corrugated metal fence update part 4
Hello everyone, here’s a corrugated metal fence update, built in 2013. It’s aging and holding up well into 2018. The front of the fence includes tin ceiling tiles (purchased new and painted) and corrugated steel cut to fit into the fence in squares. Corrugated metal makes up the other three sides. The entire fence has redwood posts and rails.
The aging process is fun to watch, water in the form of rain, snow and sprinklers has brought out the rust in pleasing ways.
A skate ramp was added, just inside the gate, covering up one of the gate doors.
In any spot where paint chipped off the ceiling tiles, the rusting process began immediately (see above picture). I like the rusty, aged look.
Tin ceiling tiles began to rust immediately, the corrugated steel has taken much longer. It’s barely rusted at all in areas where very little water hits the fence.
The wood has been stained 3 times over the years, at the rate of about every other year. If you looks closely, you can see where the metal close to the wood is less rusty and has been protected by the stain applied hurriedly by indentured, distracted, yet hard working teens.
I’ve planned to make a tiny door for this opening within the big gate. It’s been low priority since we don’t have an animals that need to be contained, and as you can see- it’s still yet to be built.
After the gates were trashed in a wind storm (high winds happen frequently) I added the metal strapping to the backside of the gates. Best idea ever. The strapping saved the day, the gates are holding up great now. The only weathering or warping is happening with the wooden elements. We don’t open the gates very often (2-3 times a summer) which probably helps keep them strong. When the gates are open, for as short a time as possible, we prop them up on blocks to support them on the sloping driveway.
A shipping container in the side yard for storage, hanging out or both. It goes well with the metal fence surrounding it. The aesthetic and the extra space is nice.
A wooden pergola sits in the other corner of the yard. Originally, a beautiful mountain view was available in this corner but a neighboring house went in and blocked the view. The new house also blocks the strong winds that come from that direction. And the neighbors are great, so we’ll take the trade off.
The metal has been exposed to the elements for 5 years yet very little rust shows in the areas not directly hit by the sprinklers, like this pergola corner.
The gravel path leads to the garden area on the south side of the house.
On the south side of the house are the raised beds garden spot. Corrugated plastic panels on two sections help let more light in.
As you can see, the non-painted sides of the tiles are very rusted. It will eventually rust through, much quicker (maybe 10 years) than the corrugated metal (maybe 100 years). The galvanized metal hardware is still looking good.
I felt skeptical about this corrugated plastic. Nightmares of the plastic turning yellow and breaking swirled in my memories. But as much sunlight as possible in the garden area is essential. This area of the yard is invisible to both our neighbors and ourselves, no one spends time or is worried about this side. As a result, we went with the clear, corrugated plastic. As you can see, no yellow, no breaks and the garden grows well- I would do it again!
The tin ceiling tiles have an extra flange on all sides, this worked out well, I bent them in on all sides and screwed right through the flange into the wood to hold the tiles in place. Tin tiles are easy to cut and bend for fitting in smaller areas.
The view from the front of the house, on the garden side, the only real wear is with the wood elements. Even with the treated redwood I hand-selected, the wood still warped and twisted, that’s the nature of wood. As a result, we wedged a 2 x 4 above the gate to keep the post on the right to keep from bending in, the wedged piece of wood has never fallen out.
To view the building of the fence in 2013- Part 1.
To view the 2014 fence update- Part 2.
To view the 2015 fence update- Part 3.
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