How To Repair Split Rail Fence

Baronial 23, 2022 | By

When nosotros moved into our house eight years ago, it came with a postal service-and-rail fence - the kind with circular posts and round rails. It was looking a chip worn at that time with some bent rails and moss growing, but all the rails were at to the lowest degree intact.

However, over those years the moss gave way to rotting wood, split posts and cleaved track. It's one of those things that y'all know looks pretty bad, and every time you lot drive in you lot call up, "we gotta fix that fence..." just so the firm needs to be painted, the carpet needs to be ripped out, or the kitchen needs to be remodeled.

In that location was also the little fact that we had no clue how to repair a circular post-and-runway fence since the circular rails fit tightly into the holes on the posts - and ripping it out completely seemed like a huge job.

Another thing we weren't certain about was this odd office of the holding where the contend just stopped. The former owners had added an admission drive that was only very occasionally used past us - only notice how there's not whatsoever fence on the other side of the driveway admission? That's always been weird to me.

I really didn't like how the fence stopped in the middle of the thou and was voting to go rid of it completely when Brian discovered an easy set up for the whole affair after discovering circular rails for $5 each at a local farm store (Wilco) that were slightly longer than the space between our posts and were pointed at one cease only. And since merely one of our posts needed to be replaced, we could simply supersede all the rails and keep the original posts.

Hither's Brian's simple system for repairing circular post-and-rail debate rails:

Insert flat stop of circular runway into existing postal service hole every bit far as it volition become.
Concur pointed stop against post where information technology would demand to be inserted into the reverse existing hole.
Marking where the post hits the pointed stop (the portion to be cutting off).
Use a handsaw to saw off the pointed end at the marking.
Push cut end into the hole in the postal service.
Middle the rail between the two posts so equal amounts of rail are in each corresponding postal service hole.

We were both actually happy with the results - and that information technology took him nigh 5 minutes to do!

Here you can see a comparison betwixt the old and the new track. They obviously aren't the same - they're a chip thinner and right now they're lighter than the posts - but don't they expect Then much better? And after ane wintertime I'yard sure the postal service and rails will be weathered to the same colour.

As for the weird part of the contend that stopped halfway through the yard - that took a fleck more than time since we had to dig mail holes and secure them with cement. Luckily we had old fence posts that we reused by cutting to the elevation we needed.

We decided to make the post in the middle of the access driveway removable - we actually don't retrieve we will remove information technology, simply someone downwards the road might want to, yous merely never know. Brian's solution was to cement a gallon plant pot in the hole, put the post in the pot and so fill tightly with rocks all around until the post didn't move. Hey, whatever works!

I'm loving that the contend finally goes across the unabridged front of the holding - and that all of the rails are intact! While it would've been cheaper to remove the debate completely, nosotros practise similar the definition it gives to the property and in the realm of habitation-improvement projects, $200 isn't bad for a much-needed upgrade.

What would you take done - remove or repair?

About Jami

Since 2009 Jami Boys has been helping readers alive a simple bootleg life through whole food recipes, doable gardening, and easy DIY projects on An Oregon Cottage. From blistering staff of life, to creating a flooring from paper, to growing and preserving food, Jami shares the easiest means to get things done. She's been featured in Cottages and Bungalows, Former Business firm Journal, and First for Women magazines as well as numerous sites like Good Housekeeping, Huffington Post, and Apartment Therapy.