Building a new fence around a dacha or estate plot is not a cheap pleasure, even if you take the most modest version of a translucent fence made of metal mesh. But if you wish and have some skill, you can build a fence with your own hands at minimal cost, using one of the woodworking wastes - croaker. In order for you to get a decent fence from this timber, you need two things: understand the construction technology and, having spent some time and effort, build a fence from unedged boards with your own hands.
Using a slab - pros and cons
When logs are cut into planks at a wood processing plant different thicknesses, then the side parts of the trunks, which have a hemispherical shape on one side, go to waste. These are the slabs that zealous owners most often buy for firewood due to their cheap price.
The slab should not be confused with an unedged board. The latter has both sides flat, and differs from ordinary boards in having untreated side edges. This material is much more expensive than semicircular scraps sold at the price of woodworking waste.
As a material for constructing a fence, slab has the following advantages:
- Low price is the main advantage of timber. If you consider that you plan to build a fence with your own hands, then it total cost will consist only of the costs of purchase and transportation plus money for fasteners (nails).
- Any tree, including the side parts of logs, is easy to process.
- Although slab is classified as sawing waste, it remains wood and retains all its properties - environmental friendliness and durability with proper processing.
- It is difficult to choose more suitable timber if you need to quickly make a temporary fence.
The advantages of the material also depend on the type of wood that was cut at the sawmill. In terms of hardness and durability, oak, larch and beech take the lead, followed by coniferous species and aspen. In construction, timber from coniferous species - pine and spruce - is most often used.
If you decide to build a fence from slabs, get ready to put up with its shortcomings:
- unsightly appearance the material will require significant labor costs for refining;
- not easy to pick required amount products with smooth sides and approximately the same width, from which it is more convenient to build a fence;
- Without sanding (otherwise known as debarking) and special antiseptic treatment, the service life of the fence will be significantly reduced.
From the above, the conclusion suggests itself: Although croaker is cheap and available, it will take a lot of time and effort to make a decent fence out of it. As a result, you will get as nice and original a fence as you wish. An example of this is a photo gallery of similar fences made with your own hands.
Options for fences made from unedged boards in the photo
Here the croaker serves as a nice filler for the gate frames 
A successful combination of a concrete eurofence with wood filling 
Even a crooked and knotty slab can be successfully used for a picket fence 
An elegant fence made from slabs placed between the posts 
Here the slab is inserted into a frame of metal pipes 
Option for a fence with a stone base 
The slabs can be attached to the posts horizontally, and the joints can be covered with vertical strips
The selection of sawing waste depends on the fence design you have chosen. If you need to install a solid picket fence without gaps, then it is advisable to choose slabs with smooth edges, otherwise you will have to work on them with an ax or plane. For a picket fence with gaps, the requirements are not so stringent; uneven boards will also work here. The main thing is to arrange them correctly so that the fence looks aesthetically pleasing.
When choosing slabs for a fence, consider this point: the lower the cost of the material, the more knots and irregularities there are.
- Try to select wider and thicker croakers. Some of them can be cut to length to make a decent lumber suitable for posts.
- Avoid buying scraps from logs cut in warm period years and having lain for a long time outdoors. Under the bark of such material, the wood is often affected by mold and pests. In winter, you can safely purchase stale wood, since bacteria and pests are inactive in the cold.
- Do not take openly damp timber; it will begin to crack and warp as it dries, causing the constructed fence to lose its appearance.
- Do not buy a croaker that is too narrow and thin. To assemble a picket fence, you will need a large number of narrow boards, and removing bark from thin pieces is very inconvenient.
When choosing timber at a woodworking enterprise, take the time to sort through the waste piece by piece in order to select the most suitable trimmings. This will save your time and labor costs when installing the fence.
A separate issue is the choice of lumber for poles. For a temporary fence around the site, supports made of two slabs nailed together will do. A structure designed for a long service life (15-20 years) must be placed on pillars made of timber with a cross-section of 10x10 cm or round timber with a diameter of 80-100 mm. The crossbars can be made from thick scraps or take 60x40 mm timber. For a more permanent fence up to 2.5 m high, you will need metal pipes round or rectangular section size 40x60 mm (for a solid picket fence) or 40x40 mm (for a fence with gaps).
Calculation of the length of the fence
Before purchasing timber and other auxiliary materials it is necessary to count their number. To do this, you need to determine the total length of the fence using one of two methods:
- calculation of the fence according to the area of the site;
- determination of external dimensions based on land documents;
- full-scale measurements of the sides of the site.
The first method is convenient only when you need to calculate the length of the fence on a square-shaped area with straight boundaries. You need to take the area value, take the square root of it and get the length of one side. All that remains is to multiply it by 4 and get the perimeter, this is the length of the fence. For other shapes, this technique is not suitable, since with the same area, the perimeter of a rectangular area is larger than a square one.
Example. For a square plot with an area of 1000 m2, the length of one side will be 31.6 m, and the perimeter will be 126.4 m. A rectangular plot with sides of 20x50 m has the same area, but the perimeter will be larger - 140 m.
The second method is also convenient because it does not require time or labor. The documents contain a plan of the land plot, where all the required dimensions are indicated. But if there are no such documents or the calculation needs to be clarified, then best method- measure the area with a tape measure or laser range finder, then you definitely won’t make a mistake when purchasing timber.
How much materials and tools to prepare?
As a rule, owners country dachas and private houses, continuous picket fences 2 m high are erected from slabs so that passing people are less likely to look into the yard. The location of the pickets is vertical, this is the simplest option. The distance between the pillars is taken to be 2.5 m, and the length of the bars for the supports is 3 m (the third part is immersed in the ground). The calculation of the amount of timber is carried out as follows:
- The number of posts is equal to the total length of the fence divided by the distance between them. Here you need to add supports for gates and wickets.
- The total length of the horizontal jumpers is equal to the length of the fence multiplied by 2 plus 10-15% for trimmings, overlaps and other waste. The number of boards depends on their size and is determined by dividing the resulting figure by their length with a small margin.
- The number of pickets for a solid fence can be found by dividing its length by the average width of the slabs.
It is better to purchase wood with a small reserve, since during the process of sanding and further processing some of the boards will have to be rejected.
Other materials will be needed for construction:
- antiseptic for pre-treatment (for example, Biosept or Novotex);
- nails 10-15 cm long depending on the thickness of the lumber;
- M400 cement, sand and crushed stone for concreting supports;
- bitumen mastic or resin to cover the underground part of the pillars.
Fence posts can be installed without concreting; in this case, cement and sand do not need to be prepared.
To make a fence from a slab with your own hands, you need to have the following tool:
- devices for measurements - tape measure, building level, laser range finder (if available);
- cord with pegs for marking the area;
- scraper and ax for debarking and processing wood;
- plane, hammer and hacksaw for wood;
- wide brush;
- drill or shovel for digging holes;
- concrete mixer or sheet of iron for manual preparation of the solution.
How to make a beautiful slab fence at your dacha with your own hands: the whole step-by-step process
The process of erecting a wooden picket fence from woodworking waste is divided into the following stages:
- Laying the route of the future fence, marking places for installing poles.
- Cleaning the croaker from bark and antiseptic treatment.
- Installation of supports.
- Fastening crossbars and picket fence strips.
Each of the steps will take you a lot of time, so expect to complete them in a few days. The process can speed up if you can attract assistants who simultaneously perform other operations. IN winter period It is not recommended to build a fence, since there will be difficulties with drilling holes, and the whole work will take a long time due to the cold.
Site marking
Before you start measuring and installing pegs, check the land documentation and coordinate your actions with your neighbors, so that later disputes do not arise due to an incorrectly installed fence. Then work in this order:
- Determine the location of the corner points of the allotment and drive stakes there.
- Stretch a cord between the pegs.
- Walking along the cord with a tape measure, mark the installation locations of the supports (standard - every 2.5 m). You can do it differently by dividing the entire length into equal intervals of 2 to 2.5 m in size, so that at the end you do not end up with one short span.
- Without removing the cord, drill holes 1 m deep at the designated points.
If you plan to build a fence 2.5-3 m high, then you need to take into account the increase in windage and wind load on the fence acting from the side. The installation step of the supports should be reduced to 2 m, and deepened into the ground by 1.2-1.4 m.
Barking and processing of croaker
As practice proven by many generations of Russian residents shows, it is best to remove bark from a tree with a scraper. This is a sharpened steel strip with two handles, by which you need to pull the tool along the trunk, tearing off the bark - scraping. Unlike an axe, a sharpened shovel and a power tool, a stapler does not cause damage during operation. upper layer wood, thereby increasing its service life.
Debarking with a sharpened shovel is quite quick when it comes to logs. Lighter slabs are inconvenient to clean in this way, as they drag along with the tool.
At this stage, work is carried out in the following sequence:
- Place the croaker vertically, resting it on any structure.
- Perform debarking by moving the scraper from top to bottom.
- If necessary, clear the knots and level the plank along the edges using an ax and plane.
- Apply antiseptic to the wood with a brush and let it dry.
This is the most labor-intensive procedure when constructing a fence. The longer your fence, the more material you will have to recycle. Together with an assistant, things will move faster.
Wood debarking video
Installation of pillars
Fence posts can be installed in the following ways:
- driving into wells whose diameter is slightly smaller than the cross-section of the timber;
- installation with backfilling;
- concreting;
- deep concreting with soil replacement.
When using wooden supports, the first 2 options are most often used. First, the ends of the pillars are covered with a layer of bitumen mastic or resin, after which they are driven into the finished wells. Then the earth is filled and compacted around the column. In the second method, a hole is dug, a support is installed in it and wedged on all sides with stones, after which a liquid clay solution is poured into it.
Both steel and wooden poles, only the first ones are welded with anchoring parts - pieces of corners or reinforcement that firmly hold the pipe in the concrete. A combined method is also practiced - concrete is placed in the ground steel pipe, and a wooden support is attached to it on top. Regardless of the chosen option, work is carried out as follows:
- Fill the bottom of the hole with crushed stone to a height of 5 cm and compact it.
- Using a level, place the stand strictly vertically and secure it by nailing the support strips.
- Mix 1 volume of M400 cement with 4 equal volumes of sand and 6 parts of crushed stone, add water and prepare M100 concrete.
- Concrete the posts, filling the holes to the top with the mixture. Further work carried out after the concrete has hardened (at least 2 weeks).
Metal posts can be secured using a so-called concrete collar. With a pit depth of 0.5 m, the pipe is driven another half meter below its bottom, and the top is filled with concrete.
In the vastness of the Federation, there are often super-wet soils that are susceptible to frost heaving. In winter, they push out any objects located in the soil freezing zone. In such conditions, concreting is carried out below this boundary, and from above, the wet soil near the pillar is replaced with a mixture of crushed stone and sand.
Construction of a fence
The final stage of construction consists of installing logs (crossbars) and attaching pickets. Wait until it hardens completely concrete mixture and proceed with installation, following the following procedure:
- Nail the cross members to the posts. If you use wooden beams as joists, they should be leveled. It is better to align the slabs “by eye”, for which the assistant needs to move a few meters away and adjust the position of the crossbar.
- Adjacent timber crossbars can be attached end-to-end or stacked vertically on top of each other. Slab logs can be nailed together with an overlap.
- Nail the first picket, aligning the vertical with a level. Drive at least two nails at each attachment point to the joists.
- Attach the remaining pickets, pressing them together and periodically checking the vertical position.
In the case of metal racks, the logs will have to be bolted, making through holes in the pipe. Another option is installation with self-tapping screws, which will cost much more.
To protect the upper end of the planks from precipitation and rapid destruction, stuff a canopy from the same slab on top. At this point, the construction of the fence is considered complete.
Video material on slab fences
In addition to processing antiseptic composition, wooden fence It is desirable to additionally protect from external influences. For finishing wood located outdoors, there are the following methods of exterior finishing:
- Painting with waterproof acrylic compounds in 2 coats of primer.
- If there are no special requirements for the appearance of the fence, then the wood can be impregnated with waste oil or bitumen. For fear of getting dirty from head to toe, local thieves are unlikely to want to climb through such a fence onto your property.
- Cover with homemade Swedish paint, which protects against pests and precipitation no worse than antiseptics.
- For gourmets, it is suitable to open up wooden surfaces with several layers of varnish over an artificial blackening made using stain.
Lovers of beauty and aesthetics can put in more work and carve some kind of pattern on the wood. For example, cut the ends of pickets from slabs with a hacksaw before nailing them to the joists.
Recently, Swedish paint has gained popularity; it has a remarkable red color and can be prepared with your own hands. You will need the following components:
- regular salt - 250 g;
- red lead - 240 g;
- copper sulfate (otherwise known as copper sulfate) – 250 g;
- drying oil - 230 ml;
- flour - 500 g.
Pour the flour into water (3 liters) and cook the paste. Strain it through cheesecloth, add drying oil, then salt, red lead and vitriol, while heating the mixture over low heat. At the end, add another 1.5 liters of water and mix well. The predicted consumption of Swedish paint is 200-250 g/m2 surface area.
How to paint a wooden picket fence - video
As you can see, building a fence from slabs is not an extremely difficult job, although you will have to work hard. On the other hand, the high labor intensity is compensated by the low costs of constructing the fence. To make the best use of your personal time, break the entire process into stages and complete each of them as much as possible. This is especially true for owners of large plots of land, fenced on all sides. In this situation, it makes sense to install the fence in parts, starting from the front border.
In most cases, when renovating a private home, the issue of fencing is of secondary importance, since there is often not enough finance and building materials for this.
But in the unfenced area, winds constantly blow, bringing leaves, sticks and other debris. The optimal solution in such a case is to build a homemade fence from slabs, designed to protect and decorate the area.
Pros and cons of the material
Croaker is wood waste left over from sawing logs at a sawmill. This material is similar to an unedged board; one side is smooth and the other is covered with bark. The photo below shows all the sections where the logs were cut into boards and beams:
According to qualitative parameters, two types of slab are distinguished:
- wood;
- business.
The first type is in the form of boards unsuitable for construction work, and the second is wood boards used as fuel for the stove. The business variety of croaker is thicker and of higher quality; used for designing fences, utility structures and other non-residential buildings.
This material has - whole line advantages that make it possible to use it both for the installation of temporary buildings and for more permanent structures. Processed croaker is used in landscape design, as a finishing material when creating fences.
Let's list the main advantages of the slab:
- This material is considered budget. It can be purchased from any wood processing company. Its cost is always affordable, this material can be purchased with a good supply.
- Another advantage of croaker is environmental friendliness. No chemical components are used in the production of processing boards.
- Slab fences provide reliable protection from wind gusts.
- Installing slab fences does not cause any particular difficulties and does not require professional construction skills.
- Parts made from slabs that have undergone processing have a presentable appearance; they are often used as decorative elements when designing fences in the country.
- Fences made from this material do not require the design of a massive base: simply fill it with concrete mortar bottom part pillar
The disadvantages of slab include the following points:
- One side of the workpiece is not processed. The bark must be cleaned off without fail, since in the future wood-destroying insects will settle in it and fungus will develop.
- Before using wood for fencing construction, it must be treated with antifungal agents and antiseptics.
Preparing for construction: calculating the area of the fence
A slab fence will not take up much space around the perimeter of the garden area. Calculations should be made based on it. The size of the excavation for concreting the support is determined based on its thickness.
One span should have a maximum width of 2-2.5 meters. As the width increases, the fence will become less stable.
The optimal height of the fence is 1.5-2.2 meters.
Having decided on the parameters of the fence spans, it is easy to calculate its area in order to calculate the total value in subsequent calculations. To determine the area, use the geometric formula: multiply the width by the length.
For example, the width is 1.7 m and the length is 2.2 m, which means the area will be 3.74 square meters.
After this, you can easily calculate the total area for the entire fence. Simply multiply the resulting figure by the number of flights.
3.74x6.52 = 24.38 sq. m. Round up to 24.5 sq. m.
Before designing the fence, you can make a schematic sketch.
Choosing an unedged board
When choosing an unedged board, it is advisable to buy the material packaged in bundles: they contain already sorted wood.
The type of wood should also be taken into account: for example, poplar is not recommended to be used to create a fence. The fact is that after a while, the poplar wood slab will begin to collapse under the influence of the rotting process. You also need to be careful with birch wood: after drying, it hardens. It is difficult to drive a nail into dried birch, so you will need to use an electric drill to drill the holes for the nails.
Attention! Nails driven into wet birch wood, after it dries, they will come out, and the material will be deformed.
Cheap material has a lot of unevenness, knots and other defects. If you are going to make a fence from just such a slab, you will need grinding machine.
If you purchased a wet croaker, dry it not in the sun, but in the shade, in a draft, otherwise it will quickly dry out and large cracks will form on its surface.
Avoid purchasing material more than 25 cm wide. Over time, long cracks will appear on such a slab.
If you are planning a horizontal position of the slab when installing a fence, do not buy boards that are too narrow - the fence will look unsightly.
When choosing a slab, keep in mind that over time the material will lose about a couple of centimeters in width. This happens due to the drying out of the tree. Taking this point into account, perform installation with an overlap.
Material calculation
If the fence supports will be filled with concrete, you need to calculate the total amount of the mixture.
In areas with soft soil, a columnar type base is used (0.2 m wide and 0.7 m high). To calculate how much cement is required for one support, you should use the mathematical formula for calculating this value for a cylinder: V=πR²h:
- π = 3.14;
- R – diameter;
- h – height.
Let's make the calculation: 3.14x0.2x0.7=0.4396 m³.
To determine the amount of concrete solution required for all fence supports, you need to multiply the resulting value by the number of pillars. For example, if there are 14 supports in the fence, then 6.1544 m³ of solution (0.4396x14) will be required.
The amount of sand is calculated in the same way. For one support you need approximately 10 centimeter layer. Knowing the size of the hole, it is not difficult to perform the calculation. Just substitute the values to get the size of the cylinder: 3.14 x 0.2 x 01 = 0.0628 m³ - this is the amount of sand required for one support. If there are 14 spans, then there should be 15 supports:
0.0628x15=0.942 sq. m.
The stability of the fence is enhanced by a strong frame. The frame is made of metal pipes with a square cross-section, with sides 7-8 mm wide. To install the fence support, the pipe is placed in a hole, deepened by 1-1.2 m. The pillars rise above the ground by approximately 1.5-2.3 m.
To build a slab fence you will need the following equipment:
- axe;
- shovel;
- concrete mixer;
- containers for solution and water;
- grinding machine;
- skobel;
- electric drill;
- apparatus for welding (if the supports are metal);
- rope with pegs;
- roulette;
- plumb level;
- screws and other fasteners.
Instructions for making a fence
After all the sketches have been made and the tools have been prepared, materials have been selected and purchased, you can begin the construction of the fence.
Before carrying out work to prepare the land for construction (creating holes for supports), you need to find out about the characteristics of the soil, the depth of its freezing and the location of groundwater. This is very important, since unstable soil under the fence will cause deformation of the fence or lead to its destruction.
The soil, which contains a large amount of sand, can shift during periods of precipitation or after the snow cover melts, forming landslide phenomena. In such a case, it is best to use screw piles using them as fence supports. They are driven into the ground below the freezing level.
The presence of a large amount of clay impurities and sandy loam in the soil increases the depth of soil freezing and deprives it of stability. In such soil, it is unacceptable to concrete supports, otherwise, with the arrival of cold weather, the base containing clay will increase in volume, and this will lead to the foundation being squeezed out, the fence will be deformed and lose its original appearance. Under the influence of rain, quicksand are formed. It is for these reasons that the use of screw piles is desirable.
Soil with gravel inclusions does not freeze much and practically does not move under the influence of water; such soil is optimal for concreting supports.
Rocky soil has similar properties: such soil is much harder. When constructing fences in such an area, all types of foundations can be used, with the exception of pile foundations.
The process of creating a slab fence includes the following steps:
- Prepare the wood material, sort the slabs by size and configuration, and clear each board of bark. This is necessary to give the tree an aesthetic appearance and eliminate favorable conditions for the growth of fungus and harmful insects. For this purpose, a tool called a carpenter's staple is used. It can be replaced with a sharpened axe, spatula or knife. Using a grinding machine, the surface of the material is leveled, burrs and exfoliated wood are removed. Then the croaker is treated with antifungal agents and antiseptics.
- The next step is working with the soil. The site must be cleared of bushes, boulders and debris. The construction area must be leveled for subsequent marking.
- After this, markings are made, indicating each hole for supports. The markings ensure that the fence is level. For this purpose they use taut rope and pegs.
- Holes are dug in the marked areas. To prevent soil from falling into holes during work, it is preferable to use a screw shovel or auger. The tool is screwed into the ground and the contents are pulled out, going 15 cm deep. The optimal width of the hole is 20 cm, depth is 70 cm.
- Sand is poured into the bottom of each hole and compacted. To increase the density of the pillow, the sand is wetted. The thickness of the sand layer should be 10 cm. A 10-centimeter layer of crushed stone is poured on top of the sand - it is also compacted.
- Having prepared the pillow, install the pillars in the holes. If wooden supports are chosen during construction, they must be treated with agents that prevent the formation of fungus. The part of the post placed in the ground must be burned and protected from water. For waterproofing, roofing material or bitumen mastics with a liquid consistency are suitable.
If chosen as supports iron pipes their end parts need to be coated special compounds to protect metal from rust. Metal plates with a diameter of 5x10 cm are welded to the supports. They are placed parallel to one another at the bottom and top of the column. The logs in the fencing sections will be attached to them when the slab is mounted vertically.
- The prepared supports are placed in the holes. Using a sledgehammer, drive them into the ground to secure them more securely at the bottom of the holes. Level the supports using a rope and a plumb level. To fix the supports in the desired position, secure them with stops made of boards or iron corners with a length of at least 70 cm. Rest one side of the corner or board against the ground, and the other against the support.
- Place a small layer of crushed stone into the post holes, ensuring it is evenly distributed around the posts. Compact the gravel.
- Taking into account the fact that the concrete base will be located above the ground at a height of 10 cm, make a formwork from boards to hold the unhardened concrete: the width of which is equal to the diameter of the foundation. The formwork will resemble in appearance a box without a bottom, with walls 15 cm high. The frame elements are secured with self-tapping screws and then mounted on the pit. So that during operation this design does not change position, with each outside Pegs are driven into the ground.
- After this, you need to reinforce the concrete base. This frame will strengthen the columnar base and prevent its destruction. To do this, it is necessary to design a three-dimensional iron frame. The frame is made of reinforcement measuring 8-10 mm. The rods are combined with wire, resulting in a structure 50 cm high. The rods are placed at a distance taking into account the support built into the pit. The fittings should not come into contact with it.
- You can start pouring the columnar base.
Pour the mortar into the holes with the supports and reinforcing bars built into them, so that the concrete is located 10 cm above the ground. Please note that a large number of air bubbles will remain in the poured solution; they can be leveled using a reinforcing rod lowered into the solution and removed from it.
Upon completion of this procedure, the concrete foundation should be protected from uneven hardening and water evaporation - this can cause cracks in the foundation. Cover the foundation with cellophane or other waterproofing material. It takes 3-6 days for the solution to completely harden. The colder it is outside, the longer it takes to harden.
- After the concrete has hardened, begin installing the fencing sections. The slab is attached to the supports in both horizontal and vertical positions - your choice. To vertically secure the material, you need to install logs and fill dies on them. They are attached in a horizontal plane to internal parties bases above and below.
Advice: To make the fence look neat, do not mount the boards end to end, remember that the edges of the slab are uneven - leave a small distance between the elements.
If you want to design a fence without gaps, attach the tiles with an overlapping herringbone pattern. Slabs can also be installed on the other side of the fence, creating a resemblance to a board made of wood with padded boards.
At horizontal installation croaker can be done without logs; The dies will serve as guides. As in the first option, the slab is attached to the supports. The dies begin to be installed from the bottom, the bottom of each element should be secured overlapping the previous one. If you leave a distance of less than 10 cm, gaps will form in the fence in the future, as the wood shrinks when it dries.
If you use wider boards, cracks will appear in them after drying. A fence made from too narrow elements looks unpresentable.
On a note! To paint a slab fence, choose deep-penetrating dyes.
Before applying antiseptic agents or paint to the outer part of the slab, it is necessary to clean the material from old paint and peeling. By performing this work efficiently, you will increase the service life of the protective coating.
To create a protective layer on a slab fence, the following means are used:
- used machine oil. Many summer residents use this tool. Wood coated with machine oil will not allow harmful microorganisms to multiply, and water will not be absorbed into the material. Attackers do not dare to climb over such a fence, because it leaves oil traces. This remedy is affordable and effective;
- copper sulfate;
- self-prepared paint;
- Liquid glassine is a product that provides protection for slabs in conditions of high humidity. Penetrating into the pores of wood, it displaces moisture. During polymerization, glassine closes the pores of the material, thereby creating an environment that is unfavorable for the life of harmful insects and fungi.
Homemade protective paint recipe
It is not difficult to prepare such paint (popularly called “Swedish”). To prepare a liter of dye you will need the following components:
- 53 ml drying oil;
- 97 gr. dark rye flour;
- 43 gr. copper sulfate, salt and metal lead;
- color;
- 750 ml water.
This volume is enough to paint 3.5 square meters. m of fence. The dye is applied to the fence in two layers. Such a coating will provide long-term protection of the structure (for a couple of decades). For the front side of a slab fence, it is preferable to use products from well-known manufacturers, for example, Neomid, Belinka, Pinotex.
How and with what to decorate a country fence
Using a slab to build a fence, it’s hard to believe that such a fence can look presentable. The material looks natural and can be combined with foam block, stone, iron or brick.
Many people use slabs to build sections of fences with stone supports. A fence made of slabs with an arc-shaped upper edge looks unusual. An easy way to transform a rough structure is to arrange flower pots.
Another way to steal such a design is to use a hacksaw to create shape-shaped cuts on the end parts of each board, creating a special, presentable design.
A wooden fence looks attractive, on the upper edge of which there is a small gable roof. The fence takes on a complete appearance and becomes similar to the fences that were used in Scandinavia and Ancient Rus'.
The upper parts of vertically placed elements can be made in the shape of a cone, creating an imitation of a palisade fence.
A fence with vertically fixed herringbone-type elements looks impressive.
For more design options, see the photo below:
Using your imagination, it’s easy to turn a slab fence into a beautiful and presentable hedge.
Video
Watch a video on how to make a budget fence on a site from slab:
Croaker is great for making fences for a summer cottage. Such designs fit perfectly into landscape decor and are in harmony with structures made from other materials. Croaker is easy to process and install with your own hands, so building a fence from it is not at all difficult.
A fence made from slab is one of the most cost-effective and practical types wooden fences. It can be made on our own without any special technological refinements, as well as without attracting hired specialists and paying for their services.
The material for such a fence can be obtained without any problems at any sawmill, if not for nothing, then for very little money. This type of fencing is reliable and durable, and with appropriate effort it can be given the necessary beauty and unusual appearance.
What it is?
Croaker is nothing more than waste from sawing tree trunks in woodworking industries. When a log is sawn at a sawmill into boards of various thicknesses, the waste from this process is the side fragments of tree trunks. They have a rounded shape on one side. These side parts are called slabs. To this day, they are purchased for firewood in places where there is no gas heating, due to their low cost.
Croaker should be distinguished from unedged boards. An unedged board is flat on both sides. It differs from an ordinary board in that it has raw edges. This variety wood material at a price significantly lower than semicircular slabs, sold at a low cost as wood processing waste.
The slab looks like a board, sawn only on one side. The other part of it remains unchanged natural look and the appearance of untreated wood. In the past, it was used only as fuel and as a finishing material for temporary and rough fences, buildings and other structures. Summer residents, appreciating the advantages of this timber, subsequently began to build reliable and original fences from it.
Its cost, as already mentioned, is very low, and all its options depend on the type of wood, the method of wood processing and the dimensions of the slab.
Advantages and disadvantages
Croaker is chosen as a “fencing” material by owners of dachas and private households in rural areas, primarily because of its availability and low cost. Taking into account the fact that the fence is supposed to be built independently, its total cost will consist only of the costs of purchasing and delivering the material to the work site, plus a small amount for nails.
Fences made from it are easy to install, reliable and durable. These structures are very resistant to atmospheric factors, and with imagination and taste they can be given a rather aesthetic appearance. These fences, naturalistic and universal in their purpose, are distinguished by their originality and originality of the exterior.
Fences made from slab have a significant mass and a long service life. Given that correct processing material, such a product can last 15 – 20 years. The simplicity of their installation allows any owner of a summer house or private household to create such structures on their own, together with one or two assistants.
This should also include the environmental component. Natural material, from which such fences are made, simply cannot release anything toxic into the environment. In addition, their natural appearance and pleasant smell of wood cannot but delight the owners and their environment.
Such fences are of no interest to vandals. The croaker cannot be scrapped or sold.
Even for the quick construction of temporary fences or sheds, it is difficult to find a more suitable timber material than slab.
Its advantages also depend on the type of wood that was cut at the sawmill. In terms of hardness and service life, primacy should be given to oak, beech and larch trunks, and then coniferous species tree and aspen. The most commonly used timber for construction is coniferous timber.
However, the croaker also has its drawbacks. Due to the unsightly appearance of this material, its refining requires significant time and labor costs, because each die must be processed and sanded. In addition, you should select the required number of dies with relatively straight sides, which also have approximately the same width.
The construction of a fence from slab will require a large amount of this material due to the need to select it.
After installation, the croaker must be treated with antiseptics several times, otherwise its service life will be reduced to 3-5 years.
The entire process of preliminary preparation of slab strips is exclusively manual, that is, extremely labor-intensive.
Although this lumber is accessible and cheap, constructing a decent fence from it will require a lot of effort and time, but the result of such work will be as aesthetically pleasing and original a fence as desired by its owners.
How to choose?
This lumber is divided into two types - commercial and firewood.
- Wood slab cannot be used in the construction of wooden structures due to the heterogeneity of its surface and the fact that it is obtained from cutting trees of non-solid species.
- Business slabs are used to shed sheds, formwork and outbuildings, fences and various partitions are constructed from it. This type of croaker is usually further divided into thick and thin. This lumber stacked in bundles is more expensive than simply piled, because such bundles contain less waste. These packs contain pre-sorted wood.
- The best grade of this timber is its calibrated variety or block house. Its price is ten times higher than that of an ordinary commercial croaker, but it also requires pre-processing to remove the bark and polish.
- Unbarked croaker is especially textured, but over time the bark peels off from it, and bark beetles may appear in it. After debarking and polishing, this material takes on an expensive and noble appearance. After treatment with protective antiseptic impregnations, its service life reaches 20–25 years. Slab grinding services are provided by sawmill staff for a separate fee, but you can do this work yourself using a grinder and an ax.
There is not much difference in selection by breed, but it is better to abandon poplar, because it rots, and birch, since its wood is very hard and warps over time.
It must be taken into account that after the material has been delivered to the site, it must be sorted and processed in a short time. This is done so that the bark beetle does not render the material unusable. It is also recommended to dry the dies.
The cheaper the slab is chosen, the more defects it will have in the form of unevenness, knots and the like.
If wet lumber is purchased, drying it should not be done under direct solar lighting, but in a shady place open to air, otherwise it will dry out intensively and its surface will become covered with deep cracks.
Croakers with a width of more than 20–25 cm should not be given priority. Over time, large horizontal cracks appear on such wood along the entire length of the block.
If you plan to nail the slab dies horizontally, then for this Do not select boards that are too narrow, otherwise the fence will lose its aesthetics.
You should know that after some time the croaker narrows by 1.5–2 cm due to drying of the wood. Therefore, it must be laid with an overlap.
If you are going to install a solid picket fence without gaps, then you need to take slabs for it that have a smooth edge, otherwise you will have to modify them with a plane or an ax.
A picket fence with gaps can also be made from uneven material. The main thing here is the correct layout of the boards.
Most the best option there will be thick and wide blocks of slabs. Some of them can produce quite normal timber for posts if you cut them to length.
It is better to refrain from purchasing lumber from trees that were cut down in the warm season and have lain outdoors for a long time.
Under the layer of bark on the wood of such a slab, mold and pest beetles are often observed. But in winter, purchasing old wood will not cause problems, because the fungus and bark beetle are not active in the cold.
It is undesirable to purchase openly damp wood, since when it dries, it begins to warp and crack, which negatively affects the appearance of the structure.
It is also undesirable to buy material that is too narrow and of small thickness. To create a picket fence, you will need a lot of narrow boards, and removing bark from thin fragments is inconvenient and labor-intensive.
When choosing timber at a woodworking enterprise, it is better to spend time on a piece-by-piece selection of slabs in order to select the most suitable specimens. This will significantly save time and labor costs when making the fence.
Timber for poles
For support posts of temporary fencing, it is quite acceptable to nail together two slabs. If the structure is planned to be used for a long time, about 15-20 years, timber with a section of 10x10 cm or round timber ø 80-100 mm should be used for the pillars. You can use thick blanks for the crossbars or use timber with a section of 60x40 mm.
If you decide to build a more permanent fence with a height of up to 2.5 m, then the supports should be made of a metal pipe.
For a solid picket fence, the size of such a support is 40x60 mm, and for a lighter fence with gaps it will be 40x40 mm.
Fence options
The simplest option to implement is a vertical fence or palisade. In this case, the frame is made in advance, and the slab dies are nailed vertically onto it.
In the second case, it is a horizontal fence without crossbars. The slab is stuffed in a horizontal plane from one pillar to another, butting dies: with gaps between them or overlapping.
Another type is a double-sided fence. In it, the installation of unedged boards is carried out on both sides of the fence.
This option is the most expensive, as it requires twice the amount of lumber.
Calculation of material requirements
Usually, owners of summer cottages and private households use slabs to build solid fences up to 2 m high to prevent anyone from looking into their territory. Vertical installation of picket fences is the simplest option.
The length of the spans between the support pillars is taken equal to 2.5 m. For supports, a third of which are immersed in the ground, bars 3 m long are taken. The amount of lumber is calculated using the following algorithm.
The number of post supports is equal to the total length of the fence, which must be divided by the distance between the posts. Posts for wickets and gates are also added here.
The total length of the horizontal jumpers is equal to twice the length of the fence. Here you need to add 10-15% for overlap, trimmings and waste. The amount of slab will depend on the size of these boards. It is calculated by dividing the available result by their length, adding a small margin.
The number of pickets for a solid fence can be calculated by dividing its length by the average width of the slabs.
It is better to purchase timber with a small reserve, since during the process of debarking, grinding and subsequent processing, part of the slab will be rejected.
Fence construction
This process begins with cleaning the bark of the croaker and treating it with antiseptic treatment. This is followed by laying a route for such a fence, marking places for installing poles, and installing them in the ground. The final step is to attach the transverse slats and picket fence boards.
It is better not to build a fence in winter, since there will be difficulties with drilling holes, and all the work will take much longer due to the cold.
Each of these stages will require a lot of time, so you need to plan to complete all the work several days in advance. The process can be speeded up by attracting several assistants who will perform separate operations in parallel.
Debarking croaker
Practice dating back more than one century shows that the most rational way to remove bark from the surface of wood is to remove it with a scraper. This tool is a steel strip sharpened on one side with two handles. Using them, the scraper is pulled along the trunk, scraping off the bark with it. This method allows you to keep the surface of the wood intact, unlike an axe, a sharpened shovel or a power tool, which significantly extends its service life.
For logs debarking using a sharpened shovel is quite acceptable, which makes it possible to quickly clear them of bark. This method is not suitable for lighter croakers, because they are pulled behind the tool.
The slab for this operation is placed vertically with support on any reliable object, for example, a wall or fence. Debarking is performed by moving the scraper from top to bottom. If necessary, the knots are cleared and the plank is leveled along the edges using an ax and a plane. After the bark has been completely removed from all wood surfaces, an antiseptic is applied to them with a brush, and the entire treated croaker is left to dry.
This preparatory stage is the most labor-intensive in the construction of a fence. The longer such a fence is, the greater the volume of material will have to be processed.
Site marking
While the croaker, debarked and treated with an antiseptic, is drying, you should start marking the area. You need to start it by finding the corner points of this section, marking them by driving stakes there, between which the cord is then pulled.
The places where the supports will be installed are marked by walking along the cord with a tape measure. The standard value here is a distance of every 2.5 m. You can do it a little differently, alternating 2 m long intervals with 2.5 m sections along the entire length, if there is a risk of getting one short span at the end.
If the planned height of the fence should be 2.5 - 3 m, then you need to take into account the increase in its windage and the wind load on the fence. To do this, the distance between the support pillars must be reduced to 2 m, and the pillar in the ground must be installed at a depth of 1.2-1.4 m.
Installation of pole supports
Fence posts can be installed by driving them into wells, installing them using backfilling, or concreting. If the installation of pillar supports in wells made with a gasoline drill is used, then their diameter should be slightly smaller than the cross-section of the beam itself.
The first two methods are more often used for installing wooden supports. Before installation, the lower parts of such supports are coated with resin or bitumen mastic , and then driven into the wells. After this, you need to pour soil around the pillar and compact it.
In the second case, a pillar support is placed in a dug hole, filled with stones on all sides and filled with liquid clay.
Concreting can be used to secure both steel and wooden supports. However Anchor parts are pre-welded to steel poles to securely fix the pipe in the thickness of concrete. They can be pieces of reinforcement or corners.
A combined option is also used, when a steel tubular support is concreted into the ground, on which a wooden support is installed.
In any case, the work is carried out in a way where the bottom of the hole is filled with 5 cm of crushed stone and it is compacted. The stand is leveled strictly vertically and fixed with support rails. Concrete is mixed from 1 part cement, 4 parts sand, 6 volumes of crushed stone and water. The pit with the posts is filled to the top with this mixture. Subsequent work is carried out after the concrete has hardened.
Steel support posts can be installed using a method called concrete collar. Having a hole 0.5 m deep, the pipe is driven into it another 0.5 m below its bottom and filled with concrete.
In many Russian regions There are often super-wet soils that swell due to frost. In winter, they are able to push to the surface any object that is in the soil freezing zone.
In such a situation, concrete is poured below this level, and from above, near the support, the wet soil is replaced with a mixture of crushed stone and sand.
Construction of a fence
At the final stage, transverse logs are installed, to which pickets are attached.
The crossbars are nailed to the posts. If wooden beams are used as logs, their position should be checked with a level. It is better to level the slab itself, so to speak, “by eye.” To do this, an assistant, standing several meters away, must adjust the position of each of the crossbars.
Adjacent crossbars can be nailed end-to-end, as well as by placing them one on top of the other vertically. It is permissible to overlap logs consisting of slabs.
The first picket fence is nailed after the vertical alignment is level. Two nails should be driven in at each location where the pickets are attached to the joists. The remaining pickets are attached by pressing against each other, with periodic checking of their vertical position.
If metal racks are used, the logs are fastened with bolts, for which through holes are drilled in the pipe. Another option uses self-tapping screws, which significantly increases the cost of the process.
To protect the upper ends of the fence slats from precipitation, it is best to put a canopy made from the same slab on top of them. This is the last operation in the construction of such a fence.
Thus, building a beautiful wooden fence from slabs is not a very difficult job, although it requires considerable labor costs. However, such serious labor intensity is successfully compensated low level costs. For optimal use of personal time, it is better to divide the entire process into stages, performing each of them as much as possible. This especially applies to owners of plots with a large area, if they need to be fenced on all sides.
Every owner, as soon as he has a site for construction, first of all wants to mark the boundaries of his property. Some people prefer a blind structure to hide from prying eyes, others decide to make the fence more decorative. But many are not ready to spend a significant amount on this. So it's a matter of choice suitable material relevant. At a huge number options, you can choose a fence made of slabs. This is original, inexpensive and environmentally friendly, and also a great opportunity to design and build a fence with your own hands. Fortunately, you don’t need any special skills or knowledge for this.
Croaker: advantages and disadvantages of the material
Slab is one of the types of unedged boards, which until recently was considered a woodworking waste. It is obtained by cutting a log. It looks like a semicircular board on one side, most often covered with bark. Therefore, the croaker is very cheap. With proper preparation and processing, it is a very durable material that is resistant to various weather conditions. Fits perfectly into any project. One of the most important indicators of slab is environmental friendliness. Even if you decide to put up a new fence over time, the old fences can be used for burning.
The disadvantages include:
- labor-intensive work, since each die requires manual processing;
- instability to fire - wood tends to burn.
Photo gallery: options for beautiful slab fences
Croaker is an excellent material for making fence decor 
The slab can be installed vertically or horizontally 
You can practically build from a slab monolithic structure 
The slab fence is very reliable 
Croaker can serve as a decorative element for a gazebo 
The slab fence is durable and beautiful 
A double fence is stronger than a single one
Preparing for construction: calculating the area for a wooden fence
Before you begin construction, you need to do everything necessary measurements and prepare a design project. The fence can be entirely wooden or combined. It is installed as strip foundation, so they attach it to poles. The slab is combined with metal, brick, stone, concrete.
To make a fence, calculate the number of posts required for fastening. The width between them should be at least 2 m. If they are placed further apart, the structure will be less durable. You also need to determine the method of attaching the dies and calculate their exact number in one span. When mounting vertically, it is necessary to determine how many transverse purlins will have to be installed. They can be made from slabs, after sawing them lengthwise.
How to select and process the material correctly
At sawmills, as a rule, slabs are sold in bulk or sorted into bundles. The second type is divided into two types - wood and business. The first one is only suitable for heating, as it is too thin and uneven.
The business one is not much more expensive, but has a thickness of 35 mm, and approximately the same length of the die. The width varies from 20 cm and more, which eliminates deformation. Please ensure that the number of knots is small, as holes may appear in their place during the drying process. It is necessary to purchase material with a reserve of 15–20%.
Cleaning should begin immediately upon delivery. This is very important, because the croaker is sold undried, and bark beetles or woodworms grow under the bark, which will quickly spoil the wood. While it is raw, this is quite easy to do. For debarking, a shovel with a well-sharpened blade, a carpenter's ax or a scraper is used. The tool must be sharp so that the process takes a little time. You can use a encryption machine.
When the croaker is cleared of bark, it needs to be sanded and dried. Workpieces with cracks and knot holes should be rejected immediately. Only after this can you begin to treat with an antiseptic. Here you can choose traditional drying oil or give preference to a new generation of antiseptics: with a tinting effect, for fire protection, preventing wood cracking, etc. To save time, it can be applied using a spray bottle. If this is not possible, a regular brush will suffice. The antiseptic is applied in 2–3 layers at intervals of 7–8 hours.
If you set out to surprise with the result, use a technique such as brushing (artificial aging of wood). It must be carried out at the stage of preparing dies. Treat the wood cleared of bark with special brushes with metal bristles, removing the softest fibers of the tree. Then sand with an abrasive brush or coarse sandpaper. Cover the treated dies with stain or special dyes. After drying, polish the wood, and after installation, cover it with several layers of varnish.
Step-by-step instructions for installing a fence at your dacha with your own hands
Having finished preparing the dies, proceed to preparatory work for installation:
- To do this, the territory is marked out using pegs and rope. The location of corner posts, gates, and wickets is determined. These places are marked with pegs. A rope is stretched between them to ensure a straight fence line.
- Holes are prepared for the pillars. It is best to use an ice drill for this. This will significantly speed up the process. The depth of the hole is approximately 1–1.2 m, the diameter is 2 times larger diameter pillar The length is calculated taking into account the underground part. As a rule, it is necessary to add 50–70 cm to the height of the fence - the amount by which it will be dug into the ground. It is easier and more reliable to use metal posts with welded plates to secure the purlins. It is enough to level them and concrete them. A pipe with a diameter of 7–8 cm and a wall thickness of 3.5 mm is suitable. If you use wooden posts, it is better to give preference to oak, pine or larch with a diameter of about 20 cm. First protect the part that will be in the ground from moisture. For these purposes, you can use Kuzbass varnish, hot resin, and cover the top with roofing felt or geotextile. You can simply treat the lower part with fire. This will “seal” the wood capillaries and protect the post from moisture from below. Another option is to soak it in used car oil. But this method of processing is suitable only if the fence is installed for a short period of time.
- Metal pillars need to be concreted. To do this, install a support in the pit strictly vertically, controlling the process with a level. It is best to strengthen it with wooden spacers. Concrete is poured into the hole. You can fill the hole entirely, or you can only fill it halfway, filling the remaining hole with crushed stone.
- After the concrete has hardened, you can begin installing the fence. Beforehand, screws, self-tapping screws or nails are briefly immersed in drying oil or used machine oil - this gives additional protection to the dies from moisture at the fastening points. And only after this can you begin to attach the purlins onto which the dies will be nailed vertically. The purlins are attached with the convex side inward. When positioned horizontally, the dies are attached directly to the post, and there is no need for runs.
- When fastening the slab vertically, the dies can be stuffed overlapping, without a gap, or an indentation of 5–10 cm can be made. It is not advisable to attach them end-to-end, since such stuffing looks sloppy.
- At horizontal mounting The dies can be attached either with a gap or with an overlap - in a herringbone pattern (it should be at least 1.5–2 cm, since the wood can dry out, which will lead to the appearance of cracks). They are nailed directly to wooden posts.
- Once installation is complete, you can begin decorative finishing. There are a lot of options. The top of the fence can be made smooth or curly. In the first case, the level can be cut to the required height using a cord and trimmed using a jigsaw. The figured top cut is made with a special pattern. It is easy to build it yourself from thick cardboard.
- To increase the service life, spans can be decorated with decorative gable roof or leave open cuts, having previously “sealed” them with waste oil.
- The final stage is painting. This important point, since the presence of this coating affects the durability of your fence. As a rule, slab fences are tinted with stain and varnished. Various tinting impregnations can be used. There are many of them now, and they are presented in a wide range of colors.
If you use facade oil paint, you will need to apply 2 layers. It will last 5-6 years, and then you will need to cover the fence again. A budget option- prepare a special “Swedish” paint yourself. All components can be purchased on the construction market. It does not allow air to pass through, covers the wood well in one layer and lasts much longer than oil. This paint is absorbed into the wood to a depth of 1–1.5 cm and does not form a film on top. It can be used even if the wood is not sufficiently dried. During production, it is necessary to strictly follow the recipe.
Pour 2 liters of warm water into a metal bucket, heat it and, stirring, add 193 g of rye flour. Then add 87 g of iron sulfate and the same amount of salt into the paste. Heat the mixture over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring, then add 87 g of red lead. To give a specific color, you can add concrete pigment. Lastly, you need to pour in 107 ml of drying oil (can be replaced with sunflower oil). To stir thoroughly. Dilute the finished paint with 1.5 liters of water to obtain a more liquid consistency.
Video: DIY unedged board fence
A slab fence can be the simplest or the most exclusive project. One should not be afraid to combine the most various materials and have a desire to create. Croaker is an inexpensive, but durable and beautiful material.
Reading time ≈ 3 minutes
The construction of a fence is an indispensable part of landscaping a dacha or country house. Using wood to build a fence is a way to create a beautiful and environmentally friendly structure. And if you make a fence from slabs with your own hands, you can also save a lot. After all, the cost of such material is much lower than that of a board, and the appearance is even more interesting.
Features of the material
A slab is the name given to the end board when sawing a log longitudinally, which is convex on one side. This is low quality lumber, with bark, the cheaper it is, the more knots it has. One side is smooth and the other is semicircular. Most often, a slab is taken for kindling, but with a skillful approach it will turn into an original part.
It is better to remove the bark so as not to provoke rotting. However, if you do not remove it, you can make a fence stylized as an ancient town. If you decide to process the surface, you will need a hatchet and a grinder. As a last resort, use a regular shovel. But a grinding machine gives a better result. Processing can be carried out on a sawmill. But doing the work yourself will save money.
The final stage of preparation for construction work will be treatment with special means that will protect the wood from exposure to the atmosphere and insects. It is advisable to tint the workpieces; this will significantly improve their external qualities. These works are performed after drying the slab from which the bark has been removed.
Preparatory stage
On preparatory stage It’s not just the croaker itself that is cooked. It is necessary to take care of other components, without which it is impossible to build a fence.
- Support posts (square or round pipes).
- Cross members (metal joists).
- Rope.
- Self-tapping screws or nails.
- Shovel.
- Materials for concreting supports.
Features of installing a slab fence
First, holes are dug for the installation of support pillars with a depth of 1-1.5 m (depth of soil freezing). It would be better if they were made of metal supports. The standard distance between supports is 2.5 meters. For strength, the pillars are not simply buried, but reinforced with concrete mortar. A rope or thread is pulled between the fixed supports to determine where the fence itself will be. This technique eliminates unevenness.
How exactly to make a fence from a slab depends on the owner. The boards can be mounted vertically or horizontally, overlapping or with gaps. Only if you decide to overlap, you should remember that the boards should overlap each other by at least 2 cm, because the material dries out by about 1.5 cm over time. In general, there is no limit to your imagination here. The presented photos and videos will help you choose the best option.
Sometimes this material is combined with others. For example, a wooden slab fence is installed on a stone foundation and secured between brick support pillars. Other variations can be used.
In order for a garden fence made of slab to please you for decades, you must follow the following recommendations:
- It is better not to use boards that are too wide; over time they will crack, this will spoil the appearance and reduce the strength of the structure.
- The support pillars must be deepened to the depth of soil freezing.
- A gable roof over the fence will enhance the countryside flavor and give the building an ancient look. In addition, this is a good technique for protecting against excess moisture.
A fence made from an ordinary slab will become a kind of face of the house. After all, such material is not often used for barriers. Its appearance is no worse than that of other materials, and the cost is much lower.