How to make a picket fence ^Favorite

For the stockade, cylindrical logs with the same diameter up to 15 centimeters will be required. The height is determined by expediency, but it is clear that a meter-long fence of stakes is not done, and you can run it. Usually they are built in height of human growth or even higher. Small internal fences are best made from picket fence or in the form of wattle.

To fence did not swing from the strong wind and the logs were firmly held, they were buried deep in the ground. You can do without a strong deepening, if the logs are fixed with a transverse beam above the ground, fixing it on the supporting columns of the structure.

It is a misconception that any logs are suitable for the picket fence, if you choose low-quality material, the picket fence will not stand idle for two years and you will have to change individual parts, or entire sections, since the logs stand tight to each other. If you choose high-quality material and inspect each log, the fence can last twenty years or more.
The logs for the stockade are ground from above, like a pencil, with an ordinary hatchet.

So that the buried part of the fence does not deteriorate, and this happens very quickly, it needs to be prepared. Our ancestors used the usual method of charring the bottom of the logs, not only the one that will be in the ground, but 30 centimeters higher. As a result of carbonization, a crust should form, which will protect the logs better than any antiseptic from parasites and decomposition processes.

But in order to properly burn wood, you need experience, you can overdo it, or vice versa, have a shallow char, therefore, if you are not an ardent supporter of ancient methods, you can simply treat the necessary part of the surface by immersion in hot bitumen.
A half-meter long trench is dug under the palisade, a “pillow” is made in it of crushed stone or sand 20 centimeters thick. The stakes are set without gaps, fitting tightly to each other, then they are covered with earth and well tamped, previously watering. For reliability along the fence, crossbars are fixed in parallel. Lower to a height of 20 - 25 centimeters from the surface of the soil. The top rung is the same distance from the tops down.

When the picket fence is installed, it is not bad to cover it with transparent varnish, stain or primer. By experimenting with the concentration of stain, you can give the fence a dark brown or honey color, then it will look more attractive.