Got a new house, and lots of questions.....

so a guy will custom build me fence, on site, not from panels.
what is a decent cost per ft on a 6 ft fence?

i think he should put gravel at the bottom of the post for a french drain, keep water from setting and rotting.

i think he's just a guy who don't mind manual labor, not a guy who "knows" fence and building tips and tricks.

what else should he do to make it last?

chip in here with anything you think, i'm open to suggestions.

tks.

 

Around here if you want a wood fence to last they use steel post's,and go with cedar. Goodluck,,Rick

 

Mine is 6 foot high cedar, post and planks. Put a gap between the planks, so wind can blow thru the slats, less likey to blow the fence down.
Gravel wil work for the post, also concrete works.
Before you start the fence, know where the property line really is. The little wooden stakes in the ground are "contractor stakes, they get knocked over and not put back in the exact location. Find the survey stakes, they are usually rebar, with a yellow end buried in the ground,usually just a few inches. Saves from property line disputes later.
If you are in a developement, or some towns have restrictins on hight of fence and type, Worth checking first. Some won't allow a fence over 4 feet in fron or other type restriction.
A good post hole digger helps a lot, or rent an auger.
For cost shop around for the material. Two of you can fence a small lot in 2 to 3 days. Don't pay woker by the hour, but by the job. Hope this helps.

gud luk

 

On how lont it will last, Treated posts, and cedar that is coated with a good fence coating should last 20 years, or the first hurricane, wich ever comes first.

 

Depends on where you are. My neighbor's fence lasted thru hurricane # 1 and 2, but gave up and surrendered on #3.

 

personally i would do the pvc fences and take the whole wood element out of the picture

 

Did 6' board on board privacy fence. Dog first couple hundred feet with a PHD. After that rented a auger, much better. I built the front sections by hand, and also built 2 swining gates overall length is 20' However during the FL hurricanes they warped and need to be rebuilt, this time with a steel frame. I used pressure treated 4x4 post 10' long dug down about 4' down with about a 10" dia hole, filled with cement. The side I used the pre assembled sections from Home depot. Neighbor had a small fence with a pitbull so that was easier. Had to have the wife and father mainly do that side, The dude's pitbull jumped the 4' chicken wire fence and attacked my dog. So my 7 yr old daughter and I are in our backyard, turn around and there a pitbull sitting there. Pit goes after my dog which is tied up, I grab a 4 cell mag light and beat the #$%^ out of the pitbull, Almost knocked him out too! he takes off back to his yard, and I chase him with a shovel. First time I met this "new" neighbor I had a shovel in my hand threatening to kill his dog. So about the fence, the pit got "angry" anytime I was close to that property line with a shovel in my hands.

 

2500CTD

If your fence don't keep the neighbors pit bull out of you yardm it it threatons you, or your familey, take it out with a shotgun, so it's body is in your yard. If you use a pistol, and it runs home and dies in it's yard you could have a lot of explaing to do, and might get it too much trouble.l

 

Depends on the material you use. Redwood, etc. Around here you can get a fence built for $18 per lin. ft. for the cheapest materials. If you use good materials and add an extra rail in the center it usually goes for $26 per lin. ft. Your prices there may be completely different.

I just read the pitbull comments. I have 2 pitbulls and have always been a good neighbor. In fact I lived here in this house for 2 years before anyone even knew that I had dogs and I had 3 at that time. My dogs are very well behaved and socialized. It's unfortunate that 80% of the pitbulls out there are owned by irresponsible idiots that shouldn't even own a guppy. Makes my breed look bad. I apologise for the actions of others that own my breed. I have pics of my dogs in my profile.

 

One more note: If you are really concerned about the posts rotting and you want to build a bullet proof fence you can use steel posts like you would use with a chain link fence. Then cut the 4x4 posts above ground and use straps or lag bolts to attach the wood post to the steel post for attaching your rails. I've done this before and it works very well. In fact Simpson strong tie makes a bracket for doing that. I have a simpson book someplace so if you can't find it let me know and I'll try to look it up. I also use a steel frame kit for the gate. It will NEVER sag. I also like to use either zinc or preferrably stainless screws. Nails tend to pull out with expansion and contraction.

 

My advice, if you're wanting a privacy type fence, is to use galvanized steel posts and set them in concrete. Your posts will last MUCH longer this way than just using wood posts. It's more expensive but well worth it.

 

Pens on how long you plan to stay there. If I were going to retire there, I would do PVC and forget about it. If only a few years, do wood and be ready to pressure wash and stain about every three years.

 

Those prices sound really high to me. A 6' privacy fence with treated wood posts and cedar planks runs around $7 per foot in my neck of the woods (installed).

 

Wow Hoss I want to live where you live! You can't even buy the materials for even close to that here. Of course a fixer upper house runs $385k here too. Treated posts are $11, cedar fence boards are $4.50 each ( 6 inch), and 2x4's are about $5 for treated ones. It's expensive here.