Steel Post and Wood Fence Project (Mid-November 2005)

How Hard Could It Be?

This job could potentially be done by a single person, but 3 or 4 people make it go reasonably fast. We built 117 feet of fence in 9 hours, which included setting lines, planting posts, digging out some high spots, and fastening pickets. Digging the post holes is probably the biggest job.

Materials Required

• 16 2-3/8" Galvanzied Steel Posts
• 32 Simpson Strong Tie PGT2 Brackets
• 31 2"x4"x8' Roughcut Redwood
• 239 1"x6"x6' Redwood Pickets
• 7 lbs of 1-7/8" coated Wood Screws
• 120 1/4"x1.5" Hot Dipped Lag Screws

Tools Required

• Wheelbaroow or cart for toting lumber around
• Several Cordless Drills and Batteries (we used three drills with 4 batteries total
• Post Auger
• Small shovels
• Mason Line
• 2' or 4' Level
• Gloves

Date	Photo	Notes
Novemeber 19, 2005		The easiest part was the first four inches.
Novemeber 19, 2005		After that, each of us would sit on a handle of the auger.
Novemeber 19, 2005		The ground was completely dry and firm, but not very hard. With all that weight on the auger, it was still spinning, so it wasn't hitting anything hard that would stop it. I suspect there was something wrong with the pitch or length of the blade on the tip of the auger. It seemed like it would make a flat spot and then take a bunch more pressure to get it going down some more.
Novemeber 19, 2005		So as it turns out, a two-man post auger is really a misnomer. It took four of us, including the photographer, to sink that puppy to a depth of 24". On later holes, I also added 66lbs in Olympic weights to the shaft of the auger. Planting to post took 3 people 3 hours.
Novemeber 19, 2005
Novemeber 19, 2005		The poles are spaced approximately 90" apart. This works out fine for a standard stockade type fence, however, the original plan was to build a friendship fence where every other panel faces to the opposite side. To build that type of fence would require the posts to be 87" apart. It also requires twice as much PGT2 hardware at around $3.25 each.
Novemeber 26, 2005		I bought the redwood stringers and pickets from Berco Redwood. Not only were materials less than the big box stores, but they also loaded them into my car for me.
Novemeber 26, 2005
Novemeber 26, 2005		The fence is complete! Well almost complete. I still need to put more screws in the pickets, because we ran out of battery power in the drills. I also intend to cut the tops of a few of the poles that are too long.