Side Fence

One of the things on my project list for this year, was to finally fix the fence on my side yard.  I wasn't planning on doing it anytime soon because I would need to arrange for help, but it was on the list to get it done sometime this year.

I don't have any "before" pictures, but basically the fence had detached from the other fence, so it was leaning forward.   Like, a lot!  It was even hard to shut the gate because the latch on the leaning fence no longer matched up to the latch on the gate.

Well, last weekend the gardeners were here and they had opened up this gate to get to the backyard.  It had been pretty windy lately, so the fence decided to fall over finally.  Yikes.  The gardeners felt really bad, but I told them that I was surprised it didn't happen sooner!  (Especially with all the crazy winds we get here in town).  So, they tied the fence to the tree to hold it up for the time being.

See the angle of the tree?  That's about the angle that the fence was leaning before it fell over.  My gardeners explained that the fence was only about 4 or 5 years old (they did the yard work for the previous homeowners also so they remember when the fence was replaced) and apparently the company that did it, didn't do a very good job.  Much of the fencing didn't have any kind of support to keep it standing very well and the fence looked so old and shoddy to me, that I thought it was the original fencing from when the house was built in 1988!  I'm still shocked that the fencing is only about 4 or 5 years old.

Anyways, my gardeners are so awesome - they offered to fix it for me for only the cost of the materials!  (It's probably beneficial for them too - makes it easier for them to access the backyard).  So, a couple of days later, they came by and fixed it.  They used some metal poles and cement to really hold the fence in place.  Now, I'm not sure if this is the proper way to have this done, but as long as it helps keep the fence up, it's fine by me!

 
And the latch now lines up with the gate.  I went ahead and made a new pull for the latch since it wasn't long enough anymore.  Actually, I made new ones for both of the gates, so they will un-latch from the front easily.  So, hey, lookie there - I did a little bit of something for this project after all.  :)

I had previously fixed the gate as seen in this post, but I think the leaning fence pulled on the gate, so it wasn't working so well anymore.  They were supposed to trim the boards down on the gate again for me to help it open and close better, but I'm not sure if they got around to it or not.

If not, it's not a big deal because at least the gate does open and the fence is not in any risk of falling anymore.  So, even though I didn't actually fix this myself, this was finally completed and I was able to cross it off my project list.  High Fives!!

Originally posted by: Adventures in DIY