fperkins.com

The house we moved into recently had excessive rot on the picket fence. After doing some probing with a ice pick, it seemed as though most of the damage was on the top portion of the picket or above the top cross member.

The cause of the damage appeared to be that the point of the pickets were not sealed properly and this allowed water to penetrate. I concluded that if I could seal the existing pickets, which weren’t rotted, and fix the new ones with cedar, I could save myself about 3000 dollars in replacing the entire fence.

Due to the fact I had so many pickets to replace, I felt it would be cost effective to spend the extra time to only replace the section of the picket that was rotted rather than the entire picket itself. I found some 2×2x4 cedar stock for 1.50 a linear foot at my local lumber yard [not Home Depot]. To replace all the rotted pickets, it would cost about 1000 dollars. If I salvaged the bottom section, which was free of rot, it would only cost 225 dollars and some extra labor.

Rotten Picket Removal
I used a sawzall to cut out the rotted section of the picket. I found that a 10inch wood cutting blade that was also rated to cut nails worked best. To remove the rotten section of the picket, first make a flush cut underneath the top cross member. Keep the blade flush against the bottom of the crossmember so that when you put the new picket in, the cut will be invisible at eye level.

Next cut along the top of the cross member. This cut doesn’t need to be that flush since you’re removing the top section. Just don’t cut into the actual cross member.

For the last two cuts, hold the sawzal vertically and cut between the cross member and section of picket remaining inbetween the crossmember. Once the nails are cut from each side, you should be able to lift the remainder of the picket out. Also push the bottom half the picket toward the opposite side your are cutting. If you don’t, then the tip of the recipricating blade will shred the picket. You can see this illustrated in the photo below.

Picket Fabrication
First thing you’ll need to do is make sure you have safety glasses on. As you cut the pickets little triangles will shoot at you as you cut, so unless you don’t cherish your vision out of both eyes, wear em. Hey, Norm would say the same thing.

Ok, now you need to build a stop or jig. Set your miter saw to 45 degrees. Put a piece of scrap and make a cut. Hold firm the piece you just cut and butt another piece of scrap up against. Mark where the right side of the fence stops and cut that piece to length. Nail another piece of scrap to the end and now you have your stop.

Now to make the picket, hold the stop against the right side of the miter fence, then slide your stock towards your stop. Holding the left side stock firmly, remove your stop and make your first cut. It’s important you remove the stop first otherwise you’ll cut through both.

Then turn your stock over, put your stop back and put your stock to the right until it touches your stop. Repeat and do this 3 times until you have a picket!

If you have a lot of the same size pickets to make, then you can alternatively put a stop on the left side of your miter fence. You just have to make sure all your lengths are the same otherwise your pickets might look “flat” up top.

After I cut the pickets, I clamped my random orbital sander against my work table and used it as a poor man’s belt sander. I then sanded all four sides of the picket and knocked off any burrs.

To secure the newly fabricated picket to the bottom of the existing picket, you’ll need to drill a 1/2 inch hole into the new picket and the existing picket left on the fence. I recommend using a high quality titanium drill bit. I tried using a spade bit and I was killing my arm. Switching to the titanium bit made it cut like butter. I also created a little jig to cut a hole in the center.

To make the jig, simple cut off a 1 to 2 inch section of stock. Then using your favorite way [I used a compass], find the center and drill a pilot hole through the middle. Check your hole to make sure it’s in the center and if it’s good, use the 1/2 drill bit to fit to the right size. Then taking a few pieces of thin scrap, screw then to the side and now you have a nice little guide.

When cutting the pickets, I clamped my drill horizontally to the table and pushed the stock and the template into the drill. You may have a better method or even a drill press! Drilling the corresponding hole on the fence, you can place your jig on top of the picket, drill and then proceed to the next one. It helps to put a piece of tape on the drill bit so you know how deep to drill.

Finally, using an 1/2 dowell, make some 1 1/2 inch dowells to be used to join the pickets together.

Assembly
Finally, all the pickets are ready to be assembled. This is actually about 1/2 of them

I used liquid nails which seemed to do a good job and allowed for a good seal between the old and the new picket.

Use a rubber mallet to help mate the two pieces together. After everything looks aligned, put two nails in each side and you’re done!

It was a lot of work, but I’m hoping that I was able to salvage the existing fence. To replace the entire fence, would have been a LOT of money, so I hope in the long run it was worth it. Time will tell. We’ll now onto the final step to make it all worth while.. a nice durable coat of paint to prevent further rotting!