Baseball Books and More: 40 4 40 #3 Fence

To celebrate turning 40, I've decided to do 40 new things before I get there. My birthday is in March which means I need to do about 5 things per month... good thing I've already started! You can check out all of the posts related to this endeavor through the label 40 4 40.

Number 3 was started before I did #2 but I decided that in order to blog about it, and call it done, it actually needed to be finished! A couple weeks ago, as Dad and I watched his dog Tuck going crazy and eating the chain link fence, we discussed the idea that perhaps Tuck wouldn't eat a fence made of wood. Dad has a great wood fence along the side of his house that he put up several years ago. I told him that I really wanted to help him make a new fence, since he's always doing projects when he comes to my house! And so the idea became a reality :)

A short-ish version of our week...

Monday, Dad drove down the hill to get the lumber while I dog sat.
Tuesday, we tore out the old chain link fence. We had decided to use the posts that were there. We determined that we needed a wedge to make our bracket fit tightly over those posts. Trip to hardware store. There was a second trip in there but I don't remember why!
Wednesday, we prepped for cross bars. Dad went to get stain while I went paddle boarding. Then we put up most of the cross bars.
Thursday, Dad went to get another joint piece cuz we can't count. We finished the last little piece of cross bar. Dad sawed all the fence boards while I stained the cross bars. Dad started putting up fence while I stained one side of the fence boards. (this was to ensure the side against the cross bar was fully stained) We were attempting to position the bottom of each board down in a little trench, so that they'd be covered by dirt, in an attempt to prevent digging out by the pooches. This required a LOT of digging by us. Some bright person years ago put down a bunch of lava rock. Yeah, I don't want to see any more lava rock ever. So, instead, we started cutting boards a little shorter. Well, I did! Yup, I used the Skilsaw like an expert :) At one point we had boards that were the original length Dad cut, 1", 2" and 3" shorter. Then a couple I cut even more because of the gas meter box thing. I have learned that the saw is not scary, and even fun!! We quit just before dark last night with about 10 boards to go.
Friday, we finished up this morning and cleaned up, all before 1pm!! The fence looks GREAT!! It really needs to be stained on the front side, but sitting on the porch we can't see that part :) The dogs are quite happy to have their yard back. And so far, Tuck has not attempted to eat the fence. Mission accomplished!!

Five days. Five trips to hardware stores. By golly we have a fence!! I had never built a fence before... so, #2!! We made sure I took part in all aspects, from cutting to digging to staining (myself and the wood!) to screwing on fence boards. And took pics, of course!!