- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
Any Robert Earl Keen Fans here?
So I needed a fence to close in the side of the house near my garage. I'm trying to extend the driveway so that I can drive my truck into my processing area/woodshed without getting stuck. It will also be nice to be able to throw my garbage cans/whatever else back there without the whole neighborhood having to look at them. I wanted to make the fence and gate as robust as possible because nothing bugs me worse than seeing a sagging fence or gate door. The two gate posts are 4x6x12s buried about 3' 6" in the ground on gravel footings. I used concrete even though I know it can cause premature rot, I just can't see using compacted gravel for a post that's going to have a gate hanging from it. The fence posts are 4x4x10s buried 2' 6" in the ground with compacted gravel/stone dust. I bought them long because I'm going to build the grade up before I put the fence panels up. As you can see I have one diagonal brace up which stiffened the gate post significantly. I'll be doing the same on the other side. Finally, I will be using a beam made from a 3rd 4x6 and two 2x8s to span the tops of the two gate posts. This will stiffen the gate posts further and keep them from sagging inward. It will also make for a good sturdy beam to hang/hoist things from. I don't have any good trees for hanging deer in the yard because all of the branches are up high-hopefully I'll be setting the beam this weekend:
So I needed a fence to close in the side of the house near my garage. I'm trying to extend the driveway so that I can drive my truck into my processing area/woodshed without getting stuck. It will also be nice to be able to throw my garbage cans/whatever else back there without the whole neighborhood having to look at them. I wanted to make the fence and gate as robust as possible because nothing bugs me worse than seeing a sagging fence or gate door. The two gate posts are 4x6x12s buried about 3' 6" in the ground on gravel footings. I used concrete even though I know it can cause premature rot, I just can't see using compacted gravel for a post that's going to have a gate hanging from it. The fence posts are 4x4x10s buried 2' 6" in the ground with compacted gravel/stone dust. I bought them long because I'm going to build the grade up before I put the fence panels up. As you can see I have one diagonal brace up which stiffened the gate post significantly. I'll be doing the same on the other side. Finally, I will be using a beam made from a 3rd 4x6 and two 2x8s to span the tops of the two gate posts. This will stiffen the gate posts further and keep them from sagging inward. It will also make for a good sturdy beam to hang/hoist things from. I don't have any good trees for hanging deer in the yard because all of the branches are up high-hopefully I'll be setting the beam this weekend:
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