Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 1 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 1 of 8

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge?

Just another day at the office, right?  When I first heard of this project I immediately perked up since it drew my attention very strongly.  Why you might ask?  Because this is where I totally outshine my so called competitors.  For most of them it’s just too complicated, beyond their expertise, going to take too long to “blow and go” (gardner-speak).  Recognizing this I knew this little project was mine.

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 2 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 2 of 8

If you look closely you can see that little rope from the post and top rail of the fence going off, out-of-frame to the right.  It’s tied to the front porch roof support post.  Yes that’s all there is holding up that difficult problem wood fence from flopping down the cliff.  What a challenge, the cliff edge.  The owner says it get extremely windy right there when the famous Santa Ana winds blow through.  He says it blasts through there very badly like a wind funnel at that point; oh, increasing the challenge difficulty as we go?  How nice.  Apparently that’s why the old fence vertical planks have spacing in between them, to reduce the wind resistance of the fence.  Simply genius right?  Just like the now-rusting staples that are visible that they used to attach the fence planks.  Blow and go.

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 3 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 3 of 8

Nice customer, young couple with a small child.  They told me they don’t want their offspring tumbling down the cliff into traffic.  I had to help these people.  First I pointed out to them that the cliff edge of both sides of the danger area was still robust and intact (not eroded up to their driveway) for a reason.  I told them to see the healthy plant life that was on both sides, with the root systems thereof holding the ground in its place despite the heavy LA rains we get during our unpredictable rainy season.  One side was a very thick Juniper hedge, the other side was a 30 foot tall pine tree.  I told them they need plants there to hold the ground in place.  We made them a quick and very impromptu little plant terrace right below the driveway there.  The owner followed with a few native plants with healthy root systems.  This will slow the erosion and maybe eventually halt it if and when the plants have grown enough.

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 4 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 4 of 8

Fortunately the concrete driveway slab was thick and strong enough to attach to.  The last three posts (out of view) are near the Pine tree where there’s enough beef left of the cliff edge to dig holes and use fresh concrete, which we did.  I just had to devise and design the appropriate custom heavy duty steel bracket for each post, and tap (drill and bolt) that slab perfectly, enough times for each bracket, for the strength that I was looking for.  That stress had to be distributed enough as well.  Ideally the customer wanted a horizontal wood fence to match the one he built that separates his yard from his next door neighbor’s.  Ideally he wanted zero spacing in between the planks for privacy, but the wind!  We was willing to have spaces because of the wind.  But I knew and planned on exceeding his expectations by building him the ideal horizontal wood fence that he wanted.  At this point he was already happy telling me “I’m so glad I hired you!…”, that others before me did not have the solution he recognized as ideal, if any at all.  Those brackets just had to be right.

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 5 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 5 of 8

I have never done custom, heavy duty steel brackets just like this before.  But I knew I could and would pull it off.  The first two brackets weren’t good enough for me.  They were okay, they would have been fine, but the leverage of the wind via the 6 foot tall fence upon the posts, amplified and focused down upon the brackets was a factor I understood as I tested the first two brackets, with posts attached.  The owner also understood since his profession involves mechanics as well.  So we made a new and beefed-up version of the first two custom, heavy duty steel brackets.  The second, beefed up version was better, but still not good enough for me.  Then I realized exactly what more beefing up, reinforcement, would do the trick!  There was a specific rigidity that I was looking for, too much flex would eventually become a problem, even if it was a decade away-UNACCEPTABLE.  Fine for a house-flipper, or if he was just looking to sell and move real quick, but not for me and not for him.  The third version was it.  Eight pounds of 2# rolls of flux core welding wire later and the brackets were done, nice and strong with the right rigidity.  I was happy with them, so was he.  Finally we can set the last three posts in concrete and get to building with the wood!

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 7 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 7 of 8

Photo 6 of 8 of the custom, heavy duty steel brackets is too close of a detail-revealing free ride education photo for any of my so called competitors that both lurk or stumble upon this article.  Years of experience yields better quality end products for my customers, and the fruits of my labors.  Not giving that away so freely in THIS economy.  Go ahead, hire your document-challenged gardener for your new wood fence-those thrifty customers continually contact me for wood fence repairs.  You get what you pay for.  In today’s economy, here in LA, you can pay for quality or you can thriftily cheap-out and look forward to the garbage that your new wood fence will prematurely become.  It’s the truth.

Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 8 of 8
Difficult Problem Wood Fence Challenge on Cliff Edge 8 of 8

I also had to design and craft a new, hybrid frame (that you cannot see) specifically for this application.  The given is that the wind will push and pound against this new wood fence, trying it over and over.  This had to be light and strong.  And it is.  Very happy and pleased about the quality of this new wood fence here in Los Angeles.  This was a problem for this customer until I came along.  Now it is a strong and positive part of his property.  “I brag about it all the time” he told me recently.  My name is Stefan, 310-717-2000 is my cell number.  Call, text or email me for a quote on your new wood fence project.

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