Picket fence options

We want to put a picket fence up on our property. The purpose is to simply define the property line. There are no animals or children to keep out or in. There will be gardening going on inside of it and likely growing over some of it. About 150' of length, 3' high.

The question is maintenance. The property is located in an historic area of the NH seacoast across the street from the ocean. But the house style is 1930's bungalow, most of the others being from the 16 or 17 hundreds. Obviously the most pleasing aesthetic choice would be the wooden fence painted white. But I am over maintaining something like that at this stage of my life. So we have looked at vinyl and metal. Vinyl seems to choice we are going with now, but I'm not totally crazy about it. Then I thought, it really doesn't need to be white, could be natural. But I'm not sure what the ramifications of that would be.

So, I'm looking for suggestions about this.

Here is a link to pics of the house:

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Thanks for any ideas,

-Jim

Reply to
jtpr
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I'd go with white vinyl pickets and some landscaping.

I don't think any other color would work as well as white. You've already got white railings in 2 places.

Reply to
Dan Espen

White.

Wood.

Paint... Rent an airless (a real one) and piss-coat the pickets with a mix of 1/3 Penetrol, 1/3 mineral thinners and 1/3 McClosky white marine enamel. Soak the ends into 1" on the bottom of a pail with that mixture. Let dry for a solid 24 hrs and then airless them all again with any white oil-based enamel you can get a deal on. You're good to go for a LONG time.

Reply to
Robatoy

If it's "natural" then it's going to be gray after a while without more maintenance than white paint would require.

Another option might be Trex or one of the other composite decking materials that comes in white (or whatever color one prefers).

If he's willing to trade up front cost for low maintenance, he could have it shot with white Imron--that should last for the rest of his life and then some.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Add my vote to that. We have vinyl fences in quite a few neighborhoods nearby and they look just fine. Wood fences always look beat up in coastal areas after a few years although some service life can be gained if you use an elaborate painting scheme. Bottom line is the advantages of vinyl clearly outweigh the hassle of wood. HTH

Joe

Reply to
Joe

I would use a natual cedar fence myself.

Spray it with Thompson water sealer every couple of years.

It will look great.

Randy

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Reply to
randyswoodshoop

If natural use Cedar. It will go silver and hold up for years. If to be painted go with treated material.

=46rom a design perspective if you wanted to go up scale, I would repeat the railing you have on the porch, with the top and bottom rail and inner pickets, and not go with a picket style. Also, at the corners, and at gate openings, do larger box columns with the little stand out detail like you have on the big box columns on the porch edges. Slope the top of the top rail so you won't get standing water and build out a cap with sloped pyramin cap on the corner box columns. You could even tie the rail back into the stair rail if a walkway aligned properly.

I'd be glad to sketch up my ideas if you want. Could be really nice.

BW

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

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