North Deer Fence

We had a makeshift fence between the house and the fence along the north side of the yard made of deer netting. For some reason I had built a gateway frame in the middle of it. The deer netting was getting pretty torn up at the gate – probably one cat or another had clawed a way through it. So it made sense to consider replacing the netting with something more permanent.

6 May, Monday – After drawing out my plan for the fence – two-sided cedar with 4-in by 6-ft fence boards hung on 2x4 pressure treated rails held up by the present gate, the house and a couple of 4x4x8s, I bought the materials at Chinook Lumber (about $144). I had put the first 4x4 in on Sunday, the second one and some of the rails today. Since the 4x4 was slightly rotated out of line, I had to cut some of the ends on an angle.

7 May, Tues – After a hike (Azalea Park down to the RR grade and back) while C.J. was at her physical therapy session at 1030, I finished placing the rails cutting them to size using the miter saw and dabbing the cut ends with wood preservative. I nailed the fence boards up on both sides of the north half of the fence. It was actually starting to look like something.

8 May, Wed – C.J. had an appointment with Dr. Ngan then we did some shopping. When we got back I put up the outside boards on the southern part of the fence. That night we drove in to Issaquah to see the musical Chicago at the Village Theater.

9 May, Thu – During C.J.’s PT I hiked a loop to Azalea Park and back via the Silent Creek Trail. Back at home I put up the last fence boards. The gate was complete except for the gate.

10 May, Fri – I had thought that there would be easy-to-find plans for building a wood fence gate on the Internet, but most of what I found was a generalized description with few illustrations. I drew my own plans. C.J. needed some more fabric for the quilt she was making for Desiree and Ryan Voit’s baby so we went to JoAnne’s in Bellevue. We also stopped at Costco and Home Depot where I picked up five 5.5in x 5ft cedar fence boards ($7). I had gone into HD to get a replacement Ryobi drill and batteries but they were sold out (Later I ordered them online). In the evening, I replaced some of the deck boards that were rotting out on the ends.

11 May, Sat – I picked up three cedar 2x4x8 rails from Chinook ($20) and built the gate frame with a diagonal brace. It came out pretty close to square. Then I nailed on the five wide fence boards plus the two narrow ones and trimmed the length to about 48 in. (low enough so C.J. could see over the gate) Temporarily I clamped it to the gate post.

12 May, Sun – We had the first rain of the month overnight. It didn’t affect the new gate so in the morning I leveled it up and attached the hinges. The last step was to screw the latch in place and it was all done. Hopefully it will keep the deer out of the garden, at least from this side of the house.