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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

We were fortunate our country place came with 6 foot and 8 
foot high welded pole fencing with "no climb"  V and 
rectangular wire (hog panels on the gates). I'm sure one 
of the previous owners knew how to weld. I paid to have a 
small portion done to separate a yard and it was costly, 
making me realize I have a goldmine in fencing and that I 
want to learn to weld. This fencing has worked well with 
our dogs, goat, sheep, and previous owner's horses. If you 
can do it yourself I'd highly recommend this fence.

In Austin I built my own wooden privacy fence, and it 
turned out well. I studied the ones that were warping and 
falling down to determine what not to do. I highly 
recommend using three rails instead of two, the top and 
bottom ones to be close to the edge of the pickets (to 
keep fence from warping), and use a board for a cap (2x8 
or 2x10) to keep water off the end grain. A smaller board 
(1x2) underneath the cap makes a nice reveal if you want 
aesthetics and covers up the "dog ears" on the pickets. If 
you don't have a height restriction, run a bottom board 
horizontally, so if anything rots it you only have one 
board and not all the pickets to replace! Use screws on 
the cap board. I put the pretty side in, so the dogs could 
not climb out, and double faced the portion running along 
the front so it looked nice, too.

If you have never built a wooden privacy fence before I'd 
recommend some things from my own learning experience: 
start in the back first, as your work will greatly improve 
as you go along; a pnuematic nail gun would be a good 
investment; if you use an auger to drill the post holes 
don't work it when you are tired as it's really a pain to 
have to dig one up you've lodged into the ground.

This fence still looks great after 15 years when I drive 
by.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:49:10 -0400
 paxamicus AT earthlink.net wrote:
> I want to lock this new place up like Ft. Knox. I am 
> tired of sub-par  
> fencing job which we've been struggling with in this 
> place.
>
> I have sheep, lambs, two ponies and possibly another 
> horse at some  
> point. Dogs. Cats. I want to run a solid, garden type 
> privacy fence  
> along the front of the house and on either side for a 
> little bit, to  
> avoid the Border Collies fixating on car chasing.
> For the lambs, I want it "solid" wire at least a foot or 
> two up, so  
> they can't bumble through it.
>
> I'm debating different kinds of fence and thought we 
> might could talk  
> about what you all like best, and what you don't.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Celia
>
> PS
>
> I've been a bit under the weather and I just opened my 
> mail and I  
> think it's going to take me about three days to catch 
> up! ;  )
>
>
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