This is the third post on fences, but I am sure it will not be my last. I really like fences. I was not sure about installing a large privacy fence though until I saw Melanies fence over at Old Country Gardens (http://melaniesoldcountrygarden.blogspot.com/ Her fence did not seem overpowering and really seemed to fit in well. I have a 260 long mixed border and gardens along the northern side of my property. I did not want a privacy fence on the southern side because it would block all of the sun. This fence, being on the northern side 
worked out well for my plants and my garden. It not only provides me privacy but also makes an awesome backdrop for the borders and protects the plants from the north wind. I love it.
worked out well for my plants and my garden. It not only provides me privacy but also makes an awesome backdrop for the borders and protects the plants from the north wind. I love it. The first picture shows John and one of his helpers working in the snow to drill out the holes. They came right after we had a bit of wet, soggy snow. The holes promptly filled up with water and once drilled, they had to be left for a week or so in order to drain.
The next time the three guys came they quickly installed the 4x4x8 pressure treated support posts. They then let those 16 posts sit for a few days for the concrete to set up.
When next they came I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently they worked. The 2x4x16 were quickly laid out and nail gunned into the support posts. The tops of the support poles were trimmed, and the pickets were all installed. All 500 plus of them.
The final picture shows the finished fence from the front yard view. The only thing I am not totally happy about is the fact the pickets are shrinking. All pressure treated shrinks and people need to be aware of this. I knew they would shrink once installed and was prepared for a gap between the boards, but I am still not too happy with it. Though, to look on the bright side, when that strong northern wind blows it will have some room to blow through the fence and hopefully will not blow the fence down!
in the garden....
Good Morning Tina, Like you said what an awesome backdrop for your flower gardens. I have tried to create backdrops for my beds, until we can fence in the whole yard. this year we have two major projects to do, so maybe next year we'll get it all finished. Have I said before----Always something to do! Have a great day everyone.
ReplyDeleteGood morning to all and I do hope for all to have a good day.
ReplyDeleteLooks good Tina but I am glad I am not the one that had to put it up with all those plants in the way. Did you have any plants get murdered in the project?
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI like the fence! It will be a good back drop to a planting.
Gail
Hi Tina --your fence turned out great --it was nice to see the finished product. It has been really busy --the wrong parts came in so I am very busy running everyone where they have to be. I had to take hubby to work, boy to piano, library and then when hubby got off work I had to go get him --wouldn't be so bad but after spreading a bunch of mulch --I was ready for bed --had to go get him after midnight. Will be doing the same thing today --only today is the orthodontist, school program for the older two and take hubby and go get him. Lots to do --but it will all work out --:0) I wanted to finish the mulch this morning but the rain has hampered that --it's probably okay since today was change the sheets/covers day, rofl. I'd much rather be outside than doing 5 beds of linen --takes up so much time. Off to send some new pictures of sidekick to the family. They came in yesterday:) Catch you later! Hi Jean, Dawn, Lola and Gail --have a great day:0)
ReplyDeleteWhat an awful day today. I had to take a break for the sewer man. He opened up my clean out and said we didn't need it pumped as it was only water. no solids. That was great! Mom, you will appreciate this. He said you should not put toliet paper in your toliet with a septic. We don't. It had been six years which is average but we do add bio clean and are careful. Saved about $200.
ReplyDeleteNina, good morning! on this awful day! no working outside. sigh. i have to do like anonymous and wash laundry and what not. maybe vacumn. I think you have nice backdrops-i like your vinyl fencing.
Mom, some plants were murdered. They took out a seedling oak leaf hydrangea. I do check on them. lol it disappeared! others were disturbed but they are hardy and recover. the same thing happened with the stone on the house. the guys were not happy about working around the plants and by the chain link in the backyard. we left it up on the outside. but it all worked out. i LOVE the fence. i feel so much more comfortable. wondering why it took us so long.
good morning gail! more rain. blah!
anonymous, you make me remember i must at times stay in and clean too. sigh. outside is so much better. lots of running around to do with four kids! i don't know how you do-keep the house spotless and the garden nice too! have a good day and i hope your truck gets fixed soon. wrong parts?!
Uggg, it is a torrential downpour here...and the power has been off for about 3 hours. Well Tina, the bright-side is...you could cook something hehehe. I am going to make a lemon poundcake today. One of the few things I bake and just because it mostly comes from a box and is easy.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina, your fence is a great addition. About the shrinkage, it does allow air through which helps cool a little in the hotter months. But if you want total privacy, like we did on one side, we added another row of pickets on the other side, offset to block any peeping from the very close neighbors. I love fences.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Yup, always told you that. Only does harm and when toilet paper was colored it was even worse. I think everyone that knows me also knows that I KNOW (LOL) that my father was the smartest man in the WORLD and even though he did not put paper in the toilet he told me you did not have to ever pump out a system if it was working right. Well he was dead wrong about that. I have heard it needs pumping out every 3 years and also heard every 5 years. Well, due to Dad we never had ours pumped out and it failed. Had it pumped 3 or 4 years ago and it has been fine since. When your sister was codes enforcer she learned all that stuff
ReplyDeleteand she says you NEVER put any of the things on the market in your tank. It ruins the natural things that help it decompose. I had put RidX in mine and she had a fit. It now, along with many others of them are banned in the state of Maine. Maine has always been one of the leading states in recycling and banning of all types of chemicals. Tells you something about the septic chemical things. She also says when you first install a system you pump it out after the first year of using it and every 3 years after that. When
your sister and ex had the house built they had a garbage disposal and I tried to tell her they were bad for septic systems. She laughed at me. After being codes officer for so many years when she bought her new house she did not get a garbage disposal!
Tina, I like the fence, we want a enclosure for the "recycling area" made out of this type. Didn't know they shrink.
ReplyDeleteMom, we pumped our tank last year almost 15 years from the time we moved in and we flush all. Makes alot of heat and kept the snow melted over it. Did not fail. This year we are back to snow over it (blocking the path to the oil tank). It wasn't that bad when pumped 'xcept if you count the floating toys the kid made disappear when he was a toddler.
Now we have two holding tanks
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI now have some boggy areas in the garden...what ever happened to gentle rains? It will take a few days to dry out!
Gail
Hi Nancy! Fences DO make for great neighbors. Nice and quiet. lol
ReplyDeleteJillybean-hope the power comes on soon. What a pain. Raining here too. You all need it more so that is a good thing at least for you.
Frances, I may add another row of pickets. I feel so much more comfortable in privacy. We gardeners spend an inordinate amount of time in our gardens, i have some neighbors that find that weird. Hence I feel a bit self conscious and don't like them looking. urrr! I am glad i am not the only one who loves fences. Some around here don't. The fence guys said sometimes when they install fences neigbors are duking it out while they are working. This was not the case between us and these neighbors, we do like them, just not their dogs and we also wanted PRIVACY. nothing personal you see. Now on the other side it would most definitely would be personal.
Mom, Baba was the smartest man I knew too. I could always trust him, just like my husband now. No toliet paper. I do disagree with you about the Rid X. Either that or the bio clean works well (or so i have been told) We use the bio stuff. My friend Geri was raised not tp in the toliet and even though she is on sewer-no tp.
Septics fail when solids clog up the leach lines. That most likely is what happened to yours. The research I did says to pump every 3-5 years. It has been 6 but it is still good. It would also depend on the number using it and what is flushed too.
Dawn, Toys floating? Ew! 15 years is a long time to have not pumped it. You were lucky. My neighbor two houses down had to redo his completely. Most don't pump regularly but it is needed. Saves money and aggravation later. Pressure treated ALWAYS shrinks. Many don't know this. Right mom? When you build a deck and such you need to be aware of this. Some less than professional builders don't know it either. Then come problems. Beware. I try to let my outside wood dry before building. That was so not an option with this fence. I was not happy but could not figure out how to bypass the problem with 560 pickets.
Gail, despite the fact it is a lot of rain. I am still loving it! Especially for the newly planted and moved plants. I hope we get it like this come this summer. Stay dry in your nice screened porch.
Dawn you were very lucky and I am just saying what your sister says and she had to take like 8 or 10 different state tests in Augusta to be a State Licenced Codes Enforcer and now being the Assisant Adminster for the town she still has to know all that stuff. But they sure do melt the snow. Our tank is very close to the ground level because of the ledge (and we had to blast to get it that far down) so it really melts good. Makes it good for the dogs as the door near the tank is where we put the dogs out. We also can take the cover off to dump the RV holding take. We do need to have ours pumped againg this year cause I don't wanna have problems again.
ReplyDeleteTina are you talking bout the old deck or the one you and Mr fix it built?
GOOD NEWS! skeeter just emailed me and she HAS had a rough time of it all. The Saint printed out blog entries from the Leaf's site but not this one so she has not seen them or been on here. I brought her up to date and wished for her to get well and take it easy. Banana popsicles are sustaining her and she has lost some weight too. She says THANKS for the many cards and how surprised she was to receive them. It maybe lifted her up a bit. GET WELL SOONEST SKEETER!
ReplyDeletemom, i am talking about the deck we built. remember you thought the gap we left between the board was not big enough for the snow to melt? i knew what i was talking about now huh? now the gap is plenty big due to shrinkage. All pressure treated is notorious for shrinking. I hate that trait. Before you pump your septic make sure it needs it. It might not need it with just you two there. Also, the surrounding soil affects the effectiveness of septic systems. It really is intersting the procedure. I don't like septic but am happy i don't have pay for septic based on water useage-can you imagine watering plants and paying for septic based on that. no thank you! give me septic anyday. mr. fix-it wants sewer though.
Oh thank goodness. So glad you heard from her. I know the older you are, the harder it is on you but I really thought we would hear within 4 or 5 days. When it got to be 6 -7 -8 and now the 9th day, I was really worried. Well, here is hoping she if AOkay in a few short more days. God bless her.
ReplyDeleteI like your privacy fence--it looks great & is a wonderful backdrop for your garden. I don't like the shrinkage factor either. But unless you have a huge barn of sorts to let it dry out, we're stuck with shrinking. Sure would like one around my yard being I live in town. Don't like to be out there when neighbors are home.
ReplyDeleteDown here a septic has to be pumped out every time we get a large amount of rain. The tank practically sits on top of ground anyway. Very high water table down here. I didn't know that they had banned rid-x in Maine. Some people still use it here. It's expensive but I'm glad I have sewer. Couldn't deal with all that other stuff.
I'm so glad that you have heard from Skeeter. I was really getting worried about her.
Boy, talk about a dunce, I sure was one. I have a space between 2 shelves that is 22" I want to put a concrete step stone there so I can sit another pot on it. They don't make 18" anymore so I figured 2 10" with couple "s left over. Yipes, it hit me like a ton of bricks. WHY NOT PUT A 20" BLOCK--even better. DUH. Boy, talk about needing help---in the brain department. So off to WM to get the 20" blocks.
Rain again this afternoon. A bit of thunder too. I did manage to get some of my potted plants out so they could get some rain. There is chlorine in my water so rain is better for the plants. Maybe tomorrow I can do more in the yard.
Mom, When we had the field added to the septic specialist commented to us about how great of shape the pipe system was. We were getting horror stories about it being sludged (to say it nicely) or brittle and might break when touched. Nope, just a few slilt of sand from the covering. Septic HAS to heat to degrade. I imagine over full tanks are problem when room capacity exceeds the sizes of the tank and field. Not in my case. No town violation. Tina's right, might want to see if your needs it before you have it pumped. Cost us $300 because of the enviromental fees and funding DEP in the long run.
ReplyDeleteTina, we thought it was funny, (the toys) we'd forgot and it brought us back, all of us chuckled.
hey all, it was good to hear from skeeter finally and hopefully we will hear from her. it must be killing her not being able to be on the computer. i know it would me.
ReplyDeletedawn, we have had such a problem with septics and real estate down here that now a house can only be sold with the exact number of bedrooms it was built for with the septic. if the house septic holds three bedrooms and the owner adds a fourth bedroom. too bad, it is still a three bedroom. sludge can build up fast. ours was really bad when we had it pumped in 02. did the guys fish the toys out? or suck them up?
anonymous, i am getting off here soon so i will probably not talk to you before bedtime. just wanted to say hello. hope you got your truck fixed. it was so WET today! geez!
ReplyDeleteI was in such a hurry to get emails from my son's teachers I forgot to say what great news, 'bout Skeeter. She MUST have low energy, ugh. Real food will be so tasty. Nice little side effect though-weight loss. Yeh!
ReplyDeleteI know about the rooms because I REALLY looked into it, I thought we were being told a fable but, yah add space w/o upgrading the septic-REALLY TO BAD. I thought we were given a fable about concrete too, looked that up. They get 3x's the amount of the price of a cubic yard of concrete! WoW, esp at $75 a yard.
Our guy sucked the toys up, daffy in a boat,(no pun) briar rabbit, and hunchback. Potty training is harder for boys esp when the trainer is in the batheroom and you think your giving them something to amuse themselves with. We caught on. It was funny though.
Lola, I think you can get the oil at a health food store, like anything herbal, haveta use it daily, miss a couple days, you won't feel it. Something 'bout ginseng? Who'da thunk.
We have water, everyone wants to take a shower tonight and jack of all trade just stoped working, he was worried. Ground water was 3'' below the well connection, It was now or never, higher waters soon.
One bird on the feeder today, hopefully he'll tell his birdie friends. Be well Skeeter.
Hi Tina, sorry I haven't been on as much but I've been the run around taxi for all of us. I can't complain I am getting out just not doing anything fun, lol. Today was the post office, orthodontist, drop hubby off at work, and the Beta Club induction for the boys at the Middle school. I did go out and walk around the yard tonight --it is SOGGY but the flowers are all looking absolutely wonderful. The parts that were ordered from Ford didn't include some of the bearings:( (sigh) but I think they came in today --will find out later tonight when my brother gets off work. This one car deal is really something else -- And, what great news that you heard from Skeeter --I am so glad to hear that --I hope she starts to feel better soon. Dawn that boy potty training was something else --fortunately ours just liked to shoot at the cheerios, lol. And, every shrub/bush outside --never thought about someone actually seeing them, hahaha. So carefree --even here the sidekick has a tendency to streak out to the pool and undress on the deck --poor guy doesn't realize --someone might see him. I have to work on that --for now we all don't make a big deal out of it so he doesn't either:) Hi Jean, Lola and Nina --hoping the weekend is sunny and we can get back outside. I can see the red beauty out this weekend mowing after all this rain:)
ReplyDeleteGreat that you now have water in the house Dawn. Now you can say the new house is really done!
ReplyDeleteTina I forgot to answer you before but no, I have not seen the new house since it was finished but it was nearly finished the last time I was there with some furniture in it but will be glad to see it now. Really nice house.
That is really cute about the toys and OMG, shooting at the cheerios is funny also. Kids!!!! 2 of my grandsons were great buddies and like to spend the night with each other and my #3 daughter was getting a bad smell from something and could not find it. She finally tore the bedroom apart...still nothing so headed for the closet. Well the 2 boys each had a rather large battleship with the men, ect. It opened up and seems they had a peeing contest in it!!!! #3 daughter is the type that has a really clean house and was mortified but we all laugh about it now.
GOOOOD MORNING ALL.
ReplyDeleteThe one morning I get on here real early & no one here. No blog to read. Boo Hoo. No one to chat with.
Have a great day all. Later.
Shooot, I did it again. Anonymous aka Lola
ReplyDeleteGood morning Lola:0) Lots of rain up our way --should taper off later this morning --I hope:) Hi Tina --I have my truck back:) It feels pretty good --hope it stays this way, lol.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all! I like getting up and saying good morning! Each day I always feel like it is.
ReplyDeletedawn, you should look into the wild ginseng like lola said. it might be hard for the novice to market but it can't hurt.
isn't that kind of weird about the septic and rooms? Maine and Tennesee are on the same sheet of music? That is rare. They have had many complaints about septics down here. Even to the point some builders put septic systems on other people's properties! Bad stuff.
anonymous, if you were on here as much as me I would have to worry about you!:) I enjoy talking to you whenever you get on. I am SO glad you got your truck back and I hope it lasts for a while now. If not, be prepared and buy a newer one. Those hybrids sound really cool. Cheap on gas too.
Mom, I know you are proud of all of us and especially of our houses. I bet Dawn's house is gorgeous and you saw it done close enough. I saw it a long time ago before it was really much of a structure so I am having a hard time seeing it in my mind now. We'll try to come up. Depends on Mr. Fix-it's job. They are so stingy with leave.
Lola, You are on here early this morning! I usually try to get my posts up early but the last few days I have been a bit late. I will post each day though as that is important. We'll always talk to you regardless though. Never fear! See our southern poke salat today? We have to teach the northerners and that way when they come visit they'll fit right in. Now if we can just work on the accents....
Tina you girls all have very wonderful houses but they do not even come close to holding a candle to the pride I have in my 4 girls. I am a very lucky, blessed and happy ole lady to have 4 happy, well adjusted, self sufficent children and their spouses with no major problems or health issuses. I say that is quite a feat in this day and age and I thank God for it EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! 4 times I wanted a boy, 4 times I got a girl but now I say God knew what he was doing cause I would not change it at all. But I sure would have during the teen years!!!! Boys sure are much easier to raise wheh growing up but there is NOTHING in the world like a daughter when they become adults. When young boys will amuse theirselves, girls don"t. Girls fight and bicker, boys don't. And oh boy, 4 teenage girls in the same house and 1 bathroom and PMS running rampant! Not fun. Adulthood makes up for it all!!!!
ReplyDeleteLike the old saying, "If you have a daughter that marries you gain a son, If you have a son that marries you loose a son". I've found it true. How many others have found the same thing? That's just the way it is.
ReplyDeleteYeh, now if we could only do something about the accent. That don't matter, I have quite a few northern friends, some I've had for yrs.
ahhhh, don't know 'bout the boys being easier, they learn providership, strongness, defending family, pride, alfa male and the list goes on. Mine is not married but I want to agree with Lola.
ReplyDeleteI have to say also, jack of all trades always has said wi'er for wire, I can't resist repeating it after him. Texan in him. Too funny.
Dawn, what part of Texas? My first is from Waco, Texas. My late, Bless his heart, used to make fun of the way I talked cause I'm a Tennessean through & through.
ReplyDeleteGainsville or more detailed "the mound". 20 minutes from Waco. We were there almost 2 years ago. Really, really different from Maine, never saw a cloverleaf highway til I drove there, or was riding as a passenger.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have cloverleaf highways in Maine? They are all over now. Even in Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteno, and at 70 mph you really don't want a piece of furniture flying off someones truck or come across any debris when turning so fast, so high.
ReplyDeleteGatesville not Gainsville.