Stained (decking) hardwood fence ??

[jamesbbb]

Instead of the same old picket fence on my Queenslander, I'm looking into something a little different

what i have come up with so far is a horizontal pailing fence (probably 2.4 - 2.8m lengths) with 50mm gaps between the pailings
using 100x100x1.8m Hardwood Posts

and lengths of Merbau decking hardwood as the pailings - this way, when stained, it should look great. the merbau lengths are 90x19 in size


sketch below


has anyone done something similar to this before ?

i was wondering if there's anything i should look out for ?
and what type of nail gun would i use ? a standard coil gun ?
is there any likelyhood that i'll have to pre-drill holes ??

the posts themselves wont be sitting in the concrete - they will instead be bolted onto saddles similar to this



any thoughts would be much appreciated, as fence-building isnt my forte but i love the challenge!


cheers
jimmy

[jamesbbb]

also, would anyone have any idea how long the descking lengths could be before they would require extra bracing ? to prevent them bowing ?

cheers
jimmy

[Planned LScape]

Best to pre-drill the holes and use the screw-head nails which wont come out after timber weathering, a nail gun can sometimes split the timber. Use a nail banged in a few hits as a spacer inbetween each length of merbau that way you are always straight and can push out the bows in the wood.

Best to stain or seal it straight after as when it rains the tannins out of the timber leak everywhere and they stain

[jamesbbb]

hey mate,

drill all the boards ?!
this job is getting bigger the further i look into it

i think i'll still go the coil nail gun, and maybe a cheap 2nd hand drill press for the job!

cheers mate
jimmy

[Planned LScape]

It makes it quicker actually in the long run, I finished off a merbau screen today on a job- just mark with a level your nail line on the merbau which has been tacked on both ends, then whack in a small drill bit and put pilot holes down the line. Dont have to go all the way through, just enough to stop the wood from splitting. Then you hammer like buggery!

[echnidna]

Scrap the post bracket idea it won't give you a nice solid fence for any length of time.
Stick the posts in the ground. You can mix cement up with the dirt out of the postholes and backfill with that.

You could space your posts up to say 2700 apart, but midway between posts put a vertical dropper to tie the rails together & prevent bowing warping etc

[jamesbbb]

thanks for the tips lads !

however, after getting some quotes on just the pailings i think i'm going to throw some galv corrutaged sheets into the mix.
this should hopefully keep costs down

i'm thinking thinner pailings - maybe 45mil. with 4-5 at the top, then corro, then another 4-5 at the bottom of the fence panel
should look great, and will fit in with my queenslander look

anyone have any experience with corro on the fence ?
i'm guessing there aren't any tricks to it - should be easy enough

and the saddle brackets are bad news you rekon ??
i wasn't 100% sure on these, but heard about them from a mate

cheers,
jimmy

[jamesbbb]

how far down would you cement those posts also ?
min 300 ? or even further ?

cheers
jimmy

[want2learn]

Here's my new merbau fence i built, i ended up dividing the merbau with a very thick brush. All sections are 1.8m wide, the gate was 1.3m. I dug around 500 to 600mm for my post holes.

[Planned LScape]

Very nice mate, good choice and layout of materials and plants

[jamesbbb]

hey man, that looks great !
love the combination

i'v since decided to go with part corrugated galv sheets, part stained merbau

similar to this:


.. mostly to keep down costs

also with the cement mix, is it straight cement ? or have i read somewhere you use part sand/gravel also ?
am trying to get an idea of how many bags of cement i'll need for the ~9 posts

cheers,
jimmy

[Planned LScape]

Yes use a concrete mix- cement is only the powder that ties all the ingredients together to set

Probably easier to buy some pre-mixed bags and just mix 4 or so in a barrow with water and use it straight in the holes after you have propped the posts up (or got someone to hold it plumb). Amount of bags depends on how big you have made the holes, around 250 x 250 x 600 deep you will need probably 1.5-2 bags. If the holes are bigger might be cheaper to get a small delivery of washed sand/14mm screenings/ few bags of cement and mix it yourself

[oohsam]

James bb - my personal opinon is that it wont look good with corrigated steel and merbau....I'd rethink that if i was you, but then again its your house, your choice.
Cheers.