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itsmeveve

Fence screws

itsmeveve
9 years ago

We put up a fence in 2007 on a small part of our yard to keep our small dog in. The screws have since rusted and slats were loose. We then used a nail gun to hold the slats up. I notice that without much effort I can pull the slats off that have the nails. That was still fine with my 7 lb dog till last night when the neighbors 2 German Sheppard paid us an unwelcome visit. I thought they were going to take down my fence! Now I think I need to screw the slats on. I want to know what kind of screws will hold up here in FL the best and are screws the best idea? Also would I do 3 or 4 screws in each slat?

At the same time I would like to move the slats a little closer since if my dog is on the light side he has been seen slipping out through the slats so I try to keep him a little on the chunky side.

Ideas I haven't thought about are welcome!

Comments (8)

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    9 years ago

    I used coated deck screws to attach the pickets on my fence. You can also staple some wire fencing to the lower portion of the fence to keep your dog safe. I used welded wire fencing and metal posts tucked up against shrubs and a hedge and you can barely see it unless you look for it.

  • itsmeveve
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks saypoint for reading my post. I think I will look into coated deck screws. I was told that each picket would be fine with one screw on top and one on the bottom of each slat. When we saw my dog going through the pickets we did put up chicken wire along the bottom , we cant see that now, but the weed eater finds the chicken wire just fine to get hung up on. Its just a little inconvenience that I may choose to keep. The thought of moving all those pickets over a bit seems like a lot of work.

  • PRO
    Yardvaark
    9 years ago

    Can you remove the panels from the posts without too much trouble? If so, it would be easier to perform work. A solution that is primitive but effective is to drive a single galvanized 8d nail through each picket where it intersects the rail. It will stick out the back side and where it does, smash it down flat with a hammer, so that it acts like the crimping part of a staple. These will not come out. It will look better if the whole thing is painted.

    If the rail members of the fence are at least 1 1/2" thickness, you can use 2" deck screws to secure the pickets.

  • Saypoint zone 6 CT
    9 years ago

    If your dog is a digger or your fence has a gap between the pickets and the ground, you can put a single row of bricks flush with the lawn under the pickets and it will keep the.grass down with an occasional hand weeding. Then you won't have to go all the way under the fence with the string trimmer.
    My shih tzu used to dig under the fence, and when I stopped him digging, he chewed the pickets. Welded wire works great, and is nearly invisible at a distance. It looks like you are growing shrubs there anyway, which will further obscure any wire.

  • itsmeveve
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yardvaark , Those panels do just unscrew very easy. Great Idea! Will galvanized nails rust in FL? I am getting kind of old and would like to do something that will last a good while.

    Thanks for reading my post and the suggestions. We had planned on paining it then we hot to thinking we were going to paint the house so the fence waited and we still have done neither!

  • itsmeveve
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    saypoint,
    My dog is not a digger but I still like the brick idea for the weed eater alone. He is quite content in HIS yard, that is until a wild animal or the neighbors dogs come by. The times I saw him go through the fence was when a racoon went by on the other side of his fence. About 4 years ago another neighbors Husky got hold of him (my dog is a Yorkie) That was quite expensive to put him back together. I would rather put money into making his yard more safe now that we have 2 large dogs running around that don't believe in leashes. No leash by me is fine if they don't come in my yard.

  • PRO
    Yardvaark
    9 years ago

    galv. nails will last a few years, but nothing lasts forever. It would not be worth the cost of stainless steel.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    As long as the wood is not pressure treated galvanized (not zinc plated) screws would work very well. They are not suitable on PT wood, but will last forever on untreated wood.

    This post was edited by jonnyb023 on Thu, Oct 23, 14 at 7:51