Best wood for split rail fencing in the Sequim area? (Seattle: power lines, renters)

[Jumpindogs]

Looking for input on the best wood for split rail fencing in the Sequim area. Our goal is a fence that will last at minimum 30 years with little to no maintenance. My research has shown black locust to be the longest lasting wood for split rail fencing but I am wondering if that is even available in the PNW...it seems to be an east coast wood. We have a 17 year old cedar split rail fence here in Southeast Wisconsin and have had to replace more posts and rails than I care to count over the past 5 years. We did not set the posts in concrete...maybe we should have?

I know there are some timber experts out there. :-)

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by Jumpindogs

Looking for input on the best wood for split rail fencing in the Sequim area. Our goal is a fence that will last at minimum 30 years with little to no maintenance. My research has shown black locust to be the longest lasting wood for split rail fencing but I am wondering if that is even available in the PNW...it seems to be an east coast wood. We have a 17 year old cedar split rail fence here in Southeast Wisconsin and have had to replace more posts and rails than I care to count over the past 5 years. We did not set the posts in concrete...maybe we should have?

There are a few split rail fences here and there in our area but they don't seem to be as popular as they are in the eastern parts of the country. To the best of my ability to recall, all of the rail fences I've occasionally noticed in the Sequim vicinity have been made of western red cedar. Probably because there's so much cedar around here.

I think the simplest thing to do would be to Google fence companies in/around Sequim and give a few of them a call to gather their input on wood options and longevity.

BTW, I'd definitely set your posts in cement. We occasionally get impressive winter storms with associated high winds that are powerful enough to blow down large trees (which then seem to take out the adjacent power lines as said trees are falling leaving our power off for X number of hours...). So it makes sense to anchor fence posts in cement to minimize having sections of fence blown down during these storms. Perhaps the "open" design of a split rail fence would let wind pass through it better and would be less susceptible to wind damage though?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

There are a few split rail fences here and there in our area but they don't seem to be as popular as they are in the eastern parts of the country. To the best of my ability to recall, all of the rail fences I've occasionally noticed in the Sequim vicinity have been made of western red cedar. Probably because there's so much cedar around here.

Cedar is used because it is the slowest to rot and last to get attacked by pests.

The answer to the question in our climate is cedar.

[StealthRabbit]

Definitely do NOT set your posts in Concrete.

Drainage is VITAL. (Especially UNDER the post)
Crushed and tamped rock is often used on fence posts and pole buildings in wet climates

Yes, Cedar will be your only choice.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

There are a few split rail fences here and there in our area but they don't seem to be as popular as they are in the eastern parts of the country. To the best of my ability to recall, all of the rail fences I've occasionally noticed in the Sequim vicinity have been made of western red cedar. Probably because there's so much cedar around here.

I think the simplest thing to do would be to Google fence companies in/around Sequim and give a few of them a call to gather their input on wood options and longevity.

BTW, I'd definitely set your posts in cement. We occasionally get impressive winter storms with associated high winds that are powerful enough to blow down large trees (which then seem to take out the adjacent power lines as said trees are falling leaving our power off for X number of hours...). So it makes sense to anchor fence posts in cement to minimize having sections of fence blown down during these storms. Perhaps the "open" design of a split rail fence would let wind pass through it better and would be less susceptible to wind damage though?

Thanks for the advice. I have contacted a few fencing companies but I always like to have some unbiased input.

We have tornadic and straight line winds here in WI and our split rail fence has never budged except for when the neighbor's spruce fell on top of it during those straight line winds. Oh yeah...and when the reputed extremely rot resistant cedar posts rotted. Which is what I am trying to avoid.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by Andy

Cedar is used because it is the slowest to rot and last to get attacked by pests.

The answer to the question in our climate is cedar.

Slower than black locust? Everything I've read puts BL way above cedar on the rot scale.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Definitely do NOT set your posts in Concrete.

Drainage is VITAL. (Especially UNDER the post)
Crushed and tamped rock is often used on fence posts and pole buildings in wet climates

Yes, Cedar will be your only choice.

Thanks StealthRabbit. I've read that too. Concrete retains moisture...bad for the wood. I had not thought of under the post so a big thank you for that advice. Do the posts generally remain level with crushed/tamped rock? The reason I asked specifically about Sequim is because I am not sure that area qualifies as a wet climate.

I've also read about treating the end of the post which I am loathe to do since I hate chemicals. But one website suggested waxing the end: http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3052.pdf And I just found this: http://www.valhalco.com/index.php

Guess we'll have to do cedar and try to be smart about it.

[Hemlock140]

We used cedar split rail at my parents to replace the old one that had been there for over 30 years. We used 3/4 gravel in the holes, and they do not settle. The soil is rocky. We used an 8" auger on the back of the tractor to dig the holes. They are in the Blue Mountain area, and get maybe 9-10" of rain annually. Less than a quarter of Seattle rainfall.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

We used cedar split rail at my parents to replace the old one that had been there for over 30 years. We used 3/4 gravel in the holes, and they do not settle. The soil is rocky. We used an 8" auger on the back of the tractor to dig the holes. They are in the Blue Mountain area, and get maybe 9-10" of rain annually. Less than a quarter of Seattle rainfall.

Over 30 years sounds good. Wish our cedar fence lasted that long! Were the original posts set in gravel also? I've read that today's cedar is not of the same quality as years ago. Like maybe trees are being harvested too young or not being aged/dried enough before use? Any idea if that's the case?

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Definitely do NOT set your posts in Concrete.

Drainage is VITAL. (Especially UNDER the post)
Crushed and tamped rock is often used on fence posts and pole buildings in wet climates

I've been traveling so I'm a little late to jump back in to the thread here but I kindly disagree with not using cement.

We've built dozens of fences in western WA over the past decades (we own multiple properties) and I've had few, if any, problems using cement. No settling, fewer blow downs, less sagging when the children of our tenants climb & swing on the fences etc. It is more work to dig out cement set than rock set posts however if they need to be replaced (usually due to being snapped off from being backed in to by the renters car or some such thing...)

Having said that, I do agree with you StealthRabbit that drainage can be an issue in wet areas under posts and I also agree that if posts set in cement are going to rot, that they will tend to rot at the end or base of the post if that moisture cannot escape.

This being the case we set our fencing as such: we use high quality pressure-treated posts that are installed on top of a gravel base at the bottom of the post hole. We then pour concrete all the way up to ground level at the edges of the hole. We finish with a sloping taper on the top concrete surface with the high point being above ground level where it meets the post. This way surface water will run off and away from the posts where they enter the concrete. If poured concrete is left at or below ground level it can encourage rot at that point (although this problem is lessened by using PT posts).

To Jumpindogs: this is simply the way that we like to set our fence posts and we've had good luck with it in this area. My oldest fence here (set in cement! ) is "only" 24 years old, so I haven't hit the 3 decade mark yet that Hemlock's parents have. Anyway this is just my personal fence preference and however you decide to build your particular fence, I'm sure you'll do fine with it.