6 foot Redwood Fence replacement questions

Hello

I have a 100 foot long fence that is falling down. My neighbor and I are going to go 50/50 to replace it.

I had a few fence companies come out to bid the job, some of them seem not so good.

I asked about putting 6 inches of gravel in the post hole, some said yes some said that they don't use gravel and just completely cover the post with cement. This doesn't sound right?

Also asked about post depth. The fence will be 6 feet tall; they said that they would use 8 foot 4x4 posts, so that means that only 2 feet of the post will be in the ground. Isn't the standard 1/3rd of the overall length in the ground, so a 6 ft fence would have three feet in the ground, so a 9ft post would be used? So the hole would need to be dug 3 1/2 feet for a half of foot of gravel?

As for nails should I ask them to use HD hot dipped galvanized?

Besides pressure treated, how about grade of wood? Heart Wood? Wood that will be immersed in the ground or the kickboard touching the ground?

Are 4x4 posts fine, should I get 4x6 or 6x6 posts?

Am I missing anything?

Thanks

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If its in concrete the post will never dry out if the bottom is covered by concrete, PT lasts longer but new treatments eat many fasteners that were fine with discontinued CCA.

Reply to
ransley

No.

Depends on your location. Get below the frost line. Digging deeper holes is obviously more work/money.

It might be better to ask if you have any options about fasteners. Stainless steel is best, but more $.

PT wood will last 15-25 years, with proper maintenance.

Obviously, the heavier posts will be less likely to lean. If I had to deal with Santa Ana winds and have a privacy fence, I'd use 6x6.

Guarantee? How long has the fence company been in business? Any complaints against the company? Will the company use materials you want?

Reply to
Phisherman

theres a plastic base that goes in the ground, it never rots.

the treated wood post fits on a receiver at the top of the base which gets concreted in place...... for maximum strength and stability.

use ONLY STAINLESS FASTNERS!

this old house showed the bases should be on their web site

Reply to
hallerb

Depends, do you live in the desert or a very dry climate? If so you can get away with it. Otherwise you should put gravel down for drainage.

Unless the ground is unstable or at a good slope, a 8 foot post with 2 ft in the ground should be more than adequate.

If they use the cheaper electroplated nails or worse, then you can guarantee it will streak. A lot of fencing places use staple guns, make sure they are stainless steel or they will streak also.

Use PT posts and rails and anything that will touch the ground, although it is easy to replace a kick board. Make sure that the fence boards have at least a couple inches clearance. If they don't touch the ground, practically any wood will out last the posts, but cedar is usually pretty good. Any wood that is stained will last longer than unstained cedar or redwood, although you may have to redo it every few years.

Unless there is bad footing, 4x4 post shuld be fine. Use larger posts for the corners.

Almost always the first thing to go on a fence is the posts. Use PT posts, gravel, and make sure the cement is angled up some to cause a runoff and doesn't let debris build up around it. A few years of pine needles or leaves packed around a post will rot any post no matter how it's installed.

Reply to
TH

Please don't put the question or the essential facts in the subject line. A lot of people don't even read the sujbect line. So it will be your loss. Would you write a paper and put essential facts only on the cover page and not in the paper.

That said, is the fence going to be real redwood or something else stained redwood? Is each bidder bidding on the same thing?

By "they" you mean the companies that seem not so good, I hope. What did the others say.

I don't think that is a rule of thumb. My fence is 40 or 42 inches high and I'm sure there's a lot more than 21 inches the ground. But for an 8 foot fence I don't know.

My neigbhor had a fence put in and they actually used ungalvanized nails that left rust stains running down 2 inches under each one!! Plus it was a stockade fence (which I hate) and they used wood that hadn't dried, and when it did dry it left a crack big enough to see through between every pair of pickets. (I have a picket but not a stockade fence so this doesn't matter to me, and when I called them to see if they had pickets I could use, they were out of busines. Surprise!!!)

My fence is not redwood, but the posts must be treated, because after

28 years they are all fine (except the ones that don't get enough sunlight have rotted maybe an inch down in the middle. Not a serious problem. Might get caps if they were available for 4" round.)

Some of the rails are good too, but none are like new. Many of the pickets that reached to the ground or to the uncut grass got termites, but the ones that the grass didn't cover never got termites. I talked to a termite person who did it for a living, who said treating for termites to save a fence is a bad idea, because termite poison is poisonous. He said to keep it an inch above the grass. I don't know if there are termites where you live.

The new rails for sale at HD are treated, but I'm not sure my old ones were, and I know the pickets weren't. So bit about needing stainless steel nails would it seems to me not be needed at all if the rails were not treated. Many of my pickets are 28 years old in Maryland, and almost good as new, and the nails in them are good as new.

Reply to
mm

the cost of stainless hardware, by percentage in the cost of the entire fence project isnt much........

but cant do any harm. and hardware will last forever.

personally i prefer chainlink....... the open look suits me fine

Reply to
hallerb

  1. Consider metal posts set in concrete. They'll never rot.
  2. Insist the builder use well-dried wood, else when it does dry - and shrink - you'll have gaps up to 3/8".
  3. Use stainless nails or screws.
Reply to
HeyBub

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