Our back fence has been on its last legs for a while and although we did a repair of the side panels about a year ago, the wood warped because the wrong fixings were used. So the first few weekends after we got back from honeymoon it was time to re-do the side length and also replace the one at the bottom.

With the bottom fence, we needed to use something stronger than gravel boards to contain the soil because it backs onto a path that is lower than the soil. We toyed with the idea of building a wall (too much work), then thought about railway sleepers (too thick), then spotted some thick stair boards used for decking at the garden centre - perfect.

So, the first weekend after we were back from honeymoon we set about rebuilding the bottom fence. On Saturday we pulled down the old one, dug away the soil, dug out deep holes for the posts (very difficult job), put each post in level, fixed one stair board in place, stabilised with props, filled the holes with dry concrete, watered the concrete mix and left to set over night.

On Sunday Dom put the stair boards in, one on top of the other,

then attached the arris rails,

then screwed on the individual feathered edge boards. Sunday night it was done, all bar the paint job.

The next weekend we only had a day free and worked on the side fence. My job was to take each individual feathered edge board off with a crowbar and take out the nails with the back of the hammer. There were about 70 of these to do. Dom screwed them back on, then I touched up the paint. I also painted the back fence.

The final weekend was for building a trellis for three of the panels on the side fence. Dom built, I painted, and Dom attached. We had to build them ourselves rather than buy them because the posts were set a bit further apart than the length of the trellis you can buy. Anyway, homemade is more sturdy.

It looks good!

Labels: d.i.y., gardening