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Durable and economical fence for San Antonio, Texas

Durable and economical fence for San Antonio, Texas


  #1  
Old 03-05-09, 06:11 AM
R
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Texas
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Durable and economical fence for San Antonio, Texas

I recently retired from the military. Due to 12 moves during my time on active duty, I have 3 houses across the country. My home in San Antonio, Texas is currently vacant. It has been a rental property for the past 4.5 years and has lost money throughout. It desperately needs a new fence and due to my now diminished income, believe that I will have to build it myself, with the help of my 21 year old son and 19 year old daughter. The current wood fence is falling down.

I have several concerns. The ground is limestone. Do I attempt to jack hammer new fence post holes? Do I use the current fence posts, which are in relatively good shape, when compared to the crumbling wood slats and rails? Do I attempt to remove the current fence posts and reuse the holes?

Termites are a huge problem. The fences throughout the city are primarily wood, which leads me to believe that they are perhaps the "BEST" choice for the area. However, the fences for the most part look like they are on their last legs. Thus, I think that there must be a better option. I have been considering vinyl fencing, which is more expensive. However, I have seen how the sun and heat cause outdoor vinyl furniture and toys to become severely porous, faded and brittle. So I ask you all to please give me your thoughts on what I should select.

Cost is a factor, as I have just retired, but I would rather spend a bit more building the fence, if I could expect it to require less maintenance and to last longer.

I also would welcome your thoughts on the most economically sound sources for the materials that I eventually select.

I must begin to build the fence in the next few weeks as the old fence is falling down, is causing a safety hazard and is quickly becoming an eyesore.

Thanks in advance.
 
  #2  
Old 03-22-09, 07:07 AM
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Union County NJ
Posts: 370
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Ok , Hi....

In regards to your situation I would have to ask , is this going to be your primary address?

If not, Pvc would not be my first suggestion. Yes it looks nice, but if you are not selling the property or you are not planning to live in it yourself, the life of the pvc under high heat and or sun conditions would be shortened drastically.

You have a wood fence, being attacked by insects. Termites go after the materials that are not typically treated first. That would be the section of material above ground. The posts, assuming treated wood are sound? If so , use them. There is no harm in continuing to reuse what you have. That alone would save you a lot of back breaking work to replace. Plus the time factor saved is immense .
If Termites are in the area, I would suggest bringing a bug man in.. they may be able to do something that can either treat the fence or treat the area surrounding the fence. At the very least you may be able to find out information on the bug and what you can do to repell them.
If you wanted to replace the posts.... I would suggest using a steel post to replace the wood post. Steel would outlast most wood posts by more than 3 x their life expectency .That is a basic guess... It can be even more than that if the conditions are right.
The difference with Steel and wood posts is that the wood you just nail or screw into. The steel you would need to buy brackets. Those brackets mount to the posts and they are in a L shape. The back rail of the new fence would sit on top of the L bracket and then you drive a screw directly into the back of the bracket through a predrilled hole into the backrail of the fence. It is easier but more costly. It lasts much longer than a wood post application and it is not subject to rot or termites or any other bug for that matter. Plus, if your above ground portion of the fence is going to be attacked by insects those sections can very easily be replaced by unscrewing the old and just dropping in a new section in its place.

The limestone... I have to look into that one. I do not have limestone issues here in NJ so that part of this post makes me curious if Limestone in the ground plays a role in the limestone in cement....

As for PVC... either way, that must be cemented into the ground. Another reason that I would not suggest PVC is that you would have to pull the old wood posts out, dig much larger diameter holes in their place and set new pvc posts in a concrete base. That alone is a can of worms on a limited income and a very hard surface to dig through.
And of course you are right about the PVC's ability to break down due to the sun exposure.
At the same time extreme heat and gates made of pvc are not a good mix.

I will look into that Limestone issue for you ... and of course for me ... Now I am curious .

Good luck..

Come back again ... let us know what progress you are making .Or if you have more questions...

Gregs Fence ~
 
 

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