noelle o designs

creativity + sewing + upcycling inspiration

design, garden, projects

corrugated metal fence update part 2

corrugated metal fenceThe backyard progress, part 3– the back 3 sides of my corrugated metal fence are now finally finished.

backyard shipping containerThe shipping container is also in place but yet to be cut into to add doors and windows.

corrugated metal fenceThe fence was build with wooden posts, 8 ft. apart, set directly into concrete. Wooden rails are held between the posts, with metal building brackets.

corrugated metal fenceThe metal we used is non-galvanized corrugated metal. Non-galvanized  meaning it will rust and with a thickness of 26 gauge. It’s actually more expensive than galvanized (won’t rust) corrugated metal which is 22 gauge, thinner, and flimsier. The galvanized seemed very shiny, reflective and contrived, if that makes sense. I was told you can remove the galvanized layer with music acid, and allow it to rust, but due to the thin-ness of the material, it will rust all the way through in about 10 years. We decided it was worth the extra expense to go with the non galvanized metal and get the rusty, organic look.

metal fence, wood postsI like the look of the wood with the metal so I built the fence with the rails on the inside. We just stained the wood and it looks even nicer. I think it will look even better as the fence starts to rust.

metal fence, wood postsThese corrugated panels have been up for about 3 months and have just barely begun to rust. I did spray the entire fence with the hose, about a week ago, with the hope of speeding up the rusting process, but honestly I’m enjoying the way it looks now.

corrugated fenceJust the beginnings of rust starting to show, after a few rain storms and a spraying with the hose.

tiny door in metal fenceOn the back corner of the fence, where the kid traffic is the heaviest, we have left a tiny door panel. I have a door (piece of corrugated) made for it but haven’t gotten it put up yet. It will be hinged into the post and on a spring so it stays closed when not in use.  Also, you can see the overlapping of the panels. Each 8 ft. section took 3 pieces of corrugated, instead of cutting them to width, I just let the panels overlap each other and screwed them into the rails, with a pilot hole, and 1 5/8″ sheet metal screws.

tin ceiling tile metal fenceOn the south side of the house, the space was fairly narrow, I put in raised beds but the beds were going to be too close to the fence to get enough sunlight to grow vegetables. After puzzling it over for months, I decided to put up clear corrugated plastic panels to let enough light through to keep my vegetables growing. These improved plastic panels shouldn’t get brittle and weird yellow like the plastic you remember on your grandma’s greenhouse.

raised garden bedsThe view from the front yard, looking through the gate and into the garden area.

tin ceiling tile fence, backThe backside of the fancy fence panel, the tin is quite rusty after 8 months of exposure.

clear garden, metal fenceThe view from the sidewalk, across the empty neighboring lot.

corrugated metal fenceHere is what the fence looks like from the outside, only the posts are visible from this view. You can see the retaining wall that we put in to maximize space and flatten out the backyard.

garden backyard areaThe garden beds from the inside of the fence, as you can see there’s a lot more light with the clear panels than there would be with metal in place. Also, you can see the backside weathering of the tin and corrugated panels from the fancy  front-of-the-house part of the fence. Pause and take a nostalgic glimpse at our art covered garden fence at our previous house.

clear garden fenceThe tin ceiling tiles rusted a lot faster than the corrugated, I’m loving the backside non-painted look.

fancy metal fence, backThe corrugated is rusting much slower, taking it’s time in the weathering process, but it’s a nice contrast.

fancy metal fenceHere’s the front ‘fancier’ part of the fence, after surviving the snowy, windy winter. I’m sad (and ashamed) to say that my gates didn’t fare as well. They were taken out, ripped off in 2 different wind storms. I don’t even have a picture of the broken pieces because I was too sad and mad to photograph the wreckage. Mean Old Mother Nature. So, now I re-engineer better, stronger gates and I’ll pray every time the wind blows that they will survive, and that I won’t ever have to rebuild them, ever again.

rusting corrugated metalThis (above) shows about 8 months of natural (no spraying with the hose) weathering. The tin isn’t weathering at all where it’s been painted.

tin ceiling tile fenceThe tin ceiling tiles are very susceptible to weather, anywhere the raw material is exposed, it rusts very quickly.

To view part 1 in 2013  look here.

To view part 3 in 2015 look here.

To view part 4 in 2018 look here.

3 Comments

  1. corrugated metal fences | noelle o designs

    March 24, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    […] To view the next phase of construction look here. […]

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