How many nails in a feather board fence?
Discussion
Oh wise PH DIYers or pros, I come in search of advice.
I'm doing about 15m of fencing next weekend and I've got all the timber ready, I know how to put the fence up generally, but I've read a lot of conflicting advice on nail position for the feather edge boards. They're 125mm boards.
All the guide images I've seen show the nails running through both the thick and the thin edge of the boards, so each board gets 2 fixings across its width at every rail interface. Yet the forums I've been reading suggest to offset the nail so it goes a little more centrally and avoids tacking the thinner section of the board to the rail, this is to allow movement in the boards. I'm also led to believe it will prevent splitting.
My concern of the second option is that the board isn't really supported at the point the nail goes through, so the outer board might split, or that it will sort of flex inwards and make the board concave.
Seeing as PH tends to have the more, errr, professional side of the practical demographic I figured I'd just go with whatever you guys say.
I'm erring to using the single nail and getting it as close to the back board as possible, which I guess I could do with a timber guide, but I could be swayed either way with some reasonable arguments.
Ta
I'm doing about 15m of fencing next weekend and I've got all the timber ready, I know how to put the fence up generally, but I've read a lot of conflicting advice on nail position for the feather edge boards. They're 125mm boards.
All the guide images I've seen show the nails running through both the thick and the thin edge of the boards, so each board gets 2 fixings across its width at every rail interface. Yet the forums I've been reading suggest to offset the nail so it goes a little more centrally and avoids tacking the thinner section of the board to the rail, this is to allow movement in the boards. I'm also led to believe it will prevent splitting.
My concern of the second option is that the board isn't really supported at the point the nail goes through, so the outer board might split, or that it will sort of flex inwards and make the board concave.
Seeing as PH tends to have the more, errr, professional side of the practical demographic I figured I'd just go with whatever you guys say.
I'm erring to using the single nail and getting it as close to the back board as possible, which I guess I could do with a timber guide, but I could be swayed either way with some reasonable arguments.
Ta
Righto chaps, timber was bought in June last year from a timber mill/manufacturer in Taunton, so hopefully not the crap you'd get from the sheds.
I did half the garden last year with their panels and they've been fine, so I imagine it's all the same quality as they make it all.
The boards and posts have been in the shed since I bought them so they'll be dry when I put the fence up next weekend. Just need to get some nails and I'm off.
They're all pre stained/treated anyway, so I won't do anything additional as they're a great colour.
Will get about 600/650 nails and see how we go. Was contemplating a nail gun but I've got a habit of starting and then not finishing something so don't want additional hire charges. 50mm nails shouldn't be too problematic to get in with a hammer!
Cheers all. Think I'll go with the single nail per interface and see how it holds up. It's going to have 4 rails actually so should be pretty secure. Base , two intermediate ones and then a top rail for the capping.
I did half the garden last year with their panels and they've been fine, so I imagine it's all the same quality as they make it all.
The boards and posts have been in the shed since I bought them so they'll be dry when I put the fence up next weekend. Just need to get some nails and I'm off.
They're all pre stained/treated anyway, so I won't do anything additional as they're a great colour.
Will get about 600/650 nails and see how we go. Was contemplating a nail gun but I've got a habit of starting and then not finishing something so don't want additional hire charges. 50mm nails shouldn't be too problematic to get in with a hammer!
Cheers all. Think I'll go with the single nail per interface and see how it holds up. It's going to have 4 rails actually so should be pretty secure. Base , two intermediate ones and then a top rail for the capping.
ColinM50 said:
Well I'm at odds with most of you then, I screw the boards in using the Screwfix double thread no drill screws. Sort of gold in colour. Work perfectly and if you do get a split board, easy to replace at a later stage.
Or like mine now where I made the gates too short it's a doddle to unscrew them and refix longer boards.
Well I don't plan to make it too short, but I like the idea of it being easily fixable. No splitting with this screws? I'll be going about 1.5" from the top of the boards when I screw to the top rail which I gather is generally a bit split prone.Or like mine now where I made the gates too short it's a doddle to unscrew them and refix longer boards.
Will be using Cant rails rather than arris, I'm tempted to just face fix them to the posts, but equally i think I might go between them to keep the posts visible which will tie in better with the panels I have further down the garden.
You reckon 40mm nails are enough then? The boards are what, 25mm thick at the thickest point and there'll be a small gap under the board so that leaves 10mm into the Cant rail. Is that right?
You reckon 40mm nails are enough then? The boards are what, 25mm thick at the thickest point and there'll be a small gap under the board so that leaves 10mm into the Cant rail. Is that right?
Hmm, looked about an inch to me the last time I saw the timber... I suppose it's possible that it's half inch, but it certainly looked thicker than 12mm.
Posts are treated with whatever it all gets treated with. I'm not too fussed though as its being bolted to existing concrete posts so it won't be in the ground.
Posts are treated with whatever it all gets treated with. I'm not too fussed though as its being bolted to existing concrete posts so it won't be in the ground.
Bit of a slow start today, my colleague who was intending to give me a hand was off work sick yesterday and didn't fancy it, and my wife is due to have child number 2 in 2 weeks and didn't feel up to being a single parent for the day to our 3 year old so I did nothing until 2pm.
The fence is in 2.7-3.2m bays and I thought if I could at least do one bay it would be a head start on tomorrow efforts when a more reliable mate is coming to help!
So, 3.2m of feather board fencing done.
To be honest it's a bit half arsed bolting the new 6' posts to the existing ones but the 4' ones are 4" square, solid and bolted to concrete posts so I'm in no way inclined to replace the whole lot!
Only one length of capping on so far.
Boards are all nice and straight. I popped into my timber supplier the other day and they recommended nailing through both boards, so that's what I did, although admittedly I probably missed a few so it's probably a mixed bag!
Used 50mm galvanised nails. They went in fine, didn't once regret not screwing or using a nail gun. Tap tap, bang and they're in.
Hopefully get the rest done tomorrow, was a pain trying to level up and nail such long rails on my own but I got it done, should be much easier with 2 of us!
The fence is in 2.7-3.2m bays and I thought if I could at least do one bay it would be a head start on tomorrow efforts when a more reliable mate is coming to help!
So, 3.2m of feather board fencing done.
To be honest it's a bit half arsed bolting the new 6' posts to the existing ones but the 4' ones are 4" square, solid and bolted to concrete posts so I'm in no way inclined to replace the whole lot!
Only one length of capping on so far.
Boards are all nice and straight. I popped into my timber supplier the other day and they recommended nailing through both boards, so that's what I did, although admittedly I probably missed a few so it's probably a mixed bag!
Used 50mm galvanised nails. They went in fine, didn't once regret not screwing or using a nail gun. Tap tap, bang and they're in.
Hopefully get the rest done tomorrow, was a pain trying to level up and nail such long rails on my own but I got it done, should be much easier with 2 of us!
I'll be cutting a piece of board to infill the gap between the panel fence and the featheredge in photo 3. It was always going to be a bit of a mess linking a 3" fence system into one built around 4" posts, but it'll tidy up fine.
Biggest pain today was having to smash out the concrete that was laid 4" deep at the back of the existing fence because it fouled with my gravel board.
Biggest pain today was having to smash out the concrete that was laid 4" deep at the back of the existing fence because it fouled with my gravel board.
Stainless steel screws sound expensive!
I've never seen a fence built by a pro done with screws, normally nail guns, though I imagine they take about the same time to use. Neighbour was surprised I was using nails too.
All about the nails now, 50mm galv ones, didn't split a single board, and only hit my thumb once
I toyed with the idea of screws, but every guide I read mentioned nails.
I've never seen a fence built by a pro done with screws, normally nail guns, though I imagine they take about the same time to use. Neighbour was surprised I was using nails too.
All about the nails now, 50mm galv ones, didn't split a single board, and only hit my thumb once
I toyed with the idea of screws, but every guide I read mentioned nails.
The bay I did yesterday was 3.2m, the 3 I did today we're all 2.7m which is pretty standard I believe.
It's 4 rail as that's what the guy at the timber place recommended for 2.7m bays, 3 rails for 1.8m bays with the top rail to nail the capping to.
I'm in Somerset so I've no northern influence, it's just a choice between Arris rails and Cant rails, I used Cant rails as I'd never guarantee that the mortise joints were the right level and I'd need 4" posts (wouldn't want to take an inch slot out of a 3" post!)
Anyway, it's all done now, bar the 6 boards I need to get because I've done a little more than I planned to do when I bought all the timber. Photos in a bit.
I've no doubt that the nails will be fine, the fence I took down was about 30 years old and the nails in it were fine, plus it's a piece of piss to level old boards off if they're nailed, some of the screws that were in there Just need cutting through which was a pain.
It's 4 rail as that's what the guy at the timber place recommended for 2.7m bays, 3 rails for 1.8m bays with the top rail to nail the capping to.
I'm in Somerset so I've no northern influence, it's just a choice between Arris rails and Cant rails, I used Cant rails as I'd never guarantee that the mortise joints were the right level and I'd need 4" posts (wouldn't want to take an inch slot out of a 3" post!)
Anyway, it's all done now, bar the 6 boards I need to get because I've done a little more than I planned to do when I bought all the timber. Photos in a bit.
I've no doubt that the nails will be fine, the fence I took down was about 30 years old and the nails in it were fine, plus it's a piece of piss to level old boards off if they're nailed, some of the screws that were in there Just need cutting through which was a pain.
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