Well, last week the guys rolled up their sleeves and went to town on the picket fence. I am shocked at how much they got done! Between digging post holes, finding the property lines, and figuring out the layout of the fence itself, it was a job. I assume it was anyways, I just supervised. I'm pretty good at that role.
Since we live in Savannah and the dirt here is basically sand, the post holes were relatively easy to dig, or so I am told. However, the old post hole diggers bit the dust towards the tail end of the project, and a new set was a must. I can't imagine if the ground and soil were harder what kind of a beating it would have taken. Yikes! In any event, the holes were dug in no time.
I think the hardest thing, or most tedious anyways, was actually screwing in each picket. Having a corner lot and a wild toddler means the fence had to be pretty expansive, expensive?, which means a lot of pickets. I think their knees were aching after day 3. I was sure to make them hot lunches each day, I'm not a slave driver...
I opted to have the posts show between each section rather than have the pickets nailed across the fronts like you see on most picket fences.
This meant more work for the men because they had to use brackets on the sides of each post to hold the top and bottom rails in place. I think the end result is worth it for a polished and sturdy look.
Each post is 4x4 and each one is capped.
After running out of pickets, and most likely steam, there's still a couple of things left to be done. Hubs wants to extend the fence along the side of the house to meet the back yard fence. This way we can be certain the wild toddler won't escape easily. Not that I would EVER let her play in the yard alone. I'm way too crazy helicopter mom for that. To complete this, they have to add I believe two six more 8 ft sections.
The front gate also has yet to be constructed. There will be two gates swinging opposite directions at the end of the driveway. This way I can close them shut when said wild toddler is riding her bike or doing sidewalk chalk.
And just for fun, this is where we started back in August.
Once the construction is done and the fence has had a chance to cure, paint happens! Can't wait! And of course, I can't wait for spring landscaping. I'm sure my husband is rolling his eyes at this point.
