Privacy Fence advice

[Tigershark]

I will be building an 8ft privacy fence close to 300Ft on one part of the property line and another 400-500 ft on an adjoining corner.
I am struggling with whether to go with 4x6x12 or 6x6x12s for the post. The post will be going in the ground at least 3 ft with gravel at the base and concrete coming up to the top. We will be using treated horse fence boards which are 1 1/8 x 6 x16 ft long and will start screwing the horizontally at about 2 ft and go up to 8ft tall leaving very little space in between. The boards will be screwed against the post facing the direction we get the most wind from. They are 45 or so Fuji Green Giants 8 ft tall about 15 feet away that will one day hopefully act as a small wind barrier just an FYI.
The price difference between the 4x6x12 and 6x6x12s is about 9$ a post. The post will be set every 8ft or so and that gives each 16 ft board 3 posts that they will be screwed into.

Any recommendations or comments?

 

[Streetcar]

20 years ago I build similar fence with 4x4 post. It is still in good condition. Use the smaller post

 

[wassup8687]

4x6x12 should be good to use. Personally I'd want them deeper than 3' though given the 8' height. An 8' high fence will catch quite a bit of wind and more in the ground will help it from getting blown by the wind.

 

[Tigershark]

Thanks, I'm going to go as deep as I can before hitting solid rock, hoping 3.5 -4 ft I think I'm leaning towards the 6x6s because they are true in size and the 4x6 is more like 5.5 so less space to screw on plus no one has the 4x6s in stock right now and I can have the 6x6s delivered tomorrow, tracked dingo and auger already rented for Saturday, three days on dry weather before it rains again Monday I just want to get the post set this weekend I can do the boards anytime before late April when the farmer starts planting. Hopefully it will dry out some

 

[EddieWalker]

If I was building a privacy fence for myself, I would seriously consider using pipe for the posts.

A few years ago the US Federal Government decided that they way wood was pressure treated needed to change, so a new method was created that requires massive amounts of water to be forced into the lumber. All this moisture takes months to dry out, so during the drying process, you really have no idea what the lumber is going to do. As a contractor, I have completely given up on 4x4's for anything longer then railing posts. Even then, I realize that in six months, I might have to come back to my client and replace one or two of them because of shrinkage or twisting. 4x6's are better, but the tend to bow on the thin side. Especially if they are sticking out of the ground very far. I had to tear down a five year old pergola that the posts where bending horribly. 6x6's are where your odds of remaining straight are the best. When bidding decks, and outdoors structures, that's all I use for posts. I'm seeing more and more 8x8's being used by other contractors, and wondering if I need to follow suit, or not.

 

[oosik]

If I were going to build a privacy fence - possibly upwards of 800 feet - I would definitely go with galvy pipe. That's going to be quite an investment and I don't want the posts rotting off in ten to fifteen years.

 

[flusher]

I like shadowbox fences like the one I built for my Japanese garden. I think they have a lot of style.

Posts are pressure treated 4x4s 8 ft long. The bottom 2.5 feet are coated with black automotive undercoat. The horizontals are pressure treated 2x4s. The fence slats are dog eared cedar 6" wide by 72" tall. Total fence length is about 140 ft.



Good luck

 

[MossRoad]

Any recommendations or comments?

Yeah, is an 8' privacy fence legal in your area? I know, I know.... it sounds stupid. But some places its best to check.

 

[RalphVa]

The other aspect of the new treated lumber, think it's ACQ they call it, is its affect on the screws. I've just replaced about 1/3 to a 1/2 of my deck screws put into ACQ new deck boards about mid 2012. The galvanized dipped steel screws had corroded a lot on their shanks where exposed to the ACQ. The screw part that went into the old type lumber had not corroded, except for the odd 1 or 2 screws. I replaced them with stainless steel, the ones that were corroded. I probably should have just replaced all of them with SS, as I'll need to recheck the ones I didn't replace in about 5 years. SS are fine for into old holes. They need predrilling for going into new wood, as they're not as strong as steel.

Ralph

 

[downsizingnow48]

I suspect all SS screws are not created equal. A couple years back I put about 5000 3 1/2" stainless steel screws into a deck in coastal Virginia, using ACQ treated yellow pine 2x6's for the deck and 2x8s for the joists. No predrilling. Not one screw snapped or stripped, and that treated yellow pine is pretty tough. I use square drive SS screws from McFeely's. In very hard spots some of the screws actually corkscrewed a bit as they went in (I was using a Makita impact driver). But no screw failed.