Chat with my neighbor made me realize my fence repair was a ticking time bomb

So I was bragging to my neighbor Dave about the fence panel I replaced last weekend. He asked what kind of wood I used and I said just whatever the hardware store had on sale. He got real quiet. Turns out I used untreated pine for a ground-contact post. Dude said it'll rot out in like 2 years and could take the whole fence down in a storm. I'm kicking myself for not spending the extra $12 on pressure treated. Anyone else skip the cheap stuff now after learning the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

wrenstone18d ago

Man I used to be the exact same way. I'd grab whatever was cheapest at the hardware store and figure it was all just wood anyway. Then my buddy who builds decks for a living basically yelled at me when I showed him the fence I put up. He pointed out the untreated post I set in concrete and said I'd be lucky to get three years out of it before it turned to mush. That conversation stung but it totally changed how I look at stuff now. I'll pay the extra few bucks for pressure treated every single time after seeing what happened to my neighbor's fence when it rotted at the base and took out two panels during a windstorm. Definitely one of those lessons that's way cheaper to learn from someone else's mistake than your own.

sage_lewis1018d ago

Oh man, I had a friend who learned that one the hard way. He built this real nice looking shed, all proud of it, and then two years later the whole bottom of it just crumbled away. Tried to save it with some quick fix stuff but ended up having to tear the whole thing down and start over.