Ook wrote:
Lots of great ideas here, but here's a couple more. In the countryside around here we have the occasional redwood fence posts with barbed wire. Redwood lasts a very long time, but the reason they still stand is due not to concrete but shale that's driven alongside the footer. When I reconstructed a fence along part of our property, I pulled out a couple misplaced treated 4x4 posts, and the part that was in the ground was as good as new. 40%copper pressure treated posts last a long time, and look better than steel or vinyl posts, in my opinion. I agree that concrete is so permanent to be a nuisance around the property. But, it does hold posts well and the post won't rot if the very bottom isn't sitting in a bucket of water soaked concrete. I didn't want to spend too much money on concrete, so I combined the pounding of shale and other flat rocks at the foot to make the post tight, and then at the top of the whole, I filled in a bit of concrete and mounded it a little so that dripping rain drains away from the post. Posts can support each other, so I used galvanized metal brackets to hold the cross supports between each pair of posts (set 8 feet apart), 2x4s set on edge, rather than flat, so that I wouldn't have the saggy look so common on fences in my area. These cross supports were 10%copper pressure treated posts, cheap and available at Home Depot, so I used 3 cross supports, rather than two. The top plate connecting across posts were 20ft long 2x6 redwood, and the visible lumber used was carefully sorted for heartwood 7/8"x5 redwood planks found also at Home Depot. I cut off the dog ears and put the edges under the overhang of the top plate. I drilled and used screws, not nails, which takes a little longer to put up, but results in fewer split boards and an overall stronger fence. Along the bottom at dirt level, I linked posts with
1x12 redwood as a kickplate, filling whatever holes with spare rocks to keep the dogs in the yard. Later, I decided that the southern exposure of the fence would look good with grape vines, but I wanted to make sure the fence would suffer from the extra weight, so I drove 2x2 grape stakes every 4 feet, and anchored with screws to the existing fence at the post, and half-way between, and then put half-way up and just under the top plate, horizontal 2x2s to tie across and create an easy access trellis to tie on the vines, which are spaced every 4'. Ultimately, because the vines are away from the wood, and well pruned of foilage and excess wood in winter, they will actually provide additional wind resistence for the fence by their root strength. In summer, the foliage shades the wood, reducing exposure to the harmful effects of UV rays that will over many years will split up even good redwood planking. Anyway, this is the story of a 100' section of fencing on my property. Incidentally, I like the grey color of weathered redwood, so I wouldn't bother to stain or paint the fence. I don't want the extra maintenance.