I want to build a picket fence. What are some good resources for learning how? for Questionland Seattle

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I want to build a picket fence. What are some good resources for learning how?

Ross asked in Gardening about 1 year ago | Report

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goth jenny

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Sarcastic: Jeepers! I dunno?!? resources on how to build a picket fence?

Real(ish): A picket fence is so simple that if you have to ask, well... but you did and everyone has to start somewhere so hooray for you and branching out! The link above should point you in the right direction but in a (really big) nutshell there are two types of picket fences, olde timey/war style and suburban.

War style is easier; get a bunch of pickets (a board, usually 1"x4", with a pointed end) drive the pointed ends into the ground, then use wire to hold them together horizontally.

I'm guessing you're thinking of the more modern suburban picket fence, it's a little more complicated but it's easy to build and it only has 6 parts: holes, concrete, posts (4"x4", there are ones for fences with fancy tops too), slats (either 1"x4", 1"x6", 2"x4"- 8' or12' long); pickets, and fasteners (nails or screws, lots that are long enough to go through the pickets and then about halfway through the slats and some that are long enough to go through the slats and about 2" into the posts).

Before put those together lets prepare. Where do you want your fence? Use some stakes and some string to mark where you want your fence. Have some taut string strung about 6"-12" off the ground where you want the perimeter of your fence? Is your fence on a hill? Do you have a level? You'll want that in a minute. K, let's rock!

1. Holes- a hole in the ground, a good rule of thumb is the hole should be half as deep as your fence is high. Space your holes so that the centers are the length of your slats apart. You can dig your hole with pretty much anything but there's these things called "post hole diggers" that are pretty good for, um, digging a hole for a post. Once you have you hole dug you're on to part two.

2. Posts- cut your post to be long enough to hit the bottom of the hole it's going into and stick above the ground as high as you want your fence (hint it's easier to change the depth of your hole than the length of your post). Make sure the post is the right distance from the next one over so the slats will reach between them and use your level to make sure your post is vertical. Then...

3. Concrete- pour some concrete into the hole around the post. Before the concrete dries double check your posts for distance and vertical, um, ness.

4. Fasteners- use them fasteners to fasten the...

5. Slats- to the posts, one slat about 6" down from the top and one slat about 6" from the bottom. The slats should meet in the middle of the post, you may need to cut the ends at an appropriate angle if your fence is on a hill (if you put your slats on the outside perimeter of the posts when you get to the pickets you should space them so that a picket goes over the seam where the slats meet). Then use the other fasteners to put the...

6. Pickets!- on the slats, at regular distances. Use the level to make sure they're vertical too (nail or screw in the top then adjust to vertical then do the bottom). If you want to get fancy and have the upside-down arc thing going on between posts use a quadratic function to determine the length to cut the pickets (x is the distance between posts, y is the height of the pickets).

There you go, picket fence! You're maybe going to want to paint or whitewash it at this point, if you play your cards right you might be able to con a neighborhood kid into giving you some sweet sweet orange peel in return for the "opportunity" to do it for you.

goth jenny answered in Gardening about 1 year ago | Report

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