If your fence or other features of garden infrastructure were blown away in this week's gales then you may be in need of a landscape or garden contractor to help you repair the damage.
Let's face it, gusts of 50-100 miles per hour are likely to damage the sturdiest of fences, sheds, trellis or greenhouses.
If a fence has been in place for more than ten years then it's more than likely that the base of wooden posts, especially softwood, will have become weakened at ground level as moisture and soil (or organic matter) conspire to weaken the wood.
If a fence post sits in clay or has been completely encased in concrete then deterioration and rot may be accelerated to a such a degree that a post may last no more than three years.
Repairing or reinstalling a damaged fence
Buying the right materials
If you are handy at DIY and you intend to tackle the task of or repairing danaged fences yourself then follow a few simple principles to ensure a good job.
Buy treated softwood - make sure that whoever you buy from has impregnated the timber using a pressure treated method. Pressure treated softwood typically lasts 10-20 years dependent on application and conditions.
Wood that is merely dipped affords little protection and will not last as the treatment can only soak into the top 2-3 mm of wood.
Avoid non-treated timber at all costs. Whatever timber treatment you intend to apply you will never achieve the same protection that tanalising provides. it's just not worthwhile trying to save money - it's literally where the saying 'don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar' comes from.
Fence posts should be set into a stiff mix of five parts all-in ballast and one part ordinary cement (do not use products which have a lime additive).
It is often believed that concrete can be mixed and applied completely dry (often referred to as drylene) with the intention of adding water to filter down through the mix hydraulically or allowed to absorb the moisture content from the soil around the post hole.
This is true in part but it is highly recommended that you consistently mix the cement dust into the ballast either in a wheelbarrow, on a flat hard standing or if you have a lot to do, a petrol or electric mixer.
Drylene, if it isn't mixed thoroughly and is too dry, may crumble in the fence post hole and break up should the post be put under pressure when the next winds come.
Water should be added so that the mixture is wet enough to bind but also stiff enough to be rammed (to remove the air). Too much water will potentially weaken the mixture but it will also mean you may have to support each and every post until the concrete has gone off enough to support the post.
A great method of testing whether your mixed concrete has the right consistency is, when mixed, fill a plastic bucket, level off the concrete with the rim of the bucket - but don't consolidate it - and then turn the concrete onto a flat surface (just like a sand castle).
If the mixture holds its form and slumps no more than 10-15% then this is ideal. If the mixture sprawls out then it is too wet.
Digging a hole
Believe it or not, digging a hole for a fence post isn't always an easy task, especially if you have to remove the concrete from a previous fence post.
Try to avoid digging around the old concrete as it will mean you just have to fill the whole void with concrete, adding to your costs and the amount of work you have to do.
If it is possible attach a chain or rope around the stump of the old broken fence post and lifting vertically using a fence post puller then you will save yourself an awful lot of work. It also means that you will not create a hole any bigger than you really need to.
If you don't fancy taking out the old post, maybe because they are in close proximity to tree or shrub roots, for example, then you may start your fencing run with a half panel meaning your new fence post holes are positioned midway between the originals.
Erecting new fence panels
Pull a line, about 100mm above the soil surface, along the boundary line you wish the fence to run. Make sure that your new posts are installed on your side of the line.
I always liked to use another line so act as a guide at the top too. To ensure the guides are accurate they have to be attached to a perpendicular profile at each end of the fence-line run.
To space your fence posts, use a wooden batten (or remove the weather cap from the top of a panel) which is exactly the same length as a fence panel.
Each post hole should be large enough to have a minimum of 100mm of concrete all of the way around the post. For a 1.6 metre (6 feet) high fence a 2.4 metre (8 feet) post should be used to ensure adequate anchorage.
It is very important that the end of your fence is not fully encased in concrete so that water can escape and drain away into the soil below - see how to concrete in a fence post.
Sit the base of your fence post onto half of a brick or something else that is stable and will not rot or compress - you may use a little consolidate rubble, ballast without cement or >20mm gravel.
If a fence post is encased into concrete, water, which will run down the fence post, will become trapped in the void at the base of the post which in turn will lead to a rapid increase in degradation and your fence posts' life will be prematurely cut short.
If you are erecting your fence panels on a slight slope it is important to start at the lower end of the fence run making sure that each fence post is stepped up so that the next panel in the run can be raised (depending on your gradient) higher than the previous one.
Finding a fencing contractor
When engaging a contractor to carry out the work for you, think about these few basic guidelines to ensure that you choose the right one.
You should:
* Ask around - word of mouth is the best method of finding the right person or firm to do your job. Details of good contractors tend to be passed on so if someone comes with a recommendation then try to talk to the last two to three people they have worked for.
* Research contractors through their websites and any social networking sites they may use. If a website is poorly laid out without photographs of previous projects and void of client testimonials then it's worth steering clear.
* Ask to visit at least one previous project to ascertain whether the contractor's workmanship is at a standard you would be happy with.
This is a great article! Thank you -it's actually a massive help for fixing the fence in the interim of getting a new one! In terms of where to find the right fence though I do have a few questions for people! The thing is for years I've had the same fence in my garden - it's a classic wooden one - nothing particularly special - it did the job of providing some privacy to the garden and that was pretty much it. But a couple of months ago we got our new dog Maxie. We love Maxie to pieces, but I think all of us would admit he can be a bit of tinker to say the least! Needless to say after a few weeks in the garden, the fence has been burrowed under and jumped over a multitude of times! We really need to invest in a new fence that is both going to look nice but which will also help keep our little tinker in the garden! Have anyone got any suggestions for where we can get this type of fencing? I saw an article in the paper the other day for Park Lane Fencing has anyone heard of them? We're based in the Birmingham area so we really need someone within the nearby vicinity, hence why I thought they might be a good option. Does anyone have any recommendations or are we best going for Park Lane? Any suggestions people could offer would be amazing as it's fair to say fencing isn't exactly my area of expertise!
Posted by: Isabel | Jun 19, 2017 at 01:06 PM