The Fence Post

Tension Bar, Fence Puller, and Come Along

Any help we can get when stretching a fence is appreciated--here, precautions are taken when working on a grade.

Calling for a Snow Fence

Drifting snow is a safety hazard for passing cars or airplanes taking off and landing.

Blowing Snow:

• Blinds drivers and reduces visibility
• Causes accidents through lack of vehicle control
• Complicates road maintenance

Snow Drifts:

• Reduce distance visibility, especially at intersections and around curving roadway
• Enable build-up of ice on roadways
• Bury signage
• Reduce the effectiveness of guard rails and safety barriers

Melting snow and its seepage (and refreezing) runs under the pavement, causing cracking and heaving of roadways.

Find the Right Snow Fence

When installed correctly, wooden snow fencing can create a desired barrier for accumulating snow, saving you time and money with snow removal and property damage. Wooden snow fencing is the traditional choice for preventing snow from drifting onto roads, highways, and airport runways. Thereby build-up of snow, slush, and ice is reduced, as well as runoff which impairs drainage. Our top quality, made in America, snow fence is constructed from vertical running aspen and spruce wood lath woven together with 13-gauge galvanized wire. Installing these fences along roads and runways increase the efficiency of snow removal and allows for safer, uninterrupted travel. The sturdy construction of this natural snow fence makes it an aesthetic, durable, and economical alternative to plastic snow fences. Traditional wooden snow fencing has many alternative uses.

So Many Uses for Snow Fencing

• Airport runways
• Compost piles / compost storage
• Construction site boundaries
• Crowd control
• Cribbing
• Dog and pet safety
• Garden center, nursery benching, and operations
• Golf course maintenance
• Livestock control and shading
• Packaging and crating
• Road maintenance
• Sand dune maintenance

Louis Page Wooden Snow Fence: 

• Made with No.1 aspen or spruce pickets (3/8” x 1 ½” x 48”)
• Woven with 5 double-strands of 13 gauge galvanized wire
• Painted with red iron oxide stain
• Sold in 50-foot rolls

Posts Available 

• Steel T-posts: made of hot-rolled rail steel and formed into a “T”
• Dimensions: 1 7/16” X 1 5/16” x 1/8” x 6’ (six feet) long
• Weight of post section without anchor is 1.25 pounds per foot
• Area of anchor plates 23 square inches
• The post comes in painted green or galvanized

>>Snow fences save lives and drastically reduce maintenance costs.<<

And it works, how?

The way snow fencing works is a fairly simple concept. A properly constructed fence will cause snow to drift downwind of it. When the wind blows over the fence, it causes an eddy or swirls to form behind the fence. This in turn causes a rolling wind current that flows downward and to the backside of the fence. As a result of this air current, a drift of snow forms in front of the fence on the windward side. A well-designed fence can retain the snow to a place of your desiring as well as preventing snow from drifting to unwanted areas.

Placement Takes Some Research

Determining wind direction and resulting effects on vegetation, drift development and features, observation of wind-affected trees, abraded wooden poles or fencing, and sourcing local meteorological data should all be considered in the placement of a snow fence.

Expansion

Frost heaves are caused by water that is drawn up through deep unfrozen soil to varying depths of frozen soil beneath ground level. A horizontal ice lens grows particularly in clay-type soil, collects below the frozen soil, and then expands as it freezes, slowly pushing soil, as well as rocks and debris, upwards.

                                                                                                   Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

What Lurks Below 

Certain types of soils are not a concern. Gravel and sandy soil are not susceptible to the exchange of moisture that create frost heaves. Very thick clay soil is also immune. Also, where frost only penetrates the soil an inch or two there is no need to be concerned about frost heaves, such as on the west coast and the southernmost parts of the U.S. 

However, where freezing goes deeply into the soil, your fence posts (and the footings of your deck) are subject to this upward pressure. The concrete in the fence post's base is an excellent conductor of heat and attracts moisture which can form an ice lens around the concrete base, rendering it susceptible to movement. A pressure-treated wooden post is not a good conductor of heat, particularly when wrapped with plastic or coated with tar; this helps prevent the up and down movement of the post. 

General Guidelines

Most likely, setting a post a couple of feet, and up to 5 feet, is required to offset this issue. Your local town building inspector probably has guidelines for the best depths for fence posts in your particular area. If you dig a hole that's wider at the top in a V shape, you'll have a problem. The smaller bottom of the hole will provide little resistance for the upward pressure of the moisture and what follows it. A hole dug in the shape of a bell (wider at the bottom) is better, fill it with:

• concrete
• gravel or gravel with masonry sand for good compaction
• then tamp it down every six inches

Bring the concrete or fill within a few inches of ground level and fill the rest of the way up with tamped-down dirt. Concrete footers are the best bet for offsetting the pressure that works on the fence above the frost line. Some experts recommend an insulating pad of Styrofoam about 2 inches thick beneath the footer. However, when all is said and done, setting your posts at least 2 feet underground is a safe bet. 

Frost heaves can also push up plants and expose roots to damaging wind and cold, not to mention poorly prepared roads and sidewalks.

Here's a thorough going-over of the process with a variety of scenarios:  

Do you have expertise in your area on the subject of frost heaves? Please share your insights or recommendations below.

A Safe Cage for Your Rabbit

Safety is the most important priority when building and buying rabbit cages. We specifically sell and recommend materials that keep rabbits safe. This article includes information on ready-made rabbit cages shipped from Pennsylvania. It also includes two materials that are safe for building your own rabbit cages from scratch:

                                                                         1. Baby Saver

                                                                         2. Welded Wire Mesh

Customized Rabbit Cages: DIY Rabbit Cage Materials

The Baby Saver (or Protecting Your Kit)

Baby Saver is designed specifically for protecting kits (baby rabbits) in rabbit cages. Unlike standard welded wire mesh which has a 1” x 2” mesh for the entire width, this wire mesh has a ½” x 1” mesh for the bottom 4” which prevents kits from falling or being pulled through the cage. Even though baby saver wire is more expensive than the standard wire used for rabbit cages, the cost is more than worth it to prevent the loss of kits. After all, what good is a rabbit cage if it does not protect the kits?

Baby saver is welded from 14 gauge wire and is available in both GAW (Galvanized After Weld) and GBW (Galvanized Before Weld) finish. The GAW wire will last far longer than the GBW. After the welding process, the mesh is drawn through a bath of molten zinc. The weld spots and wires are thoroughly protected from rust and corrosion. Although more expensive initially, you will save the expense and hassle of replacement.

Dimensions and Planning

Rolls are 18” x 100’. The bottom 4” has a mesh opening of ½” x 1” and the top 14” has a mesh opening of 1” x 2”. It is made of 14 gauge galvanized steel wire for strength and security. Protect your kits from untimely death by choosing baby saver wire so you and your rabbits can enjoy peace of mind! Your Mama rabbits will thank you!

Welded Wire Mesh: Various Possibilities

Although Baby Saver is specified for rabbit cages, there are other options. You can get creative and use what is generally known as welded wire mesh. Welded wire mesh can be used to make rabbit cages and hutches in all shapes in sizes. In other words, you can customize your cages in any way you want. Welded wire mesh in the 16 gauge, ½" x 1" is the ideal mesh size to use for flooring. Widths available - 12", 15", 18", 24", 30", 36", 48", 60" and 72". Galvanized After Weld finish is recommended due to its ability to stand up to the corrosive effects of rabbit urine. The 14 gauge, 1" x 2" mesh is the perfect size for the sides and top. Galvanized Before Weld wire can be used for these panels to save money if needed. These products will keep your rabbits (and other small animals) safe and secure.

Remember that domesticated rabbits have lost some of their ability to cope with life outside and it is preferable that they are kept indoors. A hutch left outside is vulnerable to attack by predators; for example, a raccoon can reach in and do damage. It also must be noted that simply the approach of a predator can cause a heart attack as a rabbit has no capacity to run or hide. Such as in this questionable scenario:

If you have other animals, other meshes are also available that can be used to make cages and pens for larger animals such as:

• Apron fence for beagle training pens
• Woven diamond mesh and 2" x 4" mesh for horses
• Woven deer and wildlife fence

Be sure to check the Louis Page website for sourcing a huge variety of animal enclosures.

The Eyesore

Some neighbors might ignore you quite satisfactorily, other neighbors are kind or conversational in passing, while some offer more exchange, even the possibility of becoming true friends. And then there are those neighbors that consider your mere presence an insult, the sight of you and your domain an anathema. This grumbling soul can for the most part be ignored by you, you imagine that there must be good reasons, and as you are not in charge of this curmudgeon's emotional state, it is best to simply go on about your business, keeping the glaring eyes in your periphery. Seething anger is unpleasant all the way to being scary and best not to jostle a hornet's nest. Until the day when it goes up--the eyesore, that pure symbol of animosity, a monument to meanness: an ugly fence. A spite fence. An intentionally unappealing fence that: 

• has no purpose
• goes with nothing
• interrupts everything
• calls attention to itself 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           www.asmussenfoto.dk

Neighbors

Perhaps the phenomenon of "spite fences" is a new concept; generally, it's when a neighbor builds a fence to purposefully antagonize one's neighbors. If the fence is unattractive, the eyesore may elicit a response from the neighborhood as a whole or in part. If not already, the neighbors may become cut off from the contentious builder of the fence or from other neighbors as frustration builds and sides are taken. Litigation that involves such disputes is difficult to measure, as the offense for the most part is psychological with varying circumstances.

In the U.S., the blocking of light and air is not considered a recognized offense (as it can be in other countries.) If the issue is the height of a fence, local codes may be consulted and the law may have your back; however, merely blocking the view of a neighboring yard is not a cause for an official complaint. A major directive on fence building is that it not cause injury to others. Some states have adopted ordinances regarding spite fences and guidelines have been created. Generally, it must be established that the fence is solely built to antagonize and has no practical or seemly purpose. It is up to the defendant to prove that the fence has a function other than to perturb those living nearby.

Communicating Objections 

At the outset, it may be important to consider that you're not the one to approach the offender. One of your other neighbors may have a better relationship with the problematic fence owner and may be able to smooth the way. If you've collected other complaining neighbors, it may be best to put your objections in writing rather than showing up at the door en masse. On your own time, venting and gossiping about your neighbor may seem unifying with others, but it may be fueling the fire and raising your blood pressure. If at all possible, depending on the willingness of the various parties involved in a fence dispute, a mediator might be able to assist in a standoff. A trained mediator enables a discussion with both parties with the aim of establishing a dialogue, exploring the fence's (and the neighbor's) purpose, and the potential dismantling of the fence.  

Lacking a Resolution

You must question yourself and realize that the conflict may never go away and that you must acknowledge your part in the dispute, working on the triggers the fence brings up in you.

• Is it possible you are being merely self-seeking, arrogant, or high-minded?
• Is your being right propping up a sense of self-righteousness that borders on obsession? 
• Are there any inroads you could make to mollify the hostility with the neighbor?
• Is there a way you can introduce humor into the situation moving forward, if only for yourself? 

Not feeding the antagonism may assist in a resolution. Adjust your perspective and try to find a bigger picture to help diffuse the tension. Taking a step back, and waiting to respond when conflict arises is always a good plan. It never hurts to retreat, reflect, allow your blood pressure to lower, and then return to the fray, if indeed necessary.

While we're on the subject of neighbors and boundaries, have a look at our blog, "Does a Good Fence Make a Good Neighbor?"