Passion for WoodWork | Putting it all together (Part 4 Paling Fence Project)

Putting it all together (Part 4 Paling Fence Project)

Written by Derryck

Thursday, 12 April 2007

Galavized joist screw

Once all the posts are in and lined up against the string line, its time to put the rails on. The rails will hold the palings so they need to be fairly solid timber (4" x 2") with plenty of wood to accommodate the number of nails being driven into them without splitting.

I usually use three rails on the fences I build. One about 8"of the ground one 8" from the top of the fence and one in the middle. Of course if the fence is very low then just a top and bottom rail are required. To add extra strength to the fence cut the rail lengths so they span three posts and stagger the joins. Staggering the joins reduces the chances of the fence bending on a post with two or more joins.

Earlier on I would use 4" nails to attach the rails to the post but now I use galvanized joist screws. These little babies are fast and very strong. However they chew through battery power using a cordless drill. Its far better to use a powered screw driver.

Two screws per rail per post

Pre drill holes in the rails two for each post and then screw the rail to the post..

Make a spacer to hold the rail at the correct height and follow the contour of the ground it will look better. The spacer is simply a piece of wood cut to the correct length, one for each end of the rail and one in the middle to pick up the sag. Run the bottom rail first and place the spacers on the front side of the post to hold the rail in place as you screw it to the posts. If the ground is not level around the post simply place a piece of wood on the ground to sit the spacer on and bring it to match the contour of the ground.

Once the bottom rail is on use a different set of spacer to place the middle rail and top rails. Now we are ready for the palings.