Fence Post Redux

2006.06.24

I talked with Nate on the phone a couple times this week.  Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood and all of his friends stopped by to tell him he screwed up the fence posts, and give their advice on how to do it right.  Naturally, everyone had a different opinion.  Despite the randomly staggered posts, Nate plowed ahead with putting in the fencing sections, but then after everyone’s comments, regretted it and decided to tear out the misaligned posts and redo them.  Also, a couple of us had advised him that he should use larger posts on either side of the driveway to support a double gate that large.

By the time I got up today, Nate had already pulled out the posts and sections that he wanted to redo.  I headed over to go to the lumberyard with him, and then help out for a while.

As usual, first I had to run the gauntlet of Kodi’s tongue…

The friendly attack from Kodi

Behind their garage, the next-door neighbors’ berry bushes have grown over the fence, so we sampled some of the berries.  We suppose they are raspberries? 

Berries growing over the fence from neighbors' yard
Berries, possibly raspberries

Nate pulled out some posts in the middle, as well as the first one we did next to the driveway.  He was able to leave two panels of fence boards in place.  He left the other panels mostly together (on the ground), hoping that after resinking the posts, he can fit those back in.

Section of front fence
Front fence with misaligned posts removed and a couple panels complete

After that, Nate, Yuki, and I crowded into his little pickup truck and made a trip to a lumberyard down on Johnson Creek Blvd.  Someone had recommended the place to Nate as a good source for fence materials.  It seems to be a one- or two-man operation, focusing on fencing lumber and hardware.  After picking up up a couple 6x6 pressure treated posts, we made a quick tour through some Southeast Portland neighborhoods, stopped for a late lunch, and then back to their place.

Kodi and I inspect a post hole
Pressure-treated 6x6 fence posts for driveway gate

It was in the 90’s today, so we didn’t feel like doing any labor in that heat.  He’ll probably get the posts in tomorrow morning before it warms up too much… supposedly to 98 or even 100 degrees.  Summer isn’t supposed to start in Oregon until the Fourth of July, but it came early this year.