Just completed my first 24' horizontal run today. Building the fence is a lot nicer than post hole digging. The fence is 4' high. I wrnt with 8 pickets and a quarter inch gap using a wooden paint stirrer for my guide. Looks really good.
I don’t know anything about anything. After watching so many videos, this video simplified this whole process so much more than anyone else I saw. Thank you for this video. I forgot about even trying to dig a post, I almost planned to buy 4X4 wood posts and a router machine to make slits for the panels. Y’all are great!!!
@@SWiFence You are a true craftsman!! This is my second video that I am watching and im glad I found your youtube page! Subscribed! Thanks for the videos and awesome tips!
What an informative video and inspiring, too. I’d be the first of my neighbors to add a privacy fence but hopefully the beauty of the horizontal look wins them over.
Great video…I constructed my horizontal Cedar years ago to cover a chain link fence. I used the metal grooved posts to set the cedar in it…perfect. Love the horizontal look over vertical all day. Thanks again for the tip using the tape measure as a guide…genius
😂 I’m that guy down the street, designed and built my own horizontal fence when no one in my neighborhood had one, now their becoming more popular and popping up everywhere, so i must have done something right, all cedar and stainless steel screws and metal post, still solid and beautiful well worth the sore back
Thanks so much for this! I have been building fence a long time and have never done a horizontal wood fence so this was super helpful for me as I’m bidding one right now. 😃 Also, never knew that about why the black lines in the cedar wood. Switching to stainless now.
Im so glad I found your channel, Ive been building decks and fences for a little over 3 years. I live on an island north of Seattle, Wa. and haven't seen anyone use those Postmaster posts, even though they seem like a much better solution then sinking P.T 4x4's in the ground. have you guys done a cost breakdown on time and material between the two? also I wanted to say I've built 2 horizontal fences so far and I'm totally sold on the way you guys build yours over the way I build mine. I look forward to binge watching your videos when I get the chance..
I never knew that pallet style lobster crate fences were a thing. Personally the fence I like best is heavy duty used chain link with a hedge. Never needs replacement unless hit by a car or a hurricane.
I have a similar idea for a fence, except do away with the fence and grow the green giants arborvitae that I believe grow up to 80 ft tall and 10 ft wide. Long as you got a lot of property that loosing 10 ft of yard or field won’t bother you? But if you have a hill on your property and don’t want your neighbors seeing you or having to see them from the upper side of the property. Then you need something with some serious height to block everything and everyone out! Which even a 8 ft fence wouldn’t come close to doing the job for my property! But you do have to wait a while for those green giants to grow to the height your looking for and the first year or two they won’t grow very much at all. After that though if there’s in descent soil and fertilizer properly they’ll take off and can grow a couple feet or so every year. Unfortunately my property all clay soil so it’s not ideal for green giants that prefer a good draining soil. So for now I’m working on adding my chicken waste bedding as a mulch and making a mound along where I want the plants at and hoping that will give me the drainage the plants will need at some point? Least the soil should be good and rich with the chicken poo waste composting in the bedding! Definitely need patience for a project like this though, it’s going to take many years to finish the project! Thankfully I can already see it finished in my mind’s eye! LOL
love the channle very informative but I really enjoy the style in which its presented the light heartedness and the jokularity that's proved makeit very entertaing keep the videos coming.
Thanks for the video. I used this one and the one where you built a fence over concrete as my 2 sources to complete my fence between the garage and house this week. It took me a little bit longer than 11 minutes compared to your video😂.
If I am using composite planks should I still brace half way in between the posts or would composite resist warping more than regular wood? Great video and channel in general!
I never built a fence in my life. But want to put one up around our one acre land and im glad i came across your video because now im doing a horizontal fence but what do you suggest we live out in open land here in South Dakota and we have no wind break or no hills to hide us from the elements of winter so do i do that spacing between? Because the wind gets pretty strong here also im going to have to spray the wood with something to protect it against weather.
I'm using 8' postmasters and putting them 48" inches into the ground with 10" holes. Frost line is 42" inches and the ground is mushy clay in the spring (which is why I didn't drive them). Can I get away with 4 sixty lbs bag of cement per hole and then backfilling and tamping the rest of the way(clay) or do I have to concrete to the top of the hole? The section that I completed (to show my wife what I was doing) I filled to the top. I had to slow down on the project after hitting a rock on the last hole and pulling out my shoulder. I had been doing real well being careful with all the roots and rocks in my yard, but got aggressive and dumb right at the end. Live and learn.
If you were going to skimp and put gravel or something anywhere, I would put it in the middle. Well, I would prefer to see the whole entire whole filled with concrete. You could put two bags at the bottom, little clay in the middle and finish it off with two bags at the top just below ground level by two or 3 inches.
Horizontal fence looks alright if you have somewhat level ground to work with. Not so much when you have peaks, valleys, or a hill down your fence line. Much easier to blend your fencing material into a vertical fence but you likely need some longer material if you want your pickets close to the ground and still have a level line across the top and my OCD won’t let me do a fence that you look down the top and it looks like a wavy line. That literally drives me insane! LOL Many years ago my neighbor decided to put up his own fence and started out installing his pockets just following the ground line so whatever the ground did going up and down so was his fence! Couldn’t help myself, had to stop him before he got going to far. Showed him taking a long string tied from the two farthest post good and tight gave him a level line to work off of and just cut the pickets from the ground to the string line and he ended up with a nice straight fence line at the top of his fence. Neighbor thanked me many times for showing him that trick, but it was as much for me as it was him cause I have to be looking at it everyday too! LOL
My idea for the bottom of those spots is to just trim it out by dropping a decorative landscape stone that has a hollow in it before the boards or just recycle some old bricks around them
Man, I love ur videos! Fun, super informative, and just plain awesome. About to do my own privacy horizontal screen/fence around my patio. Never built my own fence b4, but u guys are building my confidence to do so. Oh, and greetings from SC!
Great video, thanks! Helped me build an amazing fence! Questions on putting 2x4s on backside : 1) how necessary is this? 2) do the 2x4s hang a bit or should they be dug into the ground a little bit?
The 2x2 on the back is to keep the pickets from bowing, twisting, and warping over time. I'd say it's pretty essential--not for the short term--but for keeping things looking nice in the long run. And no, they only run the length of the pickets, not into the ground. 👍🏻
Great video! What if the ground isn't level, which probably happens pretty often. Do you keep the same height off the ground, or level the top of the fence and adjust the height of the posts? You would notice wavy fence lines a lot more with a horizontal fence.
An excellent question. People prefer different looks. If you've got gentle changes in the ground you can get away with a dead-level fence--you'll just end up with gaps of varying size underneath. If you've got more severe changes in the ground we try to flow with the ground, but smooth out what it's doing. That way you keep to the flow of the ground, but the fence flows more smoothly in it's changes.
Great build & awesome video. Unfortunately unless you have large funds not practical. $90 for one of those posts. Didn’t price cedar boards but I’m pretty sure they are more expensive than other choices. One could easily take cheaper option posts and pickets and coat the buried portion of posts with tar before setting. The old time farmer’s used to coat the pickets/boards with a mixture of diesel & used motor oil to preserve. Or you could replace the used motor oil with chainsaw oil which has more parabens.
I like the idea of the metal posts but where I live they are $50+ where as the P/T posts are 16, sure they'll last longer but I can replace that post a number of times before I get to the amount. Yes I know the old posts aren't easy to dig up and replace but...initial costs of the project will cost me a lot more if I need 3 posts that's $150 vs 50
Thanks quick question how would you add the middle piece behind the fence to hold the pickets together if you have no access since they wanna get it as close as possible to the neighbors fence
Great video and very informative, thank you! I would like to build a fence like this to enclose my side yard. Do you have additional videos that detail how to finish off the corners or how to add a gate?
Corners: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PTO3int-lOo.html Gate: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lucaRaDp0C0.html A couple more builds it might be helpful to see: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RjMYrZPSDbs.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g3cFapnA7mM.html
Thank you!! Using this as my instructional video as I attempt this build this month. Question - you have this at 60.5”, but you said in the video you are building to 6’, Wouldnt this fence be 5’ since you are going to 60.5” instead of 72”? Thanks!!!
Fast and to the point. Great vid! Question - I have a 4ft estate block retaining wall I need to build a fence on top (about ~1ft from the wall). Would you recommend treated doug fir in concrete or these postmaster posts? With the postmaster, I would just be worried that if the wall ever shifts, that would compromise the integrity of the postmaster posts before wood in concrete. Thanks for any input!
All looks good, but, $80 per post is too much. and then have to spend extra wood covering it, I think I'll stay with the old used metal pipes, but hey, don't get me wrong, if I could afford it, I'd buy it. :) it looks great!!! good job!!
@6:45 Don't nail your tape LOL sounds like he's done it Hahaha. I found that funny. Nice job I think we should try those post masters out for wood the pole idea i don't really like
No no, the sections are usually all the same. We were just demonstrating two different styles. I mean, you can alternate them if you want or do whatever you want, but we were just showing how to do it either way. Typically once you pick a style you do your whole fence like that.
How do you affix the vertical trim piece on the inside of the "hat"without hitting the metal flanges? I saw you used a pneumatic nailer which is uber fast if ya don't end up hitting the metal. Thank you for the video!
Hey SWI/Dan, do you think 2x2 or 2x4s (ripped) made from pressure treated pine is acceptable as an alternative to the cedar wood just for the nailers? Since it’s going to be completely covered up by pickets on both the front and back, I’m wondering what you think? It seems it would be a huge cost savings and cedar 2x2 or 2x4 is actually harder to find in my area.
I want to build a horiztonal fnce, but i need this to all the way to the ground to keep my animals inside. Can i put this all the way to the ground? also, in order for the front to look like the back, do we just follow the pattern on how we place the pickets then?
we're building a horizontal fence with treated pine and trying to decide whether should do 6 or 8 foot lengths. Any thoughts on whether 8 feet is too long and will warp or whether should be okay as long as we add a center support/plank in the middle? Also will the steel work in softer soils like we have here in Columbus? Great video! Thanks! Kev
It's always going to warp no matter what--it's just a question of how much. It's a personal call, but you also have to factor in wind load, and height of the fence. If your soil is softer than normal that's a factor too. Yes, steel should work in softer soil: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mc92svvCRFo.html
I see in my area I see them weaving the horizontal boards in the middle between the posts. Is that ok too and do you have a videos on that way? So what do you do just stick a 2*4 or so weaving and nailing it. Does that shorten the standard boards or is it a negligible shortening of the boards?
If it's on a slope you can leave a little gap between the ends of your horizontal boards so you can slope them at an angle. Or you can angle-cut the ends of your horizontal boards to follow the slope. Or you can stair-step. (Like we do in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g3cFapnA7mM.html)
You certainly can use coated screws--we prefer stainless steel screws because they're rust-proof all the way through instead of just on the outside. In all likelihood you'd be fine though.
Yes. Cedar holds up much better than the other woods out there--but it is still guaranteed to split, crack, and warp over time. Always stain the fence.
I can't find anything over 7.5 feet. I want to build a 6' horizontal fence. Would it not be advisable to dig a 18 hole with concrete? I live in the north west for a wind reference. Thanks
How would you make this board and batten. I assume just on the first example or style 1 on the front side you would add a picket to close the gaps? While on the back side you would still name on the back side the support halfway.
