Recycled Plastic Lumber Fencing

[Ian H]

We put in slotted posts and gravel boards of concrete, with good-quality wooden panels. It's the posts that rot, and any wood that touches the ground. Decent, treated wood panels last almost forever.

 

[JtB]

I would reduce your hedge to the smallest size possible so that it still does the job before you do it. Most hedges can be made lower and one or two stems taken off the ends which saves a lot of work.

The hedges are about 2.8M tall and we are looking to replace them with something 2.5M tall. It can’t be any lower since it needs to provide screening for a railway embankment. Any suggested alternatives would be welcome. I guess a brick wall would be the ideal solution, but that would be far more expensive.

 

[raleighnut]

According to The History Guy, Phillips screws were developed in the American marine & aircraft industry because of the very thin alu & wood sheets being used were very prone to damage when overenthusiastic / poorly trained fitters were using slotted screws with power drivers. Thus the Phillips screw then the Pozidrive came about so they would cam out at a certain torque thus preventing damage to said panels.
My preference is for Robertson screws, the standard in Canada.

If the 'history guy' is whom I'm thinking it is then he's talking absolute bollards.

The jury is out...

"The design is often criticized for its tendency to cam out at lower torque levels than other "cross head" designs. There has long been a popular belief that this was a deliberate feature of the design, to assemble aluminium aircraft without overtightening the fasteners. Extensive evidence is lacking for this specific narrative, and the feature is not mentioned in the original patents."

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Have you ever tried to put a slotted screw in with a 'power driver', next to impossible without the bit wandering off and gouging the workpiece, hence the need for a crosshead design to avoid this

My experience after working many years making shopfitting cabinetry and display units and fitting hundreds of thousands of screws is that once a bit starts to 'cam out' it should be discarded and a new bit used. I've even got screwdriver bits with Diamond coating to prevent wear to the bit

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Crying out loud the price per panel £173 put this tight Yorkshieman off straight away.

Fence, you were lucky, we had to sit on barbed wire in our shorts…

 

[screenman]

I would save the money you are thinking about spending on a fence and hire someone to cut that nice hedge each year.

 

[Drago]

Can't beat a nicely trimmed bush.

 

[Drago]

If the 'history guy' is whom I'm thinking it is then he's talking absolute bollards.



Have you ever tried to put a slotted screw in with a 'power driver', next to impossible without the bit wandering off and gouging the workpiece, hence the need for a crosshead design to avoid this

My experience after working many years making shopfitting cabinetry and display units and fitting hundreds of thousands of screws is that once a bit starts to 'cam out' it should be discarded and a new bit used. I've even got screwdriver bits with Diamond coating to prevent wear to the bit

Hey, no argument from me either way. My toolkit consists of an array of hammers.

I'm a man of action. I leave the clever stuff to those that chew tobacco and have at least 2 fingers missing.

 

[JtB]

Crying out loud the price per panel £173 put this tight Yorkshieman off straight away.

I just costed the materials for one 2.5M high, 3.95M long section of this fencing (20 rails plus 1 post) and it comes to £867.60. That’s £219.60 per metre in materials alone.

 

[JtB]

We put in slotted posts and gravel boards of concrete, with good-quality wooden panels. It's the posts that rot, and any wood that touches the ground. Decent, treated wood panels last almost forever.

I’m starting to incline towards this direction now.