Although we were the first owners of our home, we didn't build our home so we didn't get to see or supervise any of the construction, this included the side fence. I looked at it recently to see how they had built it as with a new house being built next door there may have been a need for modification. No modification was necessary but I did see that the metal fence posts in the middle, which go down into the concrete retaining wall, did not have caps on the top like they should. I also noticed this specific post was almost filled to the top with rain water - surely not a good thing as it will only encourage rust over time. I purchased three new caps but had to make modifications before they could be fitted, and I had to get most of the water out. As the photo below shows I used some plastic tube to siphon out as much water as possible and this worked quite well. All three posts had at least some rain water caught in them, stagnant and stinky it was too. After siphoning out the water I used a thin dowel with paper towel on the end to try and soak up any remaining moisture. Again this seemed fairly successful as the paper towel was less damp each time I put it down the bottom of each post.
Next I had to make a small gap so the cap could fit over the post as the builder had screwed the fence together without considering this. The side screw was loosened to create a gap, and the top rail was gouged out a bit so the cap could sit down in position. The other thing needed was to cut pieces out of the top timber so it could be screwed back down into place. A couple of saw cuts and some chiseling had a neat fit on all three posts. All I need to do now is apply some more paint to make it look brand new again. Oh - and now to check the back fence to make sure it has the caps on the top of the posts too..!!
1 Comment
Maggie Rogerson
1/30/2021 03:19:53 pm
Interesting, Francis! I have never come across steel fence posts before! Over here we tend to get wooden or concrete fence posts in domestic situations.
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AuthorAfter spending 22 years in the Telecommunications Industry, I've decided to keep those skills alive and offer my services to people needing assistance with small phone cabling jobs in the home or office. Archives
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