Post #786330 by Prikli Pear on Thu, Apr 26, 2018 1:49 PM

I haven't posted any updates in a while, but that's not because I haven't been busy--my project have just been long, drawn-out affairs that don't lend themselves to good photos. Except the dog kennel fence adjacent to the pool. It was essentially a chain of trellises wired together, reinforced by wire fencing and overgrown with flowering vines. Except it was never terribly stable and the weedy vines outgrew the flowering ones. When I replaced the gate with a home build bamboo one, I knew the fence had to follow.

Harvesting and torching all the bamboo for the gate convinced me to buy commercial bamboo fencing for the fence itself. So I ordered two 8' lengths of 6' high fence. That's taller than I wanted, but 4' was too short and I didn't want to waste time trimming to size. I did go through and torch the nodes so that it would better match the gate.

I used a post hole digger to dig a 2' deep hole and set a steel post. I used fast-setting concrete mix, as the clay soil does not for a stable fence make (learned that from experience). I used a carpenter's level to make sure the post was square.

I then anchored 2"x3" crossbeams to the post...

...and secured them to the square post of the privacy fence using brackets and wood screws. The other end of that plastic line is tied to the gate post to ensure the fence is straight, and not weaving drunkenly when finished.

The finished frame, from the dogs' side. Note that none of the existing makeshift fence (or vines) have been removed yet).

Here, the first stages of removing the existing fence and overgrowth has begun. This was much more difficult and tedious than anticipated. I'd wired everything together to keep the dogs in, and the vines had grown in and out and around the wire, tying everything in knots. What a mess.

I laid down a line of pavers to elevate the bottom of the fence from the dirt/mud to stave off rot a little. The pavers also discourage the dogs from digging out, at least a little.

The rain drain from the patio ran under the deck. Because of future plans, I needed to relocate the 22-degree elbow beyond the new fence, otherwise things would be needlessly complicated. Turns out a 4" PVC drainpipe does not measure the same as a 4" PVC water pipe. I made several trips in search of the proper size coupling before I figured out the problem. Eventually I got the drain relocated.

Finally, the fence went up. I used deck screws to attach the bamboo, one every 5-6 culms. I've yet to waterproof the tops with wood putty and spar urethane, but that's coming in the next week or so. I tied the surviving, non-weedy, vines to the fence and am expecting new growth any minute now. The new fence has been in place a week now and no escapes have been made, so I'm cautiously optimistic I can mark this as a success.

As always, a more detailed writeup may be found on my blog.