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Day 1
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Here's my old fence. Pathetic, isn't it? I had been trying my best to get this fence to last over the years until I could replace it. I'd used cender blocks, newer wood, and rolls of fencing supplies in a futile effort to keep my children and dog in the backyard. But this spring I finally saved up enough to tear it all down and start new.
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I had been lucky enough to come into a load of free fence from a fellow rider on my local motorcycle forum (Thank you Travis) so all I had to buy was the posts, concrete, and hardware. This stuff alone cost over $500. What's shown in the picture actually only covers one side of the backyard and half of the other side. Another trip will have to be made for the other side.
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This was my first attempt with a project this big. Thankfully the Internet can be a wealth of information regarding jobs like these. I started on the dog's pen first, this way I had a place to put her while taking my time building the rest of the fence. The concrete ended up being more of a pain to work with than I thought it would but in the end I think my first time working with it turned out good.
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By the end of the first day I had the dog pen concreted and drying. I cut all the top supports to size and laid out the hardware where I needed it. Unfortunately, because of rain it'd be two days before I could get back to work.
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With the main portion of the dog pen complete I began tearing the old fence down and setting the new poles up. The "joining pole" on the far right of the picture to the right was a major job. I used the same spot as the previous privacy fence pole and it was buried firmer than any of the previous ones. The hole is extremely wide because of this.
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By the end of day three I had put up the actual chain-link portion of the dog pen. For now I could let the dog out into the backyard and still keep her contained. I used a small piece of rope to tie the old privacy fence to the new pole temporarily .
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The beginning of the fourth day saw the tearing down of the remains of the north privacy fence (above). This came down very easy and the poles even came up nicely. It took most of the morning but I managed to concrete all the new poles in on this day (Below, it's a lot when you're working alone).
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The entire dog pen was also ready for my dog at this point. As you can see she enjoyed having a new place to hang out and I enjoy her not digging up the rest of the yard. The old wood in there will be coming out (either burned or dumped) and I also plan on a concrete floor and overhang for shade in the future.
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Day 5 saw the entire completion of of the north side. I actually used a tow cable and my car to tension the largest section of chain-link fence. The rest just "came together". Because of money issues I had to wait over a month to start on the other side.
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Day 6 was actually a month later and began the work on the south privacy fence. The first step was to remove one of the old (long gone) cut down galvanized end-poles. It was concreted right next to the house but thankfully didn't bond with the foundation. after working on it with a shovel, sledgehammer, and crowbar I decided to just use my truck and a tow cable. It ended up being much faster.
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The end of the day saw the poles in the ground and the concrete drying. I still don't have a gate to complete this side but after I put up the fence the hard parts will be done. Because of a previous chain-link fence that was removed long ago I had to "stagger" the new poles. I only dug up the one closest to the house because I had to. I plan to just cut the old fence on this side down with my chainsaw. Unlike the poles on the north side these appear to have been put in with more care and thought. They aren't nearly as loose.
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This day didn't see much work because of a storm rolling in. Once lightening struck behind my neighbor's house I decided to quit for the day. I did manage to get the chain-link fence up and the old fence down. All I need now is a gate and one more small section of chain-link fence to completely seal the backyard again. Then I just need to pull (or cut) those wooden posts.
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Day 8 consisted of buying the gate and laying it all out so I could put the corner post in exactly the right place. I bought a longer corner piece than was needed so I could cut it down a little later on and add the extra length to the (old) 3' post next to it (making them closer to the same height. For now the dog doesn't seem to notice and the 4' tension bar keeps the fence pretty stable at that height. As soon as I get a hacksaw I'll polish it up and fill it with concrete to make it permanent. I didn't tighten up that outer side of the gate this night because the concrete wasn't completely dry. I wanted to give it at least 12 hours to cure.
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This day began with my picking up some nuts and bolts that I was short on. Then I just bolted everything down and made sure it all lined up correctly. The center bar that goes into the ground actually goes into a small galvanized bar that I concreted 1 foot into the ground. I wanted to make sure that nothing could be moved without major digging and construction work. The center bar also has a place for a padlock (It'll be locked most of the time). Eventually the inside parking space with be graveled in with a storage shed at the end (but that's a project for another day). So...
...What did I learn from this project:
...What tools did I gain during/for this project?
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