Building Fences

Do me a favor, go out and really look at the fence around your backyard.  Take a look at the pickets, the 2 by 4s, and the posts.  As a now experienced fence builder, I have to tell you, they are incredibly hard work to build!

I will never again ignore the simple white picket fence in front of my neighbor's yard.  From now on, I will take a moment to admire the time and effort involved in that seemingly plain fence that hides the junk on the side of a store, or that separates me from my neighbor.  I will forever pay homage to the workers who went unnoticed, building those fences that I took for granted.

My 60 year old husband and I, (I am almost 60 myself,) decided to build a 24 foot section of fence on the front/side yard  of our house in Tahoe, to give us more privacy when we build a deck, pergola and barbecue area.  It won't be hard, we can do this, we announced with confidence.  It won't take much time.  Once we level the posts and put in the cement-- (eight- 50 pound bags of cement-- are a good workout, as you load them into the back of the car)--- this fence will be done in no time.

Okay, I can tell you that after six hours, my feet ached, my knees ached, I was covered in grit, and dirt and sweat and smelled like the locker room of a major baseball team.  And,  yet the sense of accomplishment was pretty cool, knowing I helped build that thing. It is straight, and level and actually looks like a professional fence!

We bought our supplies at the local hardware/lumberyard, called Meeks. It is a guy's heaven.  No frills, just nails and screws and countless other things that I have no idea what their purpose is, lined up neatly on aisle upon aisle.  Then, on the lumber yard, we picked out our posts, and 2 by 4s and  52 cedar pickets.  We decided on the higher grade, and even with that, found out that you really had to pick through the pile so that you didn't get ones that were cracked, or had too many knotholes, or ones that were crooked and warped.  Who knew?!

So, take a look at our job.  Don't tell me it looks sort of ordinary.  It looks amazing.