After almost a year its time for the fence!!

13 years ago

Gosh I cannot believe I've been in my new home for nearly a year!!

One thing this house needs is a good sturdy fence!!

So we've been saving and we finally have some cash to put towards a fence.

I made some calls for free estimates and I have 2 guys so far coming out.

Has anyone had fence work done lately and can you tell me if you are happy with your choice??

Currently we have rust old chain link fence around the property but I would like some privacy on the "pool guy" side. Perhaps privacy on the other side but along the back we love our neighbors and while we are still putting a fence back there we were thinking about maybe something more decorative...but it will have to look good with the 6 ft privacy fence on both sides.

In the front again prob something decorative yet high enough to cage the dog.

We are leaning towards vinyl only I really do not like the stark white vinyl...maybe something in a beigh to match the house.

I also like the black aluminun fencing...very classy LOL!!

Thanks!

Susie

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

dedtired
13 years ago
I have a privacy fence that I like a lot. We have an ordinance that says you must put the finished side of the fence facing the neighbor. Mine looks the same on both sides, so I don't have to look at the unfinished side. Mine is 6', but it also comes in a style that is solid up to 4' and then the top two feet are an open lattice. That might work for the "friendly" side, yet still match the private sides.

I'm not a fan of vinyl fences, but I sure see them around. If you get the kind that has a wood grain look to it, it isn't so shiny looking. I like the black aluminum ones, too, but they sure don't offer any privacy.

Here's a link to the company that installed it. It's called a cap and board solidwood. It cost an arm and leg!

Here is a link that might be useful: fence
momof2doxies
13 years ago
We put in a combination of aluminum and vinyl fence a few months ago at our new house. We love it. It is easy to keep clean whereas the white vinyl fence that we had at our old house was not. We had ours custom done to three feet, but they make them normally in four or six foot heights. It also costs an arm and a leg, but it has been worth it to us.

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: fence company
Related Discussions
Its almost fall, so its Dend kingianum time!
Q
Comments (22)
Jane, torture for the plant too. Bare rooted? Haven't read Wilford's article, but i'd be surprised if he is growing the orchid bare rooted. This is not an orchid that comes from a Monsoonal Climate. The Climate has higher rainfall in late summer/early autumn and the lowest rainfall occurs late winter/spring, but this is just on average and heavy rainfall can occur any time of the year. Perhaps East Coast erratic is the best description. Anyway, follow Wilford's notes if you live in Climates with severe winters. For what it is worth, mine are grown underpotted in a bark/pebble mix and get an average of six hours sunlight filtered by two layers of 50% shadecloth in summer, one layer of 50% shadecloth in winter. Average Temperature ranges Winter 7-17C Summer 17-27C Extreme annual range 1- 44C Rainfall About 40 inches No fertilizer and no watering apart from natural rainfall in winter. Though i might give the plants a meagre squirt of water if there are weeks and weeks of no rainfall and the arid westerly winds are blowing.
...See More
Finally happened after almost 10 years
Q
Comments (1)
I am so sad to hear of your woes, my goodness I would have cried like a baby if I lost my koi. I hope there are no more that take a bad turn, I keep throwing cold water bacteria in mine hoping that the water doesn`t go foul on me. I hope you can get through the rest of the winter, Good luck. Deanna
...See More
It's almost time....
Q
Comments (19)
I've got the seed-starting light shelf out of storage, dusted off and cleaned up, and it is set up in the spare bedroom. I sowed seeds in two 72-cell flats....a combination of veggies, herbs and flowers. I didn't even get out the seedling heat mat because there's nothing I seeded that really needs extra heat to sprout. I just put pea seeds in water to soak for a little while so I can sprout them in baggies. Part of the front garden is cleaned up and ready to go, and the rest will be ready by the end of this week. It's too early for me to do much of anything else. It is, after all, still only February. One warm spell in February doesn't cancel out the fact that it still is winter, and I'm not going to rush anything into soil that still is pretty cold. I'd love to be out there planting everything in sight, but it is too soon. Shelly, Dorothy gave you good advice on planting times, and I'll just add this....I am at least 120 miles south of you and it is too early for me to put much of anything in the ground. Onions can go in now, but not much else. When you sow seeds or put transplants into the ground while the soil is still this cold, it can hurt them more than it helps them. They often will sulk and refuse to grow because the soil and even the nighttime air temps are colder than they like even if we are having sunny, warm days. I'm going to link Tom Clothier's Vegetable Seed Germination Data Base for you. Look at his numbers and you'll see the "best" temperature (the one at which the highest percentage of seeds sprouts in the shortest amount of time) for each kind of vegetable. I find this database enormously useful. Why sow seeds into soil that is 40 or 45 degrees if that particular seed sprouts best when the soil is 65 degrees? Why not wait until the soil temperatures are at the temperature that is best for quick germination? When seeds are put into cold ground, they'll eventually germinate....in 2 or 4 or 6 more weeks. During that time when the soil is too cold, you can lose a lot of seeds. They can rot, blow away, wash away in rainfall, or be eaten by hungry soil-dwelling critters. Why risk it? While strawberries and the herbs you mentioned can be planted in the ground now, they still will be vulnerable to late freezes and frosts, so I don't know that I'd rush anything into the ground yet. If you put them in the ground, watch them carefully and watch your forecast low temperatures very closely. The other day, our forecast low was 30 and our actual low was 22 degrees. I was glad I didn't have anything in the ground that was marginally cold-hardy because it either would have frozen to death or would have been severely damaged. In the springtime, even when daytime air temperatures are decently warm, nighttime lows often lag behind or fluctuate wildly. Soil temperatures warm up much more slowly then air temperatures. When the OSU Garden Planning Guide lists a range of planting dates, as it does, that say "Feb 15 - Mar 10", that doesn't mean that anybody anywhere in the state should start planting seeds and transplants February 15th. It means that the folks in far southeastern OK can start planting on February 15th. Those of us further north and further west need to wait a bit longer. The further north and west you are, the longer you should wait. That March 10th is the recommended date for extreme NW OK. I will put onions in the ground in mid-February of most years, but nothing else much goes into the ground until March. I don't plant much earlier than Dorothy does. That is because I have learned from experience that planting earlier than that does not give me an earlier harvest or a better harvest, and planting at the early end of the range often means there's lots of pest and weather challenges that can mostly be avoided by waiting a few more weeks to plant. If it sounds like I am hopping up and down hollering "Shelly, slow down!", well, I am. : ) I have a friend here in my area who insists on putting seeds in the ground a month earlier than I do every year. Guess which one of us gets the earlier harvest? (And if you're thinking it is the early bird planter, guess again.) I was in a nursery yesterday that had warm-season flowers and veggies in stock, and I was so shocked to see some of those plants in the stores in February. It instantly gave me an immensely bad case of planting fever. I had visions of buying plants, coming home and planting them and having a beautiful garden off to an early start. Then, I took a deep breath, said "it is too early" and left the store empty-handed. It was the right decision, and it wasn't an easy one either. Every gardener I know wants to start the planting season too early. Generally the well-seasoned gardeners like Dorothy and I know that there's little to be gained by starting too early....and guess how we learned that? Our spring weather is so erratic in nature that it always is risky to think the first big warm spell signals we should plunge full-tilt into planting. Very rarely will the weather warm up in February and stay suitably warm. If I feel like I have to plant something in February, I'll plant it in a container that can be carried inside when the more seasonably cold temperatures return. Heather, Welcome back to the gardening world! It is hard to picture your little type being big enough to eat dirt already. I bet y'all have been having the time of your lives watching him grow. They change so fast when they're so young, and I hope you're enjoying every minute of it. I think your onions will be fine even if they looked pretty dehydrated. They shouldn't have been at the store for so long yet that their energy would be totally depleted. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clother's Vegetable Germination Database
...See More
It's sad but it's that time of year again to say goodbye!
Q
Comments (7)
Jim I am so glad you have had some memorable hummer experiences this year. The migration is still in full swing and I have three here right now. My last adult male left on Sept 1st. and the last adult female departed about a week ago. I have at least one juvenile male and 2 juvenile females but with the juvies until they start getting some of their adult plumage it is difficult to tell the males from the females. Most of my adult birds this year were strictly feeder birds. They were definitely fast food junkies but once the juvies came on the scene both feeders and flowers were in high use. I have an old clothesline that we cut done to be used in a smaller area for the hummers and they loved perching by the door first thing in the morning after they had breakfast watching and waiting and several would greet me when I walked out the door. If I was replaceing a feeder with a fresh one I always had one come right up to the feeder as I was hanging it back up. They also liked to perch on that line and watch me while I mowed the grass or collected flower seeds. Several times they flew up to me when I was removing dead flower stalks to check out what I was doing. A couple of times I had a female come in so close that I could feel the breeze from her wing flapping against my cheek. Remember to keep those feeders fresh especially when we have had the hot dry temps we had this summer. I never leave a feeder over two days as the nectar will start to ferment and if they do drink it, they can get sick. Often times they will just abandon the feeder. Even if you think all of your hummers have gone for the season, please consider leaving those feeders up for at least 2-3 weeks after your last siting as there are still quite a few migrants north of us that are yet to head south. There are large swarms still in Mich and Wisc. and quite a few swarms still over in Ontario from what I understand. If you can maintain at least one feeder until we get hard freezing temps please consider doing so. There are more and more reports of out of territory migrants showing up all the time. There is a Green-breated Mango Hummingbird that has shown up in Wisconsin whose most northern natural range is Mexico. Here is a picture of the Green-Breasted Mango. There have been Rufous in Ontario, Rufous and Calliopes in Pa. so you never know, a stray, out of range migrant could just as easily show up in NY. They are just the most amazing little creatures and I am so glad to see the growing interest in hummers and including hummer plants in gardens Penny
...See More
susie_que
Original Author
13 years ago
Well the first guy just left and boy its pricy!!

The 2 sides will be 6 ft solid privacy up to the front of the house-which they call the wings. The wings and back will be 4 ft solid privacy with latice top.
The front will be New England picket with dog ear tops. 4 ft high with a gate at the drive as well as a gate at the walk.
We are also getting a double gate at the one wing side and a gate in the back.

This guy is only asking for $100 up front to place the order and obtain the permits.
Since my yard is SO large he is giving me the color upgrade for free so I picked a color that matches the house...the color is beige and it looks like this page backround...kinda the color of butter!!

As I said I have another guy tomorrow and now that the holiday is past I plan to call out as many as I can to get estimates.

Its a LOT of money so I want to do my homework and get a good deal.

Now all I will have to do it talk to the pool nieghbor and ask if he minds if I tear out the chain link fence....other wise our guy will have to dig new holes which he is willing to do but he said to ask first...hey he may be a jerk and say no way or he'll turn out to be a cool guy and go with it....we'll have to wait and see-either way there will be a six foot high fence between us soon!!

Cheers!
Susie
foodonastump
13 years ago
I'm not a fan of vinyl fences, but I sure see them around.

Good to see I'm not alone in this universe! My back door neighbor put one up a couple years ago and ever since my landscape plans have included backing right up to it with a wooden fence. In my eyes the cheapest stockade fence would be an improvement.

Clearly I'm in the minority though.
triciae
13 years ago
You'll like the vinyl fencing, Susie.

We had one installed 7 years ago. Wood is just too difficult & expensive to maintain here...needs repainting every 2 years. Now, each spring when we power wash the house, shed, concrete sidewalk, patios, & outdoor furniture we also power wash the fence. Gets that green slime that covers everything here off in a flash! Looks like new again.

Same problem with wooden screen doors. I LOVE the Victorian styled wooden screen doors that are prelevant here but they only last 2-3 years & rot. Gets expensive. Five years ago, we bit the bullet & installed a powder coated stainless steel with brass trim storm/screen door with leaded glass insert (plus screens). That baby is heavier than beejesums but will last for years!

Wood is a great material but in some climates it's a real bear to maintain. Since I grew up on property being operated as the largest pressure treating wood facility west of the Mississippi & the resulting Superfund Site...I refuse on principle to purchase pressure treated wood for fencing, outdoor furniture, doors, or anything else. That stuff is BAD, IMO, for both people & the environment. And, even if you are inclined to use pressure treated wood it still looks best painted &, hence, back to the wire brushes & paint.

You'll like the fence. Ours is white because all coastal NE houses have white fences & we weren't inclined to rock the boat, so to speak. So, just getting out the power washer instead of the wire brushes & paint brushes is really great!

/tricia
cloudy_christine
13 years ago
Remember there's not just wood or vinyl, there's another choice: composite fencing. Like Trex decking.
susie_que
Original Author
13 years ago
Sue...I called around and there is one guy here who does composite. He was supposed to be here at 1 pm and so far no show and no calls!!
The company is Deck Tech.
They use Trex and the new gorilla fence but alas if they don't show then so be it LOL!!

I did get 2 more est. today and they are starting to look better LOL!!

Tomorrow will be dicey as I have appt at 10 am 1030 am and 11 am!! I am now using service magic and they will give me leads so all these guys should know each other so hopefully it will be cordial LOL!!

I told Frankie no new puppies until we get a more sturdy fence so he is gung ho!!

Cheers!
Susie
lpinkmountain
13 years ago
Vinyl is not as snazzy as wood, but wood has a lot of maintenance. Around my neighborhood I'd rather see vinyl than many of the poorly maintained wood fences. My neighbor on the corner has a tall vinyl privacy fence in a light cream color. It really looks outstanding and stays very nice with seemingly little trouble. In their case, I think vinyl was a good choice considering the wear and tear that location gets. I'll try and take a picture of it if I get a chance. It's so dang hot I don't venture outside much.
susie_que
Original Author
13 years ago
Lpink...Frank and I are not getting any younger so for us its a maintenance issue too.
On the west side we are getting 6ft privacy to hide the neighbors ratty wooden fence LOL!!

I gotta tell you tho-some of these guys are real characters LOL!! I guess we'll see how they do today since Frank is home.
Perhaps they are intimidated by an smart and savy woman eh?? All 5 guys so far have called me honey or sweety LOL!!
What year is this 1945??

More later .....

Cheers!
Susie

After almost a year its time for the fence!!

Comments (9)

dedtired

momof2doxies

Related Discussions

susie_que
Original Author

foodonastump

triciae

cloudy_christine

susie_que
Original Author

lpinkmountain

susie_que
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

After almost a year its time for the fence!!

Comments (9)

dedtired

momof2doxies

Related Discussions

susie_queOriginal Author

foodonastump

triciae

cloudy_christine

susie_queOriginal Author

lpinkmountain

susie_queOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

susie_que
Original Author

susie_que
Original Author

susie_que
Original Author