The fence around our backyard was old and the paint flaking off. It wasn’t worth repainting, mostly because it just needed replacement!
I was in a little bit of a rush because our grapevines were starting to wake up. I wanted to give the grapes something firm to weave through and around. The established grapevines weren’t easy to work around, but it’s worth it.
I had ordered a bunch of steel the week prior. I cut some lengths of 4″ square tubing as the posts, and welded on some angle iron so I’d have something for the wood slats to attach to. I pre-drilled all of my holes, but the final welding had to be done in-place, as you can imagine.
First I painted it with some red primer. I wanted the paint to last, so I actually followed the manufacturer’s instructions!
I followed up with the semi-gloss black alkyd-enamel paint. It’s a strong paint that should last for a long time. I gave it two coats to smooth over any red streaking through, or brush marks. Then I bolted it down to the cinder block wall.
I was then ready to start adding the wood slats. I alternated them back and forth across the angle iron. I rather like the result and it gives some easy places for the grape vines to weave through. I used square head bolts and nuts that I blackened with soot and beeswax. It would be a mistake to use big box hardware on a custom fence like this.
The end result is a gorgeous custom fence that should last for decades.
Of course, when the grape vines come back, the fence disappears in a lush wall of green. It’s hard to complain about that though…