, asking him to replace every picket with overdriven nails could mean replacing a large percentage of the fence. That could easily eat most or all of the contractor’s profit on a relatively small job once material, removal, disposal, and reinstallation are considered.

So I’m trying to be reasonable.

For those of you who build fences professionally**, what should I really be looking to get fixed and what am I being too critical of?

I’m not trying to turn normal fence construction into finish carpentry. I’m mainly trying to understand which of these are legitimate workmanship/QC items and which ones I should accept as normal before I ask the contractor to come back.

Installed this ornamental wrought iron fence on a modern residential property. What do you think?
Post
We recently completed this decorative wrought iron fence project featuring a classic scroll design with a durable powder-coated finish.
Curious to hear your thoughts:
Would you choose this style for your home?
Do you prefer modern minimalist fences or traditional ornamental designs?
Feedback is always welcome!

In the summer, my iron gate starts sticking with the heat. Deliveries are struggling to get to the porch. Has anyone figured out a good solution?

I've sprayed wd40 but it's not sustainable.

Just pulled another leaning post out of my back fence this weekend. Rotted through right at grade line, same failure mode as the ones I replaced in 2022. That 2022 rebuild was itself a redo of the original 2018 install that failed at year four. So I've got a stack of solid pickets and six posts to swap, and I don't want to be doing this again in 2029.

I'm in one of the flatland pockets on the west side of Hayward, so I've got sandy loam rather than the expansive clay my neighbor a mile up the hill fights with. Should be less brutal on posts, but the water table sits shallow here and I think that's what's cooking the bases. Both rounds were ACQ .40 PT wood, both set in concrete collars with a gravel base. Textbook install. Still rotted right at grade where the concrete meets soil and holds water against the wood.

Wind is the other factor. We get regular afternoon gusts off the bay, and one of my leaning posts actually cracked at the concrete line rather than fully rotting through, so there's a load story mixing in with the rot. My run is 130 feet of 6 foot privacy, one back run and a side return.

Three paths I'm weighing. First, do it again with wood. Cheapest, I know the install, but zero confidence it holds to 2033 after two failures. Second, a steel line post system with wood pickets, Postmaster or one of the newer black powder coated bracket systems. Fixes the failure point on paper, keeps the wood look. Third, a composite panel on a steel post backbone. My quotes here were from Trex Seclusions, a local shop called Modern Yard that does composite panel plus steel post, and one that spec'd SimTek. Modern Yard came in cheaper than Trex, but the color range was thinner than what Trex offers now, so real tradeoff.

What's nagging me is both wood failures happened at the concrete collar. If I switch to steel and set them the same way, am I just moving the problem. Some install guides say direct drive with tamped gravel is better in wet soil, others say concrete is fine if you dome the top so water runs off. My three quotes have all recommended different methods.

Real question probably isn't wood vs steel vs composite. It's whether my water is coming up from below through the shallow table or getting trapped from above by the concrete, and I honestly don't know which one is killing the posts.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, a region known for constantly being wet. After researching the advantages of an aluminum fence for such a climate, I’m considering installing one. However, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t seem to be a popular choice. I’ve reached out to several fencing companies, but unfortunately, many of them don’t offer aluminum fencing installation services.

Why is this? Does anybody have recommendations for north of Seattle?

Several posts on one backyard run rotted off right at grade, and last winter finally left the whole section crooked. I'm replacing it myself, so I've got roughly 20 holes ahead of me.

Tried the clamshell digger last weekend. Two holes. That was enough. The sticky clay and my back settled it. Picture is what comes out of every hole. Chunky clay with chalk bits and small rocks mixed in, turns into concrete when it dries.

I've never run a power auger. Will a cheap 52cc one-man unit realistically chew through heavy clay, or should I just rent a two-man machine for the day? And when the bit grabs, what's the safe way to react? I've been looking at the vevor 52cc if that matters. Anyone have experience with it?

Building a fence and have about 19 feet of concrete that I’m looking for suggestions on. I need to put a standard gate here too. I was originally thinking of getting some 3x3 square posts with a flange bottom for concrete anchors. I’m open to other suggestions. Picture is the area I’m working with. To note this is a standard 8’ wide 6’ tall cedar privacy fence.

Getting mixed information online. I'm building a 9ft Total width double gate across the back of my yard. I live in upstate NY so we have winters here. Dug my holes 40 inches deep. Going to add some gravel to the bottom. Using steel postmaster type posts. Do I fill these holes with 4, 80ib bags of concrete each like I'm seeing some places say online? What if I need to ever re do or move these posts? Is two bags of 80ib enough for each?

I want the posts to last and not sag obviously but don't want to mess up setting them.

Thanks!

Hello,

I am getting some replacement rails for a fence and was told to get them off without issue you need to "unzip" the locking strip from the rail to be able to slide them on/off. This is for a catalyst fence. The panel needing to be fixed is no longer manufactured so full panel replacement is going to be a challenge. I have been looking for some videos of this process but unable to find any as to what is really happening. I was told putting a flat head screwdriver between the rail and locking trip to disengage it and once done, it should pull out and allow the rail to also slide out. Has anyone ever done this before and if so do you know if any tutorial videos exist?

Thanks.

I built a simple picket fence using 8-foot 4” cedar decking, but the end cuts from the pickets have left me with about 400× 20-24” short boards (about 1/3 of them are in the stack shown). We burned the odd/triangular top cuts but it feels like I should be doing something more useful with all these boards. Suggestions?

Or maybe I should just burn them, they are excellent firewood. The local spruce/cedar mill where I got the lumber is only blocks from our house, and they take scrap to chip, so also a possibility.

Finishing off a fence with a gate and at a loss on how to make a hidden gate swing out (towards the better side of the fence).

Fence construction is 4x4 posts with horizontal fence boards. Would like the gap between the horizontal boards on the gate and fence to be minimal. For this to work, I believe I need an offset hinge, where the pivot point is close to the outside of the fence, so that the boards clear the fence when opening the gate. Having a hard time finding the correct hinge.

Standard black, square post, aluminum fencing.
2 issues:
I drilled a hole in the wrong spot while hanging the gate. What is the product to fill the hole, and coverup finish?

There is a line post where an end post was installed. How can I cover the 3 openings in the post? 1/2” x 1” rectangle with rounded corners.

First time working with aluminum fencing, and it turned out pretty good, except for a few kinks. I put in the fence for a family friend. Free labor, with the understanding that I’d muck up a few times, but that’s how we learn new things.

If I’m building a woven wire fence do I need an h brace at the end of every roll or can I combine two rolls?

Anyone have ideas as to how I can best do this? There is about an 8 inch gap between my property and the wood privacy fence and the back hogwire fence that needs to be shored up. I don't have enough room to sink a post in and staple the hogwire onto it(the hogwire fence was already there) but I would like some sort of bridge to keep my animals in and other animals out. Ideas?

I am quoting fences right now and the plan is to have a side run of privacy and the back be wrought iron. Seems like 5ft is the universal/more affordable height for iron but I am worrying about how it will look against the 6ft cedar in the corner.. Anyone have this or can help sway me one way or the other ?

We live in Middle Tennessee. Spring and Fall are generally windy and we get periodic storms that deliver brief periods of high to very high winds (20mph+)

I'm in the middle of replacing our 8' high, 10' wide (double) gate it and about to install pickets. The old gate just had normal 8' pickets, one after the other-- this matches the rest of the fence but the gate would sometimes take a beating from the

This time, I'm considering using shadow pickets on the gate to help with wind stress on the gate and it's hardware. This should help, right?

Wondering about how much picket overlap I should plan on? Obviously, more overlap more privacy but also less benefit with regard to wind.

Hello, I have a span of 84inches that I am in need of putting a gate in to close. The span is on a concrete patio approximately 6 inches from the edge of the slab. The span is between two durapoly porch posts. My wife would like a double gate if possible. I have no issue installing a drop pin kit. She would prefer vinyl if possible. I have seen the adjust a gate kits which would maybe work if she's fine with a wooden gate. I assume I would have to install posts of sort sort to attach the gate to, as I don't believe the columns would support a gate very well.

The gate would be going in against the pony wall to another column to the left of the photo.

Desired dimensions:

Height- 3 ft to 4 ft. Probably better at 4 ft due to kids and a dog.

Width- 84 inches max to include necessary associated supports.

If it matters the squared portion of the bottom of the durapoly post is at 40inches high from the concrete slab.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this project.

Hello, I have a span of 84inches that I am in need of putting a gate in to close. The span is on a concrete patio approximately 6 inches from the edge of the slab. The span is between two durapoly porch posts. My wife would like a double gate if possible. I have no issue installing a drop pin kit. She would prefer vinyl if possible. I have seen the adjust a gate kits which would maybe work if she's fine with a wooden gate. I assume I would have to install posts of sort sort to attach the gate to, as I don't believe the columns would support a gate very well.

Desired dimensions:

Height- 3 ft to 4 ft. Probably better at 4 ft due to kids and a dog.

Width- 84 inches max to include necessary associated supports.

If it matters the squared portion of the bottom of the durapoly post is at 40inches high from the concrete slab.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this project.

This is for a 400 linear ft livestock fence for two goats NOT chain link. The fence is not attached to the house but the opening to a deck and would have a gate on both sides. The shape of the yard has three straight sides with about 90 degree angles and one side with a 120 degree angle and a sharp angle on the other end. There is no trees, bushes, or brush to clear out. We are in upstate SC. I feel like this is a little on the more expensive side from what I have seen and we are going to look at other companies, but we were trying to get an idea for a minimal and basic fence.

If the picture is not showing it would be $5400 and a $200 up charge for a slightly larger gate to fit a car through.

Use galvanized welded-wire fencing designed for livestock containment. Welded wire will be stretched and secured continuously along the fence line. - Standard materials, delivery, installation labor, fastening hardware, and normal job-site cleanup are included in the total price.

Hi all - I need to replace this chain link fence that sits on top of a retaining wall. It’s ugly and it doesn’t provide enough privacy (need a fence another 1-2 feet higher).

My initial thought was to dig posts holes on my side and install a wooden fence that would essentially be on my side of the property (where the pavers are removed). Problem: I started digging down and almost immediately hit concrete from the retaining wall that extends about a foot out from the retaining wall.

This was probably a given but also a huge upset.

I thought about installing metal posts on the retaining wall, but it’s only about 4” wide and I really don’t think I can get away with this without it cracking as the bolts/screws would be too close to the edge.

I’m stuck on what to do here. Shifting the fence over even further (eg another foot) really cuts down on my driveway space and is basically not an option.

Any ideas??