Slowly, steadily, those charming, rustic coarse rail fences that surround our homes have begun to rot and tip over. At first, it was just a few posts that stood guard at the end of the sidewalks that lead up to our homes that started to get woozy and weak-kneed, but now, several years after the first wobbles, several sections of fencing has simply given out and fallen over. In some few cases, a stack of bricks is keeping the fence in place just a little longer, but it's time to do something.
The rumor is that these fences were constructed from the trees that were taken down in 2005 in order to make way for the houses we live in. The Cottage Company had the felled trees milled, and then planted them where they stand (or don't stand) without treating them. In a way, it's surprising that any of the posts are still sound. Since they were all custom-milled, finding exact replacements turns out not to be an option.
True, there are some extra materials in storage, but they consist of the rails, not the posts, and the posts are where the problem lies.
A few of us have started to explore options to repair the fencing, and the best option so far appears to be to use the same posts that hold up the fencing in our back yards, called Sunwood. These posts wouldn't strictly match the ones we have, but it's likely that they will not stand out after a few years of weathering. We may also be able to apply a stain that would help them blend in more quickly.
There are other options for installing the posts, such as sinking them in concrete or pea gravel, but each option has its drawbacks, so it's likely we'd just take the same approach of sinking them directly in the dirt and hoping that they last at least another ten years.
The cost for this has already been planned for and would be paid from the association's capital reserves.
Any questions or comments before we decide how to proceed?
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