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There are few drawbacks of a wood picket, here are the main ones:
But the advantages of such fences are many:
For the installation of wooden picket fences, it is essential to choose the right lumber that meets all the tasks. The ideal option is to purchase a brown pressure treated wood. The dimensions of the boards can be different - most often board with a thickness of 1 inch is used. For supporting posts, buy 4x4 boards. You can, of course, use more "powerful" size, but this is impractical. 2x4 boards are used for mounting sections. Decorative fences for flowerbeds are made of thin light boards. In any case, preference is given to quality lumber.
For the picket fence, the best lumber choice is brown pressure treated wood or bare pine. Such products are inexpensive, while the presence of essential oils in the wood makes them resistant to rot and pests, temperature extremes, and ultraviolet exposure. The cedar is also the perfect choice, but it is an expensive material. Buying a lumber of higher grades for a picket fence is not necessarily. In this case, products of the second grade will be a reasonable option for price/quality. Definitely, you should pay attention so that the board is not affected by wood bugs and fungi.
There may be many mounting options for a wooden picket, but the basic operations and implementation principles will be approximately the same.
The most commonly used algorithm for creating a medium-height fence:
The place where it is planned to install the picket fence needs to be thoroughly cleaned of overgrown trees, shrubs, grasses, and, if necessary, to carry out some landscape alignment work. If the elevation differences are significant, you will need to build steps between the sections.
Assembly of the frame is the longest time and labor-intensive stage, which includes the following types of work:
Digging \ drilling of holes for installation of support posts - their depth should be 4 feet. Holes are made in increments of 8 feet. The sides of the posts deepening into the ground are coated with asphalt mastic, leveled, and poured with concrete. The time until sufficient solidification of the monolith is 2-3 days. During this period, the posts are securely fixed in the desired position.
Then, with the help of self-tapping screws (sometimes perforated fasteners and brackets are used), the railings are installed, the top rail is fastened one foot from the top edge of the fence, and the bottom is approximately the same distance from the ground. After the frame of the fence is fully assembled, all its parts are treated with specialized solutions that protect the tree from damage by fungus and insects, then cover with decorative compounds.
The main stage is the fastening of pickets to the frame. This is done with the powder-coated screws; in some cases, we can do with galvanized nails. The gaps between the pickets can be different, but the golden mean is a distance of 1.5 inches. This way provides sufficient transparency in combination with normal protection feeling. The next stage is the cutting of the pickets over the top when a straight line or some waves can be formed on the top of the fence. Each picket is also treated with protective compounds and, if necessary, is painted in the desired color.
After the last board is screwed, a gate is installed - the wooden picket fence is ready. To increase the life of the fence, you should properly care for it - cut the grass (to prevent excessive moisture), paint (every two to three years), clean, and repair as necessary.