We have the land, but it's not fenced in. If you know our dogs at all, they are rascals! They love to run, wrestle, "follow scents", basically, they'll run off. They always come back though, don't worry :)
On day one we decided to get our backyard fenced in. However, the fencing company quoted us over $7,000!!! After some research we found that we could build the fence ourselves for half of the price. I know, 50% labor? I don't think so. We've had to wait until Jimbo was on Christmas leave to start building so that we could have enough time to complete the project so here we are!
For day one of construction, Jimbo had to work alone since I had work that day. He spent the day clearing the land of the bushes/vines/crazy thorns. These thorns are something serious! I have never seen such resilient vines with the sharpest thorns!!
Day two we rented a two man auger to drill the fence post holes. We really only had a half of a day to work by the time we got home so we were able to drill 20 holes (out of the 71 total) and set some of the corner posts and posts for the gates (10, I think). We wanted to set those posts so we had time for the concrete to dry overnight. This auger was something else. It was so big and heavy. If I never see it again I'll be okay. The very first hole we needed to drill was right at the side of the house. We crank it up and it's going to town drilling and all of a sudden my knuckles are pinned between the auger handle and the concrete foundation of our house. It was grinding them so hard and I'm screaming "HEY! STOP! OW!" but Jimbo couldn't hear me over the motor haha! So he sees me in pain, stops the auger (since he had the handle with the gas), and switches sides with me. Then of course his knuckles get the same injuries haha. We finally finished the dang hole and have matching knuckle scars as a souvenir.
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Goofing around with my best friend, The Auger.
Gate Posts on the Right
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Day four we set 25 posts to complete the longest side of the fence. It was a pretty boring day, but we definitely put a dent in the to-do list.
Day 5 we set the rest of the posts to finish that task! YES!! We don't have to mix anymore concrete! We also started on nailing the 2x4's to the posts. We did about 10 posts with 2x4's until we ran out and the sun went down.
All of the posts set
Beginning of the 2x4's
Day 6, we finished putting up all of the 2x4's. It took such a long time and we got attacked by thorns all day. Can you tell we were getting worn out from all of this? Haha!
That opening you see is going to be a gate
Obviously our land is extremely uneven and has many hills and holes so we are building the fence to fit the contour of the ground, which is why you see all of the random dips and such.
Day 7 was an easier day. It was raining and we were leaving for Florida for the holidays the next morning. We woke up and took a trip to Lowes to buy all of the planks for the next step in the building process. We got to Lowes and found the type of plank we wanted and took it to the register. The cashier scans the one plank and says "Is that all for today?" We both thought to ourselves, Yes, we drove to Lowes for one plank... haha and Jimbo says "No, I would like 1,000 of these." She replies "Are you kidding?" The look on her face was priceless. Unfortunately, we seriously needed that many planks. I know this is probably extremely unnecessary to tell you about, but it was funny so I want to remember it years from now.
So we got the planks loaded onto our trailer (which was almost a disaster because the Lowes guys loaded it incorrectly and they were pushing our truck and trailer down the road using their forklift. Not good for our tires!). We drove the planks home and Jimbo was able to nail planks to the front part of the fence that day.
We took a 5 or 6 day break to go to Florida for the holidays, but when we got back, we got right back to work! We only have one nail gun so really only one person can nail on the planks. Jimbo does the nailing of course. And I run around doing odds and ends type of things.
Day 8 of construction included Jimbo nailing planks up on the long side of the fence.
Day 9 was more nailing of more planks. Jimbo finished doing all of the sides of the fence! Whoo hoo! The last part of this project are building the gates!
Day 7 was an easier day. It was raining and we were leaving for Florida for the holidays the next morning. We woke up and took a trip to Lowes to buy all of the planks for the next step in the building process. We got to Lowes and found the type of plank we wanted and took it to the register. The cashier scans the one plank and says "Is that all for today?" We both thought to ourselves, Yes, we drove to Lowes for one plank... haha and Jimbo says "No, I would like 1,000 of these." She replies "Are you kidding?" The look on her face was priceless. Unfortunately, we seriously needed that many planks. I know this is probably extremely unnecessary to tell you about, but it was funny so I want to remember it years from now.
So we got the planks loaded onto our trailer (which was almost a disaster because the Lowes guys loaded it incorrectly and they were pushing our truck and trailer down the road using their forklift. Not good for our tires!). We drove the planks home and Jimbo was able to nail planks to the front part of the fence that day.
This is what 1,000 planks looks like
We took a 5 or 6 day break to go to Florida for the holidays, but when we got back, we got right back to work! We only have one nail gun so really only one person can nail on the planks. Jimbo does the nailing of course. And I run around doing odds and ends type of things.
Day 8 of construction included Jimbo nailing planks up on the long side of the fence.
I secretly snagged this pic of Jimbo from the bottom of the hill.
Day 9 was more nailing of more planks. Jimbo finished doing all of the sides of the fence! Whoo hoo! The last part of this project are building the gates!
Day 10 was the day of making gates. We started the day off by going to Lowes and buying a TON of different hinges, locks, etc. for the different gates we have. We have 3 regular/normal sized gates for us to walk through and then one extra large gate to drive through so we can store our trailer in our backyard and get it in and out. (Some of these pictures are out of order...some were taken before the handles were put on and some were after haha)
Big gate
Awesome new "Beware of Dog" sign from Julaina!! We love it!
After we finished the gates, we moved on to the demo!!! When we moved in, there was a fence put in by our home contractors that blocks our view of a rock pit area. However, the fence they put in is facing the opposite direction our fence is facing so we had to demo that part of the fence and turn the planks and 2x4's. This is what it looked like before:
We were fortunate enough to have the help of Juliana and Dillon for our demo! This is what it looked like after demo:
After demo
View of the back of the fence from across the rock pit
Demo
Day 11. The final day! Juliana and Dillon left this morning so it was back to just Jimbo and I for the final day. We reused the planks and 2x4's from the existing fence and just nialed them to the opposite side of the posts. Here we are near the end of the last section!!! We were SO excited to be finishing :)
My handsome man with the nailgun
Last plank!!
We drove around the neighborhood and went to the next street over so we could see how the fence looks as a whole. It's hard to see, but here is the finished product:
The people that lived on this street were looking at us like we were crazy as we creeped by and took pictures haha! Oh well!
At the end of the day we are so happy that we did this project ourselves and that we were able to save money by doing it. We are beyond proud of our hard work. I can't even tell you how much work goes into building a fence. We could have done things the easy way and just threw up the boards, but we really put effort into making this fence as durable and permanent as possible. Some people might even think we went overboard with the cement and double measuring, but this fence is here to stay! (Because I certainly won't ever build another fence haha!!) We are so worn out, but the feeling of accomplishment outweighs any amount of exhaustion anyday! Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did, ha!
