Building a Farm Fence

Embarking on a large do-it-yourself project can be a daunting task, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. Whether you're building a shed, renovating a room, or constructing a deck, tackling a major project on your own can save you money, provide a sense of accomplishment, and allow you to customize your space to fit your unique needs and style. We have the fortunate luck of needing to tackle ALL of the projects at the same time and figured what better way to document some of the projects but in a blog post style. Its come to my attention I’m really good at sneak peeks but am terrible at providing photos of the finished project. This is usually due to the fact we start our next project right away. I am going to make a conscious effort at before/ after photos , or just the finished project. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of do-it-yourself large projects and provide tips for planning, executing, and completing your project with confidence. What is this project you ask? I am glad you did. We are building a fence around our entire property. WE want to build a homestead, also we have small dogs in the middle of two giant farmed fields. Keeping them safe is something that keeps me up at night. We measured the space adding up what we needed so that we would get a rough idea of the cost we’d be looking at. It didn’t take rock science to figure out purchasing these items through tractional methods meant that this fence wasn’t very affordable to us. Tanner is the master of making things work. This is where he came up with the idea of sawmill lumber, he explained it wasn’t perfect. They wouldn’t be a super consistent size and it was untreated. Those would be a project we would need to take on at a later date. I literally could not care if the poles were the same size, 17$ in store for a single cedar pole, when we needed approx 450 poles. Opposed to 6/7$ at the sawmill. Very similar savings in the board prices themselves. Now not everything is always about the cost, when it comes to building a fence, the quality of the materials you use can make a significant difference in the end result as well as how long the fence will last. While store-bought lumber is a popular option, lumber from a sawmill offers many benefits that can make your fence more durable, attractive, and long-lasting. One of the primary benefits of using lumber from a saw mill is that it offers better quality control. When you purchase lumber from a store, it is often difficult to know where it was sourced and how it was treated. Lumber from a sawmill, on the other hand, is typically sourced locally, and you can speak directly to the sawyer about the milling process and any treatments that were applied. Another advantage of using lumber from a saw mill is that it offers customization options that are not available with store-bought lumber. With a saw mill, you can work directly with the sawyer to select the exact type of wood you want and specify the dimensions and cuts you need for your fence. This level of customization can help ensure that your fence is tailored to your specific needs and preferences. Lumber from a sawmill is often more environmentally friendly than store-bought lumber. Most sawmills source their wood from local forests and use sustainable harvesting practices. Additionally, sawmills often use more efficient processing methods, which can reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of the milling process. Lumber from a sawmill is often more durable than store-bought lumber. This is because sawmill lumber is typically cut from larger, higher-quality logs that have fewer knots and defects. Additionally, sawmill lumber is often treated with more care during the milling process, which can help prevent warping, twisting, and other issues that can weaken the wood over time. Not to mention that a 2x6 is a true 2x6. Using lumber from a sawmill can often result in cost savings compared to store-bought lumber. Because sawmill lumber is typically sourced locally and processed more efficiently, it can often be purchased at a lower cost than lumber from a store. Additionally, the customization options offered by a sawmill can help ensure that you only purchase the amount of lumber you need, which can further reduce your overall costs. A notable mention is with the sawmill this meant getting the lumber ourselves, I can’t even remember how many loads of wood we brought home in the trailer. It honestly felt like we were making trips every weekend last summer. Winter got the better of us and we put the project on hold until the spring. With small dogs being able to get under the fence boards was a concern we decided to run metal animal fencing all around the property, this was also a shocking endeavour. I’ve never really known the cost of fencing and we required a decent amount of it, nearly 3000 linear feet to be exact. I downloaded an app on my phone (flipp) it alerts you of deals in local flyers. Talking to a friend they mentioned that Peavy Mart sometimes puts thier fencing on sale in the springtime and to watch out for it. It’s worth a mention both times we have made purchases they didn’t have what we needed in stock, its much less time to have the store order in for you then placing the order online yourself. We have yet to install the farm gates to the fields, they are available at your local farm supply. We do not have livestock yet, as we are waiting on the house rebuild to be completed. Since it wasn’t an urgent matter, I am currently waiting to see if they will go on sale at Peavy Mart before I purchase. We still have to paint the fence, though it was suggested by the sawmill to have it up and let the wood dry out a year first. Also, to leave the bottom side of each board unpainted so that the moisture could escape instead of being sealed in. When that time comes we will be using Behr Premium Wood Stain (tinted black of course). We used this particular product to stain the chicken coop last year and its held up really well. Insert tool section here. Tanner when editing please include what tools were required for building the fence. pleaseeee ……yes dear……tools required where means to drill post holes….we drilled approximately 380 of the holes in a day and a half with a walk behind post hole auger rented from the home depot. This was a life saver. A means to clean the hole out is still definitely required after the hole is drilled. And then you will also require your array of basic hand tools, such as a hammer, a carpenters level, string line, some sort of saw and a square. There are other means of setting the poles in the ground such as a post hole driver where no hole drilling is required, but this method worked for us. Follow us along our DYI journey as we build and decorate our house, business and really our dream. All of these are happening on a limited budget, our mood boards should be interesting with Facebook marketplace photos. Subscribe at www.PamperedAesthetics.ca