Paying to have a new fence built is expensive! Do this instead.

[Music] I've got a fence that is barely hanging on it's got a serious lean the posts have failed and in some places the pickets aren't even attached to the post and the gates hardly stay closed it is long past time to build a new one my buddy Pete very generously offered to give me a hand with demo of the old fence and digging the new post holes we started with a couple of reip Saws and quickly cut each fence panel out just leaving the posts these big panel Cuts were supery easy to stack out of the way while we work and also made for easy trailer loading when we hauled it away okay and now let's tackle the post and concrete we started to dig the old concrete out with shovels but that was taking so much time and effort so we decided to try working smarter and pull the concreted posts out with a chain and Pete's truck which proved to be pretty effortless and honestly pretty fun nice the truck pulled the post right out just like carrots we continued down the line wrapping the chain around the bottom of the posts and popping each of them right out ping cars it's crazy that didn't take any time at all demo was so fast Just the Two of Us took out the whole fence and had it loaded for the dump in about 3 hours not bad for for a few hours okay now we need to dig some new holes for the new posts we first ran a String Line to Line out where we need to dig the holes we recently tried a small augur on Pete's fence and it sucked so for this project we leveled up and we rented this onean hydraulic augur called an earth drill it's easy to handle digs fast it has forward and reverse accepts different augur links and it's easy to get to your project because it's towable behind your vehicle I'm wanting my post six speed apart so that's how far apart we set the holes and by the way always call before you dig and get your utilities marked you definitely don't want to hit any electrical or gas lines that's a bad day okay now let's set the posts I added a couple of inches of small rocks to the bottom of each hole to help with drainage and keep the bottoms of the posts away from moisture if your posts aren't set in a straight line your fence will never be straight so a string line is important as you set the posts I set Stakes at the end of my run and then I ran a tight string from the start to the end the string is offset so I don't bump and alter the line as I work this is a section of post that I cut when I demoed the old fence that on the top is where I cut it off this part right here is where the ground line was and the rest of this is where the fence was in I'm sorry the post was in concrete but the only Rod happening is right here at the ground line it's super interesting when I pull pull this out the concrete broke off so I could really inspect it and that proves that the place we need to protect the the new post going forward is right at the ground line so let me show you how I'm going to do that these are postsaver sleeves they wrap around the fence posts and they have a tar-like liner that protects from Decay by heat shrinking to the post and creating a long lasting air and watertight seal to install them I first set the post in the hole and then I made a mark right at the ground line I then measured and marked about 2 in above that line which will be my sleeve placement line I'm using the sleeve wraps so I simply wrapped my sleeve around the posts positioning it at the placement line pulled it tight into position and then placed the sticky side down I then heated all four sides with a gas torch to heat shrink the sleeve to the post also rolling each side with a wet roller to cool down the sleeve and really set that inside layer of protection and you can see that as I roll that inside layer pushes out slightly which is known as the black ring of confidence I repeated this process for all four sides ensuring I had a good seal on each side once the sleeve is cooled I placed the post back into the post hole screwed on a couple of scrap 2x4 braces strapped on my post level and then manipulated my post until it was completely Plum and in line with the other posts at the right distance away from my string line I then locked it into position by screwing the braces to a couple of stakes in the ground to set the posts I'm using a super easy fast setting concrete mix all you have to do is dump in the dry mix and add water it doesn't require mixing but I like to give it a few quick mixes with a shovel or a rod just to help the water mix in and help prevent any dry pockets as it's setting I like to slope the concrete to help water shed away from the post I repeated the same process for every post adding post sleeves for protection and setting them perfectly in line with my Straight string line the next step is to cut all of the posts to the same height my City's code says that we can build up to 8 ft without a permit so that's the height I'm going with to find my cut lines I started by using a laser level to shoot a random horizontal line across the middle of the posts this is the control line I then marked a line at the same exact position across all of the posts I also measured and marked a cut line 8T tall on the shortest post I then transferred those lines to a long straight scrap board this is called called my story stick now I can move the story stick down to the other posts line up my control lines and transfer my top 8T cut line on each post to make the cuts I made two simple horizontal Cuts with a circular saw on all of the posts and now they're all exactly the same height all the way down the line okay let's start building I'm adding horizontal rails between every post to tie together the fence and add string for this I marked level lines across the bottom of the posts and then I hammered on these gavanized fence rail brackets these are attached to the inside of every post flush with the front face I measured the distance between each bracket cut a treated 2x4 to the length and then slid the rail into place secured with galvanized screws the top also gets brackets but the rails on top will be twice as long on every other post I cut out a shoulder the size of a 2x4 then on each post next to the shoulder I attached rail brackets just like below now I can tie in three posts together with one 12T rail which will help to keep things straight and strong this top rail slides right into the brackets secured with screws from the back side and then two screws through the face into the middle post tight it all together I repeated this for every Bay and the frame is now taking shape okay and the last addition is to add a center vertical support in each Bay which will give the horizontal pickets a support Post in the middle to help keep them in place and straight I cut the board placed it in the center of the opening and secured it into place using exterior screws and there's the entire frame built and ready for the next steps the rest of the fence is going going to be built using Cedar and I'm starting by placing the cedar 2x6 top cap and once again A String Line comes in super handy so I can reference off the line to keep my top board straight and I just attached the top cap using exterior screws screwing straight down into the post and frame I personally think a beefy top cap is one of the biggest differences between a basic fence and a really nice looking fence so definitely consider it if you're thinking about building your own okay and finally on to the pickets you can see that I've already started attaching the pickets and now that I have my rhythm let me show you how I've done it I place my post every 6 ft so I can use a whole fence picket attached horizontally between each post I started by placing the top board right up next to the top cap and securing it to the posts with stainless steel ring shank nails this is going to be a board on board fence so I need to First attach the back layer of pickets which the second row will cover for 100% coverage I made a spacer jig so I could quickly space out the back layer which is a trick I saw my friend April Wilkerson do on her board on board fence the top layer then goes on to cover the spaces these pickets are 5 1/2 in wide so I made a mark 3/4 of an inch into the bottom layer of boards as my reference placement line which gives me 3/4 of an inch overlap on each side which is enough to make sure there's never any gaps every few pickets I would double check for level just to make sure I wasn't running off course and if so I'd make an adjustment before nailing it down after all the pickets were up I'd go back and secure them to the middle vertical support board using exterior trim head screws these Fasteners in the middle won't get covered up with trim so I wanted something that had a minimal appearance I only screwed in the top layer of boards because the bottom layer is held in place by the top once I made it down to a corner I notched out one side of the top board to fit around the top rail of the intersecting side I place the whole bottom layer run just like normal and then the very bottom board will also Notch out for the intersecting rail I then attached an extra vertical board on the corner so the new intersecting layer of pickets has an attachment point this top picket can get nailed onto the top rail but then the following pickets will get nailed onto this new vertical board the top layer of boards are added just like normal and there you go I think the corner came out super clean all of the pickets are now up so let's close in this fence by building a gate I want to make sure this gate never sags so I'm going to try an anti-sag gate kit for the frame it comes with four heavy duty metal brackets with welded on hinges I started by measuring my Gates opening I then cut a treated 2x4 into the four lengths that I needed and then screwed the brackets to the parts very easily creating the gate frame the kit includes all of the screws needed but I felt like they could be stronger so I actually switched mine out for beefier screws with a Torx head I then set the frame into place held up with scraps and clamps to get it up to the necessary height and then I screwed the hinges to the 4x4 post only using a couple of screws at First Once I ensured that the gate was moving with the correct clearance it was swinging fine everything looked good I installed the rest of the hinge screws I added a center vertical support just like I did for the other bays and then I started adding pickets I'm using trim head screws here instead of the nails because the gate won't have trim to cover the Fasteners and I just made sure that the pickets lined up level and exactly in line with the surrounding pickets for a seamless look before adding the bottom half of the pickets I'm going to attach the gate latch Hardware I cut out an opening at the end of the picket that fits right around the square Hardware using my table saw and multi-tool and you can see here where the handle will fit I then drilled out a through hole to except the internal Rod that connects the two sides of the handles unfortunately my whole measurement was just a hair off so I just removed the picket went ahead and installed the handles and then reattached the picket the rod that connects the handles is longer than the width of my 2x4 frame so for now I just made up the difference by gluing together a couple couple of slat scraps to the back side to make up for the width lastly this catch easily screws to the post looking good I really like this simple modern latch I've got it linked down below if you'd like to check it out now I can simply add the bottom pickets to cover the front side of the gate this gate is really tall so I'm going to add some extra insurance to keep it from ever sagging I picked up this stainless steel adjustable gate brace it's a gate stabilizer that prevents or removes gate sag to install it I put the telescoping Parts together and set it in place to find the length needed once I found the link I secured the two parts together with two self- drilling screws that come with the kit I then set the brace in place and screwed the adjustable threaded in to the top hinge side of the gate then I attached the rest of the bolts and Hardware to the middle and bottom and it's that easy this should stabilize the gate but if I ever do get any sag I can adjust the top bolts to easily raise up the gate now I just need to add a top cap to match the fence and you can see that I cut a couple of notches out on the hinge side so the gate can fully open the last step is to add the trim which is exciting because this trim covers the seams and really completes the design the trim is 1x4 cater screwed in place with trim head screws over the seams it's very important to take the time here and make sure the trim boards are plum okay the fence is built now I need to add some protection to the wood I'm using a stained sealer combo in a cedar color and for quick and fast application I'm using the Wagner Control Pro 170 it's an airless sprayer that applies a consistent high-quality finish on large Home Improvement projects for this project I switched to Wagner's 413 spray tip for stains and conveniently the sprayer can pull paint or stain right out of a 5 gallon container I did a few test sprays and then I was ready to go let me show you how well and fast it worked but first pet and his mom came by for a quick visit show my your F real quick oh wow look at this beautiful is that yes I love it thank you how cool is that the process was exponentially faster with this sprayer compared to applying it with just a brush an overspray is decreased up to 55% compared to standard airless sprayers I aim to overlap each pass by about half to get full coverage after a few minutes I'd wipe off any unabsorbed stain with the lintree rack this sprayer is the perfect addition for homeowners like me that want to do the jobs themselves if you are interested it's sold in stores and online at Lowe's I recommend picking one up I'll leave you a link down below and with the stain on this fence is complete as a reminder the old fence was old and falling over and here is the new new build I think it looks amazing and it's a huge Improvement a board on board fence is my favorite style and it brings so much privacy I love the modern look I love how tall it is and knowing that it's built strong and secure we now have functioning Gates that don't sag they latch and they lock and I'm really happy with how well they blend in with the fence the warmth the Cedar and the stain now bring to the backyard is a very welcome change and now that spring is here and everything is turning green the fence is even more gorgeous gous let's talk about the cost breakdown of this project the post and 2x4s were 1,50 the pickets were 1950 the trim and top cap was 1,00 the concrete was 580 the hardware including Nails screws and brackets was 370 I actually built two gates and they totaled 350 the stain was 475 the postsaver sleeves were 300 the Auger rental was 300 and the dump charge for the old fence was 00 80 and that comes to just under 6,700 for the grand total of this build the quote I got for this whole project in full property fence line from a local company was $18,700 doing this myself gives me a huge savings of about $112,000 by the way my friend April also has a build video for this style of fence check it out for some great additional information and inspiration as always thank you so much for watching and I'll see you on the next one

Channel: Maker Gray

Views: 538,966

Keywords: diy fence, how to build a fence, diy fence installation, board on board fence, cap and trim fence, fence building, fence installation, wood fence, cedar fence, privacy fence ideas for backyard, privacy fence with top cap, diy fence ideas, diy fence gate, how to build a gate, no sag gate kit, diy fence gate ideas, gate, privacy fence, fence post installation, postsaver sleeve, privacy fence gate, do it yourself, fence price, fence stain, fence demo, maker gray

Id: RFFTjicgUWw

Length: 16min 36sec (996 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024