(Re) Building the Fence – Part 2

My mom was slightly dismayed when she realized we had replaced the back fence since my folks had already planned on getting us a new fence for Christmas. We still had the south side to replace so it turned into Christmas in July! Unfortunately, July is setting some records and the heat index hit 107 degrees during our project.

This stretch of fence was actually in worse shape than the last. The builder had at least set the posts below the frost line but for some unknown reason, the pickets were trenched. Not only were the bottoms rotting as a result but the pickets had begun to warp as well.

Jonathan counted out the pickets for our next trip to Home Depot. All but four of the posts were still useable but this time around we rented a two-person post hole digger and borrowed a cement mixer (yes, we have friends with cement mixers.)

The old fence had been built by a previous owner but for some reason, it was built with the unfinished side facing our neighbors. I couldn’t get over how backwards it felt so this time we installed it in the more standard—and polite—way. We ended up with some of Betty’s irises on our side but she didn’t mind.

The fence looked so new but it won’t be long before it starts to age and fade into the background. We had another huge pile of debris to haul out to the construction dumpster but this time, we had no high schoolers to help us out. Since Jonathan was manning the nail gun, the bulk of the hauling fell to me. Girl power!

We hung our wine bottle torches along the top rail of the new fence, another good reason to have the unfinished side facing the backyard.

We’re still anticipating a regulation bocce ball court but until then, the grass works just fine for our games.

Now that our backyard is decent shape, we’re hosting a movie night every Sunday for our friends and neighbors. Everyone comes by with chairs and beer and we provide the popsicles and popcorn.