Featheredge fence problem

Bendy_House

And, if a sloping top line is 'best', should the gravel boards ALSO be sloping, or should they always be level and stepped?

stuart45

Gravel boards should go with the slope if the top does, otherwise the feather edge boards would have to be cut to different lengths.

rajanm

Bendy_House said:

How should that be done? 
Given the overall slope looks to be fairly minor from one end and t'other, would a straight top line - at a single gentle slope - be visually better than panel-width horizontal stepped top lines?

I'm sure Raj would like to be prepared with this info before the fitters are tackled.

What's the simplest way to sort this out?  Can it be rectified using the existing materials?  I'm worried the wooden strips or pales will have holes in them when they're reused

stuart45

The simplest method isn't the best. It also depends on what the other side looks like.
Ideally it needs to come down and be put up properly. If you pay good money for a new fence that's what you should get. Any damaged materials should be replaced.
However if you don't care what the bottom looks like, sticking a saw through the top is the quickest. Next door might not agree.

rajanm

stuart45 said:

The simplest method isn't the best. It also depends on what the other side looks like.
Ideally it needs to come down and be put up properly. If you pay good money for a new fence that's what you should get. Any damaged materials should be replaced.
However if you don't care what the bottom looks like, sticking a saw through the top is the quickest. Next door might not agree.

Does the whole fence need to be taken down or just that section?  Also if they use a saw across the top, we still have the problem of double gravel boards along the bottom don't we?

Eldi_Dos

rajanm said:

Bendy_House said:

How should that be done? 
Given the overall slope looks to be fairly minor from one end and t'other, would a straight top line - at a single gentle slope - be visually better than panel-width horizontal stepped top lines?

I'm sure Raj would like to be prepared with this info before the fitters are tackled.

What's the simplest way to sort this out?  Can it be rectified using the existing materials?  I'm worried the wooden strips or pales will have holes in them when they're reused

Do not think I would be inclined to let original installers try to remedy this, you more than likely would end up with a secondary bodge. I would meet with them explain you are not happy with the outcome and agree a deduction, then use the money to get a competent  carpenter/ handyman in to fix it as best they can.
As the bargeboard area is unlikely to look acceptable now, I think creating a slightly raised bed in front of fence and making it level the whole length of that side and planting some small shrubs would go some way to disguise things.

Edit. Sorry did not express that well, what I meant was create a raised bed the length of the bottom of the two bargeboards and then some shrubs, after carpenter had trimmed top of fence.

stuart45

As I said, only cut the top of you don't care about the base.
Possibly the top end can stay, it looks like it might line up with the fence at the bottom.
You need to pull a line through along the top.

twopenny

No, for all the get arounds that is just wrong.
The posts have been put in at the wrong heights aund the featherboards attached to them to try and make good.
Did 2 different people do the work?
 Until the posts are put in correctly it's always going to be wrong, even if the boards are corrected.
I'd take measurements of the posts and make a point to the original supplier. State that you want it fixed.
Depending on what they reply is your next move.
Getting a quote or two to remedy will put you in a better position because I'm betting the original guy will argue.
But the whole isn't acceptable unless you pay peanuts for it.

rajanm

twopenny said:

No, for all the get arounds that is just wrong.
The posts have been put in at the wrong heights aund the featherboards attached to them to try and make good.
Did 2 different people do the work?
 Until the posts are put in correctly it's always going to be wrong, even if the boards are corrected.
I'd take measurements of the posts and make a point to the original supplier. State that you want it fixed.
Depending on what they reply is your next move.
Getting a quote or two to remedy will put you in a better position because I'm betting the original guy will argue.
But the whole isn't acceptable unless you pay peanuts for it.

Can the posts be dug out and put in again at the correct height?

Bendy_House

I presume the posts are also timber? In which case they can simply be trimmed to height in situ. (Following 3 storms, where my panels were simply ripped clean away leaving the bare stalks of the posts behind, I'm fitting replacements which are 1 and 2 feet shorter, and trimming the posts to suit in situ.) 

The gravel boards are an eyesore, but presumably do the intended job? To sort them would require the whole fence taken down and redone from scratch - which is a not-unreasonable expectation, as the job it just 'wrong'. This has simply not been done properly. The folk doing this may well be competent in a practical way, but they don't know how to lay out a fence. Once they work out the correct way to do this, the fence could well end up ok.

Raj, are the posts timber?

Are they set in concrete?

Are they firm and sturdy - no wobble?

Any idea how deep they were planted?

What's the height of the highest part? And the lowest?

Would you be happy with it all being at the lowest height?

Unless both you and the neighbour can disguise the hellish gravel board layout - say with soft planting as suggested by others - then I would personally expect them to redo this fence from scratch, properly this time. I mean, these guys just need to learn...