Wooden fence repair issue

[Jim K..]

How many do you build?

[john west]

Some ten years ago i lashed out on wooden fence. Although the upright panes have weather well (something like a cedar wood i guess) the horizontal rails (25 x 40 mm cross section ) are completely rotten and breaking up. I've bought a lot of treated roof battens 25cm x38cm to replace the horizontal rails. Since there are literally hundreds and hundreds of fixing each pane to the rails and feel that staples are likely too easy to come adrift?

What is the best way of fixing them? small nails? if so, what kind should i get, or small screws of some kind of weatherproof ones ?

Thanks for any advice on the most painless way of doing so very many fixings.

[newshound]

It rather depends on the dimensions of the uprights. If they are feather edge, they are probably thin enough for a stapler to be fine although a powered one would be best.

[tabbypurr]

The answer o that is always a nailgun, but they're not cheap and have poor pullout resistance compared to screws.

NT

[Brian Gaff]

Well you mean you want to keep the old boards? I think in your position if they all needed replacing I'd go the whole hog and buy finished panels. Brian

[GB]

Brian, he's already bought the battens to fix them with. So, he's after a solution that uses the battens, regardless of whether that's a good idea, or not. :)

To the OP: Lidl do a drywall screw fixing gun that automatically drives screws. Only £30, IIRC, but you'll have to wait until they stock it. That's a lot, lot cheaper than a nailer with comparable fixing power.

The screws will probably rust after a while, but that just adds to their fixing power, and a bit of rust adds to the patina of the fence. Drywall screws are treated, but I think that won't last in 'weather'.

[newshound]

I must confess I always build feather edge on triangular rail fences with screws. A bit more expensive but even without a collated driver it's quicker than nailing and easier to adjust.

[Another Dave]

I bought a box of 200 Ulti-Mate II "High Performance Wood Screws" from my local Countrystore for about £5. They came with a screwdriver bit which gripped the cross head. I used an impact driver I bought for £16 when Homebase changed hands.

I put the screw on the bit and the fact that the bit held it and the impact action of the drill made the job easy. It helped that my wife held the palings.

Very proud of the result and it's survived the winter gales (it's very exposed where we are) so job done.

Another Dave

[TimW]

Urine can encouraged rot, but if you only pissed on it once ten years ago you really shouldn't blame yourself. We've all felt the need to mark out our territory in the garden from time to time.

TW