Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house? | Page 66 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

danp said:
I'm no expert but to me that looks like a very temporary fix if you just drove the spikes into the ground with no concrete. But at least it was cheap. I guess it also depends on how much wind the fence receives, eg if it's right next to the house and the house blocks most of the wind, vs my fence where the fence receives the full force of the wind. I guess the guy who built my fence didn't do the posts/concrete properly if the concrete is rising out of the ground. I have another fence on the other side of my yard and that fence is still perfect, so the guy that built that part must have been more experienced. I think it's more complex than simply digging a hole and putting a 4x4 in it and putting concrete around it, there is a technique to doing the concrete if you expect it to last. I read you are supposed to make the concrete in a pyramid shape which prevents it from rising out of the ground.
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Depending on the dodginess of the fence contractor, the posts are often short and the concrete job sucks. On a typical fence with ~6' high panels, the posts often extend above the panels. That leaves 10' posts less than 48" down or 8' posts hanging on by magic. The bigger and deeper the footing, the more you need to dig and the more concrete is required to fill your hole. I've seen some with the wood going down a ways but the concrete as a collar in the top 18" so it looks like it was done well but it is guaranteed to frost jack. They often also mix the concrete like soup as water is cheap and it is faster and easier that way even if it is crap strength, etc, etc. You can't even get them to show up to give you a price, do you think you can get them to come back and fix a substandard job?
 
danp said:
Holy crap is a fence really that expensive? Maybe you could hire someone to do just the posts then complete the rest yourself. I think posts need to be done by someone who knows what they're doing if you expect them to last, but the rest of the work seems pretty simple to me.
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You assume that the guy you hire knows what he’s doing. My buddy hired a guy to do just that for him, just the posts...never again.

And yes, any work (especially now with COVID) isn’t cheap.

I’m planning on renting a hole digger and doing it myself. Problem is if I don’t put up the fence all in one shot I need to pay 2-3 times for the auger.

Or I do it by hand. Been there done that...do not recommend.
 
mimico_polak said:
You assume that the guy you hire knows what he’s doing. My buddy hired a guy to do just that for him, just the posts...never again.

And yes, any work (especially now with COVID) isn’t cheap.

I’m planning on renting a hole digger and doing it myself. Problem is if I don’t put up the fence all in one shot I need to pay 2-3 times for the auger.

Or I do it by hand. Been there done that...do not recommend.
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It's like framers. Some put up something that looks ok at first glance but cause a ton of work behind them to make it work. If the contractor does the whole job, it is in their best interest to do the first step properly as it is their time being wasted to fix it if things like the post spacing or angle in plane are off slightly.
 
GreyGhost said:
It's like framers. Some put up something that looks ok at first glance but cause a ton of work behind them to make it work. If the contractor does the whole job, it is in their best interest to do the first step properly as it is their time being wasted to fix it if things like the post spacing or angle in plane are off slightly.
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Exactly. Digging it by hand isn't the end of the world...pain in the ass...but not the end of the world.

I'll measure it out just for kicks, but I'm not planning it on this year simply because of the cost of wood. I'm deciding on vertical or horizontal boards though, no real issue with wind.
 
Posts are really simple to do. It's just the labour of doing it that sucks. about 25 years ago I worked with a carpenter building high-end cedar patios, decks and fencing. We used to do some really interesting curved and multi tiered decks.

For posts, I used a manual post hole digger and dug to 48". Then put in a 48" sonotube and fill around the tube with crushed stone to stabilize it in place. Then do up the concrete mix in a wheel barrow and fill each tube. I can't recall how we set the posts - if it was right to the 4ft depth or if they were any higher, or if we used brackets secured to the top of the concrete tubes.

3 years ago, we redid our fence in our backyard because it blew over in the wind. Went with horizontal slats and like it so much better.
 
shanekingsley said:
Posts are really simple to do. It's just the labour of doing it that sucks. about 25 years ago I worked with a carpenter building high-end cedar patios, decks and fencing. We used to do some really interesting curved and multi tiered decks.

For posts, I used a manual post hole digger and dug to 48". Then put in a 48" sonotube and fill around the tube with crushed stone to stabilize it in place. Then do up the concrete mix in a wheel barrow and fill each tube. I can't recall how we set the posts - if it was right to the 4ft depth or if they were any higher, or if we used brackets secured to the top of the concrete tubes.

3 years ago, we redid our fence in our backyard because it blew over in the wind. Went with horizontal slats and like it so much better.
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For deck footings, I like an anchor in the footing to hold a metal connector with the wood post (or beam) on that. That will last the life of the deck. Need more resistance to overturning on a fence though so you are pretty much stuck with sinking wood into the concrete. If you dig to 48", pour in ~6" of concrete and use a 10' post, that gives you 6" of post above the panels (assuming level ground) and no frost heave.
 
GreyGhost said:
For deck footings, I like an anchor in the footing to hold a metal connector with the wood post (or beam) on that. That will last the life of the deck. Need more resistance to overturning on a fence though so you are pretty much stuck with sinking wood into the concrete. If you dig to 48", pour in ~6" of concrete and use a 10' post, that gives you 6" of post above the panels (assuming level ground) and no frost heave.
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My only issue is that the existing posts are in their current position, so outside of pulling them out with the jack/leverage (earlier in this thread) I'll need to offset everything by 1ft or so. Definitely need to measure it out.

I'll assume the fence is on the actual property line and not encroaching onto the Mississauga land...
 
We used the expanding foam **** instead of cement for the 4x4's on the back fence. It's too easy to use.
Deepest post was ~36", because boulders.
Three winters now, and it's still good.
 
mimico_polak said:
I'll assume the fence is on the actual property line and not encroaching onto the Mississauga land...
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Now's the time to change that :D Possession is 9/10ths of the law. Obviously mostly kidding but I know people that have grabbed a little bit more space with a new fence and unless someone throws you under the bus, it is likely to go unnoticed. You are risking the cost of the posts as the panels could be reused if you get slapped and need to bring it in.
 
GreyGhost said:
Now's the time to change that :D Possession is 9/10ths of the law. Obviously mostly kidding but I know people that have grabbed a little bit more space with a new fence and unless someone throws you under the bus, it is likely to go unnoticed. You are risking the cost of the posts as the panels could be reused if you get slapped and need to bring it in.
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Go drive along Queensway in Mississauga between Dixie and Hurontario. I don’t understand how people literally extend their backyard into city property.

Gardens, boat storage, junk, and all fenced off with at least 10ft or more onto the city property. I’d love to extend my yard another 20ft.

I read something interesting...I could literally tell my neighbour that I’m building the fence, and force them to pay their portion of it in Mississauga. Obviously that’ll strain any relationship but you can go to court for it also.

Unless I'm reading it wrong....
1. I present them 3 quotes
2. I can select which I want, but they would be paying based on the lowest price one
3. Give them 10 days to come up with their own quotes
4. Start work
5. Ask for payment after work is complete
6. If no payment, summon them to court

I would hope it never gets to that stage.
 
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mimico_polak said:
Go drive along Queensway in Mississauga between Dixie and Hurontario. I don’t understand how people literally extend their backyard into city property.
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Because the City doesn't care until they do. They aren't "using" the space for anything right now. To see the extent of the &%&^%show that can develop, read up on the Arbutus Corridor in BC. It was an abandoned rail line where people have extended their yards, built gardens, built sheds, even entire patios with pergolas. There were some discussions between the City and CP regarding selling it and CP "reactivated" the line and went through with a bulldozer to clear their land. Holy hell did people ever lose it. Such entitled pricks. "I've been using your land for decades, how dare you use it" "You've destroyed my property and owe me money", etc, x1000.
 
GreyGhost said:
Because the City doesn't care until they do. They aren't "using" the space for anything right now. To see the extent of the &%&^%show that can develop, read up on the Arbutus Corridor in BC. It was an abandoned rail line where people have extended their yards, built gardens, built sheds, even entire patios with pergolas. There were some discussions between the City and CP regarding selling it and CP "reactivated" the line and went through with a bulldozer to clear their land. Holy hell did people ever lose it. Such entitled pricks. "I've been using your land for decades, how dare you use it" "You've destroyed my property and owe me money", etc, x1000.
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There is something about taking ownership of land that you end up using for your own personal use for X years....but I'd never assume that land was mine, just lucky enough to use it while available.
 
Heard on the news today that the welland township was trying to expropriate some land that belonged to a farm for over 100yrs. They wanted to let industrial build on it,

The town got wind of the story and stood up and put a stop to it.

Apparently the industrial company didn’t want to buy land that might have to be cleaned up. They wanted the farmers land
 
danp said:
Holy crap is a fence really that expensive? Maybe you could hire someone to do just the posts then complete the rest yourself. I think posts need to be done by someone who knows what they're doing if you expect them to last, but the rest of the work seems pretty simple to me.
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Fences are horrendously pricey.....when we bought our house (not the one with the fence issues) 16 years ago we needed a fence put in the yard as we had dogs. Couldn’t afford wood all the way around so had chain link on two sides and wood at the back. The contractor came in one day (after he eventually turned up as he was permanently busy) and said I have bad news...you have rock a few inches under the soil. Cost me a fortune but he drilled into the rock and did a great job. The fence looks like new still despite two 70lb dogs flinging themselves at it every day to knock squirrels off it.

If you can do it yourself you’ll save a fortune. If you have rock it’s going to be a pain. You need to dig deep enough so there’s no heave. The problem we had in Ottawa was because I installed an irrigation system that weakened the earth in a few spots. The original posts weren’t dug deep enough.
 
jc100 said:
Fences are horrendously pricey.....when we bought our house (not the one with the fence issues) 16 years ago we needed a fence put in the yard as we had dogs. Couldn’t afford wood all the way around so had chain link on two sides and wood at the back. The contractor came in one day (after he eventually turned up as he was permanently busy) and said I have bad news...you have rock a few inches under the soil. Cost me a fortune but he drilled into the rock and did a great job. The fence looks like new still despite two 70lb dogs flinging themselves at it every day to knock squirrels off it.

If you can do it yourself you’ll save a fortune. If you have rock it’s going to be a pain. You need to dig deep enough so there’s no heave. The problem we had in Ottawa was because I installed an irrigation system that weakened the earth in a few spots. The original posts weren’t dug deep enough.
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I'd prefer big rocks. Rotary hammer, drop in a metal pipe, drop wood over metal pipe, done. Half/half is the worst where you need to dig up half the yard to move rocks and/or go with posts where they fit and random sized panels.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'd prefer big rocks. Rotary hammer, drop in a metal pipe, drop wood over metal pipe, done. Half/half is the worst where you need to dig up half the yard to move rocks and/or go with posts where they fit and random sized panels.
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But big rocks would help my wife’s garden ornaments. So I’d have to lift those fuckers out and place them while she decided on a spot.

Sister was getting rid of some boulders...you’d think I was a gangster in a rap video with a dropped Odyssey.
 
So with some rain coming this week, too early to throw down some grass seed? Because I believe after the rain there might be a little snow.
 
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