Building a "good neighbor fence" using metal posts

[HeroOfPellinor]

I want to replace the rotting 4x4 wood posts from a fence on one side of our yard with metal posts. I've build a fence before and it can out great, but it wasn't a good neighbor fence because my neighbor didn't care about having the ugly side and didn't pitch in for materials or do any of the work. That was cake.

I don't want to replace the panels or move anything. Just detach the panels, replace the posts, and reattach the panels. The wood is fine, good solid redwood, so replacing it would be a waste of money and wood. The problem is that the fence, as all good neighbor fences are, has the panels offset and overlapping by a half a board to hide the 4x4s. All they sell for attaching wood to metal posts are those pipe grip things with both connectors on one side or corner brackets.

Anybody done one like this or seen a good neighbor fence with metal posts?

 

[coldmeat]

I thought you meant a fence to keep the neighbors off your yard.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

A "good neighbor fence" is one where the panels alternate, so you only have to look at hald of the cross beams and whatnot.

 

[bctbct]

Are the posts set in concrete? Good neighbor is also called a shadow box fence panel.

 

[alkemyst]

Personally, unless my neighbor was going into it with me I'd put up a normal privacy fence that looked best in my yard.

Shadowbox fences are the typical homeowner fence. The pluses are they are cheap, look ok from both sides and keep things in and out. The cons are they look only ok, they are not privacy fences and don't keep everything in and out. Another bonus is they are fairly wind resistant although down here in florida will still blow over in a hurricane at times.

Fencing is usually one of the more expensive things a homeowner buys. Make sure it's what you like for your budget. Most of the fencing above the shadowbox in pricing aren't that bad to look at from the back, they just get to see the cross boards and 4x4's.

I'd try to avoid concrete unless you have to have it.

I have a shadowbox now, my brother had a really nice fence in his last house it really made the whole yard.

 

[AMDMaddness]

use a drill and drill holes and use bolts? Its very common to do it that way.

 

[paulney]

Prepare leftovers of paint. Just in case there's a mad granny that lives next door. That thread was gold.

 

[alkemyst]

Search for more threads like http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=163088

 

[BoomerD]

My neighbor and I simply installed a couple of new posts in the middle of a couple of panels and left the old rotted posts in place. (the new posts are properly dug in, concreted in place, and look good)
The new posts took up the slack left by the rotted ones and this was MUCH less work than digging out the concreted stumps and replacing them properly.
Both of us are old and fucked up, and the work of doing it right was more than either one of us could do, so this was the next best thing and turned out to be the cheapest as well.
Having to look at an exposed 4x4 post in the center of a panel isn't that distracting, and as far as we were concerned, was a decent compromise.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Originally posted by: paulney
Prepare leftovers of paint. Just in case there's a mad granny that lives next door. That thread was gold.

God yes, I was hoping someone would bring that up!

 

[drnickriviera]

The post was rotten right at the junction between the concrete and post right? Use crushed limestone next time.

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Personally, unless my neighbor was going into it with me I'd put up a normal privacy fence that looked best in my yard.

Shadowbox fences are the typical homeowner fence. The pluses are they are cheap, look ok from both sides and keep things in and out. The cons are they look only ok, they are not privacy fences and don't keep everything in and out. Another bonus is they are fairly wind resistant although down here in florida will still blow over in a hurricane at times.

Fencing is usually one of the more expensive things a homeowner buys. Make sure it's what you like for your budget. Most of the fencing above the shadowbox in pricing aren't that bad to look at from the back, they just get to see the cross boards and 4x4's.

I'd try to avoid concrete unless you have to have it.

I have a shadowbox now, my brother had a really nice fence in his last house it really made the whole yard.

You can put up a standard privacey fence and still be wind resistant. You just use 3 2x3 between post as the cross beams that you attach the boards to. I had a shadowbox and don't like it just because you can see though the shadobox. Also it's more complicated to build because you have to alternate the boards and you must have a small amount of overlap therefore you use a little more material.

 

[AlienCraft]

I'm laying out materials and locations for exactly the same project.
The fence part you're looking for is a flange that has a bracket to go around the pipe and two flaps on either side with holes pre-drilled for the bolts. It's designed to attach to a 2x4 on the 4in side, so MOST FENCE PANELS are built "wrong" for that attachment style.
I'm planning on re-setting the posts, then dismantleing the fence and re-using the fence boards on a "new' panel frame.
This way, we can get rid of the dead fence pieces, re-stain the old and new to a better match, and hopefully get another 12-15 years out of it.

I'm using metal posts because of the rot at the ground level. No amount of paint is going to help that zone, unless it's applied prior to installation.

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
My neighbor and I simply installed a couple of new posts in the middle of a couple of panels and left the old rotted posts in place. (the new posts are properly dug in, concreted in place, and look good)
The new posts took up the slack left by the rotted ones and this was MUCH less work than digging out the concreted stumps and replacing them properly.
Both of us are old and fucked up, and the work of doing it right was more than either one of us could do, so this was the next best thing and turned out to be the cheapest as well.
Having to look at an exposed 4x4 post in the center of a panel isn't that distracting, and as far as we were concerned, was a decent compromise.

When I took down my old fence some asshole (previous homeowner) did the same thing. The old rottening post were kept in place and they simply dug a little bit (1' or so) and put the post in dirt. They did a very bandaid job because I imagine the fence was in bad shape. When i removed the post and started digging with a post hole digger I couldn't dig anymore because the top of the rotten post was still in the ground. I coudn't figure out how to remove the rotten wood without making the hole bigger. I finally figured it out by making an interesting tool. I took a 6" long large EYE bolt and screwed it all the way down into the top of the rotten post. I poured water down the hole and let it sit during the whole day to lossen up the soil. I then pulled and the whole rotten post came out BAMM!!!!!!!

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: steppinthrax

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Personally, unless my neighbor was going into it with me I'd put up a normal privacy fence that looked best in my yard.

Shadowbox fences are the typical homeowner fence. The pluses are they are cheap, look ok from both sides and keep things in and out. The cons are they look only ok, they are not privacy fences and don't keep everything in and out. Another bonus is they are fairly wind resistant although down here in florida will still blow over in a hurricane at times.

Fencing is usually one of the more expensive things a homeowner buys. Make sure it's what you like for your budget. Most of the fencing above the shadowbox in pricing aren't that bad to look at from the back, they just get to see the cross boards and 4x4's.

I'd try to avoid concrete unless you have to have it.

I have a shadowbox now, my brother had a really nice fence in his last house it really made the whole yard.

You can put up a standard privacey fence and still be wind resistant. You just use 3 2x3 between post as the cross beams that you attach the boards to. I had a shadowbox and don't like it just because you can see though the shadobox. Also it's more complicated to build because you have to alternate the boards and you must have a small amount of overlap therefore you use a little more material.

Wind resistance is part of all fencing. A solid fence no matter how reinforced will usually get pretty mangled in a a hurricane. Even shadowboxes don't fare much better.

 

[alkemyst]

A bad thing about leaving rotting wood is it attracts wood destroying pests.

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: paulney
Prepare leftovers of paint. Just in case there's a mad granny that lives next door. That thread was gold.

AND HOW!

Looking for link now.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
I'm laying out materials and locations for exactly the same project.
The fence part you're looking for is a flange that has a bracket to go around the pipe and two flaps on either side with holes pre-drilled for the bolts. It's designed to attach to a 2x4 on the 4in side, so MOST FENCE PANELS are built "wrong" for that attachment style.
I'm planning on re-setting the posts, then dismantleing the fence and re-using the fence boards on a "new' panel frame.
This way, we can get rid of the dead fence pieces, re-stain the old and new to a better match, and hopefully get another 12-15 years out of it.

I'm using metal posts because of the rot at the ground level. No amount of paint is going to help that zone, unless it's applied prior to installation.

Yeah, I have those already. I did 130' of fencing a couple years ago using them, but the problem is that are meant to be used where the metal posts all end up showing on one side of the fence. With a "good neighbor fence" the decorative panels switch every other panel so you only get half of the messy stuff. There is also an issue of property lines....anything other than a good neighbor fence has to be all on one person's property, so if it's off slightly, one of you is ceding some land.

The bolt through the pole would actually work. The primary problem that I can see being 1) you'd need a washer to give one bolt enough strength and 2) aside from using a drill press with a clamping table and knowing exactly where (within a 1/2") the hole will go you're going to need to drill the hole after the post is set, which will be tricky and time intensive.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
My neighbor and I simply installed a couple of new posts in the middle of a couple of panels and left the old rotted posts in place. (the new posts are properly dug in, concreted in place, and look good)
The new posts took up the slack left by the rotted ones and this was MUCH less work than digging out the concreted stumps and replacing them properly.
Both of us are old and fucked up, and the work of doing it right was more than either one of us could do, so this was the next best thing and turned out to be the cheapest as well.
Having to look at an exposed 4x4 post in the center of a panel isn't that distracting, and as far as we were concerned, was a decent compromise.

yup assuming the load isn't too big you can reinforce a fence with just a few new post digs.

as for metal..metal is ugly.
just get a pressure treated preserved wood fence post and install that. ~10 bucks a post.

as for rotting, you gotta put pebbles in the bottom of the hole for drainage.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Quasmo

Originally posted by: paulney
Prepare leftovers of paint. Just in case there's a mad granny that lives next door. That thread was gold.

AND HOW!

Looking for link now.

It certainly delivered the lulz.

The news du jour has got me thinking a fence like this would be nice. Vines would be a quick low-maintenance enhancement.