Many years ago, I built a fence around our back yard. It’s held up well, except for a few spots where I built it a bit too close to the ground. In those places, dirt, leaves and whatever built up and caused some sections to rot. I replaced one section last fall, and had milled material to do another section, where I expected to replace the bottom rails and the ‘field’ boards, with a bit of repair to the side rails.

I didn’t realize until this spring that carpenter ants or termites had also damaged the right side rail, the top rail, and the cap piece (you can see the damage in the old top rail on the sidewalk in the lower right of the picture).

I had a piece of cedar I could use for new side rails, so yesterday I bought rough cedar for the cap and top rail. I thought I’d get the new section done in a few hours. I created a new top rail and a new cap from what I bought, and, made new side rails from the existing piece. I already had the milled boards for the field and the lower rails.

Taking out the old section took a while, as I was careful to preserve the stainless steel screws (which don’t cause cedar to blacken like many other types of screws). ‘They’ say you should never reuse a screw but my local hardware stores don’t sell stainless ones any more. I would like to avoid using other types until I absolutely have to. I don’t know if other kinds will cause the wood to discolor, and would rather not find out if I can avoid it.

Installing the new section took longer than I remembered, partly because there’s a hidden cable that runs under the cap from the post on the left of the section to the one on the right. It helps the post on the right stay straight, as the gate tends to make it sag. I had to remove material from the under side of the cap rail to allow for the eye bolt, eye screw, and cable.

I barely finished before I lost all light.

fence section

There’s one or two more sections or partial sections that will need replacing soon. I expect I’ll tackle those this Fall.