Defending the Fence

 When we installed our fence around Gladys in 2014, we made the rookie mistake of not dropping the panels down where we needed to do so in order for the fence to hug the ground.  That caused us to add fence panel boards under parts of the fence to keep critters and neighbors' dogs from coming into our yard.  We thought we were done with fence problems once we had those panel boards in place.

Fast forward to today. Although the panel boards are still in place, some of them have been chewed to pieces by our yard people -- and the neighbors -- attacking them with weed-whackers. Others have just been cracked when a lawn mower, large rock, or other object sailed into them. We knew they needed to be replaced.

Additionally, our back yard is more weeds and dirt than it is lush grass, so each time that we received a hard rain, the dirt in front of the fence splashes up onto the white fence and makes a mess.  That situation added to our desire to "do something" about the fence.

We opted to follow Rick's brother Steve's lead and to put a border of cement all around the yard on the inside of the fence line.  A couple of days ago, Rick put in the forms and dug out the area for the cement along the north side fence line.  We were going to pour yesterday, but we awoke to 39 degree temperatures, so we decided to wait until today when the weatherman promised warmer temperatures. 

Rick has been buying materials for the last few days, so we got up early this morning to start the work. We both thought that the panel boards under the north side fence were salvageable, and using them was going to save us $60 by not having to replace them.  Wrong.  Once I washed the boards, I found all kinds of cracks and gaps that helped us quickly change our minds. Back to the store we went to get replacement boards for under the fence.

We spent the morning taking out the old panels and putting into place the new vinyl boards.  I am glad that we did so, even though they are expensive.  These new boards are stronger and cleaner, so they now should last  as long as the rest of the fence.  

We broke for an early lunch and then got back to our original task.  Actually mixing and pouring the cement only took us about an hour and a half.  We would mix three 60-lb. bags at once, and then as Rick shoveled it into place and started to smooth it into position, we would get another load going in our cement mixer.

Rick smooths the cement around one of the fence posts
on the north side fence.

Now it just has to dry.  When I took the pictures, the cement still was too wet for me to clean off the newly-installed bottom boards.  That may have to wait until tomorrow.  

As always, Gladys always throws challenges
our way. The land slopes down toward the patio,
so the cement had to slope also.

The north side was the shortest and easiest side to complete.  Although we do not have any bottom boards along the back (east) fence, we do have a large tree root that promises to cause problems.  The south side has several boards that need replacing, and that side is longer than the north side, so that, too, will take both time and effort... and a lot of cement!

The border is finished, but I still need to wash down the
cement that is splattered on the new boards under the fence.

Once the cement cures for 30 days, we will stain it green in the hopes that it will somewhat blend in with the rest of the back yard.  I just will be happy to not have to wash down the fence each time it rains.  Rick will be happy to check off one more task from Gladys' always-present "To Do" list.