Wood Fences Information
Wood fencing can be built in 3 common heights ranging from 4 foot, 6 foot, and 8 foot, as well as custom sizes. Wood also comes in 4 common styles Rail, Short Picket, Semi-Privacy, and Privacy. Our entire fence is custom made, we don’t use any prefab panels here and everything is stick built one piece at a time. This is the best method for a strong fence and it also allows us to have the fence follow the contour of the land unlike prefab panels which will stair step leaving large uneven gaps underneath the fence. All our fences are assembled with hot dipped galvanized ring shank nails which are specially made to lock in the wood and not back out.
Fences are usually installed 2” off the ground and semi contoured(some it will touch and in some place it will be higher than 2”) to the ground to allow the top of the fence to run smoothly without looking jagged on top which can happen if you follow the ground 100% of the time. We can keep the fence closer to ground for the dogs or we can bring it a little higher off the ground to allow for easier weed eating around the fence if you request it. I usually recommend a little weed killer every few years around the fence line to save on some time weed eating and to keep the fence from being damaged.
There are 3 main components that make up most fences which are Pickets, Rails and Post, there may different combinations of sizes, thicknesses and heights but here are some common ones.
When it comes to the pickets you have a few choices. You first need to decide what type of wood you would like to have your pickets made from. All woods have their pros and cons. We offer 5/8” Treated Pine pickets which is the cheapest but is more prone to warping, cupping, and buckling problems over time. We also offer a thicker 3/4” Pine picket which is hardiest fence picket we offer and It is extremely strong and it doesn’t warp as much of the 5/8” treated pine picket. We also offer a 5/8” Western Red cedar pickets which is the most stable out of all the wood and is less likely to warp and bow but, since it is a softwood it is not as strong as pine. We usually recommend Cedar Pickets for yards with full sun or Treated Pine Pickets for shaded or heavily wooded yards.
A few fence companies out there use a Cypress Pickets(red pine) but, we do not. We have noticed that cypress is prone to be eaten my termites and it also has some issues warping, peeling, and splitting, as well and its pretty thin at 1/2″ which the only available thickness it comes in.
The rails of the fence are usually built out of 2”x4” treated pine due to high cost of cedar in the eastern side of the country.
The post are treated pine because, they are specially treated for ground contact and will not rot. We never recommend Cedar post because they will rot. The standard post size is 4”x4” for our 4ft and 6ft tall fences but, we also offer post a 4”x6” and 6”x6” post, which are recommended for fences over 6 foot tall and all plank fences. Gate Hinge side post are 4” x 6” or 6”x 6”.
Plank fences are built out of Treated Pine. Rail options for the plank fence include a true 1” rough sawn or a true 1.5” smooth sawn and are normally 16ft along with the post on 8 foot centers. Post can Ture 4” x 4”rough sawn, 4”x 6” smooth or 6” x 6”.
All Wood Fences require about the same amount of maintenance. Which normally includes a coat of clear water sealer 2-week after it is installed, then again every 2-4 years. If you use just a clear sealer the wood will eventually turn gray. If you would like a little color, then use a colored stain and then a clear sealer top coat every 2-4 years to keep the water out.
No other fence company in the Chattanooga area builds better fences or gates than we do. We use over-sized 6” post to support the gate, heavy-duty hinges, and latches to insure you have a maintenance free gate. Gate frame frames are built out cedar 2x4s because it is lighter and less prone to warping and twisting.
All post are set 22 inches in the ground and in 40 LBS of concrete, gate post are set 30 inches and in 80 LBS of concrete.
To help in our selection we have many pictures to look on our website
All treated lumber is MCQ 0.60 above ground use and 0.120 below ground. We can also get CCA 0.60 in 6” x 6”
All of our wood fences come with a 1-year warranty