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The construction of a fence is an indispensable part of the improvement of a summer house or a country house. Using wood to build a fence is a way to create a beautiful and sustainable structure. And if you make a fence from a slab with your own hands, you will also save a lot. After all, the cost of such material is much lower than that of the board, and the appearance is even more interesting.

Material Features

A slab is called an extreme board when sawing a log longitudinally, which is convex on one side. This is low quality lumber, with bark, the cheaper it is, the more knots it has. One side is smooth and the other half round. Most often, the slab is taken for kindling, but with a skillful approach, it will turn into an original part.

It is better to remove the bark so as not to provoke rotting. However, if you do not remove it, you can make a fence stylized as an ancient town. If it is decided to process the surface, you will need a hatchet and a grinder. In extreme cases, use a regular shovel. But the grinder gives a better result. Processing can be done at the sawmill. But doing it yourself will save you money.

The final stage of preparation for construction work will be the treatment with special equipment that will protect the wood from the effects of the atmosphere and insects. It is advisable to tint the blanks, this will significantly improve their external qualities. These works are performed after drying the slab, from which the bark is removed.

Preparatory stage

At the preparatory stage, not only the slab itself is prepared. It is necessary to take care of other components, without which it is impossible to build a fence.

1. Support poles (square or round tubes).
2. Crossbars (metal logs).
3. Rope.
4. Self-tapping screws or nails.
5. Shovel.
6. Materials for concreting supports.

Features of mounting a fence from a slab

First, holes are dug for the installation of support pillars with a depth of 1-1.5 m (the depth of soil freezing). It is better if they are made of metal supports. The standard distance between supports is 2.5 meters. For strength, the pillars are not just buried, but strengthened with a concrete solution. A rope or thread is pulled between the fixed supports to determine where the fence itself will be. This technique eliminates irregularities.

How exactly to make a fence from a slab depends on the owner. Boards can be mounted vertically or horizontally, overlapping or with gaps. Only if it is decided to overlap, it should be remembered that the boards should overlap one another by at least 2 cm, because the material dries out over time by about 1.5 cm. In general, fantasy is not limited here. The presented photos and videos will help you choose the best option.

Sometimes this material is combined with others. For example, a wooden slab fence is installed on a stone foundation, fastened between brick support pillars. Other variations can also be used.

In order for a fence for giving from a slab to please for more than a dozen years, the following recommendations must be observed:

1. It is better not to use too wide boards, over time they will crack, this will spoil the appearance, reduce the strength of the structure.
2. It is necessary to deepen the support pillars to the depth of freezing of the soil.
3. The gable roof over the fence will enhance the country flavor, give the building an old look. In addition, it is a good technique for protection from excess moisture.

A fence made from an ordinary slab will become a kind of face of the house. After all, such material is not so often used for barriers. Its appearance is no worse than that of other materials, and the cost is much lower.

Do-it-yourself slab fence construction video

1. Affordable lumber
2. decoration
3. Staged processing
4. Deciding on supports
5. Pole installation
6. Mounting

You can equip the house and the area around it so that it is cozy, beautiful and at the same time inexpensive. Fences made of cheap material, thanks to the hands of the master, will turn the most dull courtyard into a pretty and stylish corner.

Affordable lumber

Slab is waste. It can be easily found at any woodworking enterprise, where such trimmings are sold at a symbolic price. In the carpentry industry, such material is usually divided into two categories:

• business;
• wood burning.

The business slab includes trimmings from the side edges of the log and under-slab segments. According to the standards, these board samples should be at least one and a half centimeters thick with a width of 8 cm or more in terms of the thickness of the thinnest edge. This category includes waste from coniferous and hardwoods, which contain no more than 6 large wormholes per linear meter. There may be through cracks at the ends, not exceeding a third of the web in length. The strength parameters make it possible to make formwork structures when pouring foundations. If you are planning to build a fence from cheap material, choose trimmings from this category. The photo below shows an approximate diagram of a fence made of wooden boards, which can be applied in our case.

Wood-burning slab is not suitable for the construction of capital fences. It is used to patch holes in wooden outbuildings. Sometimes used for beds in the summer. In most cases, wood-burning boards are used to heat stoves, for which they got their name. The cost of low-grade wood for household needs is formed at the contractual level.

decoration

A business slab can be made outwardly attractive. This can be done in several ways. Labor costs and financial investments will be minimal. Do-it-yourself preparation of scraps for a slab fence.

Immediately after the purchase of the material, it is sorted. To do this, each board is examined in order to detect rot. If a significant area contains such damage, the defective wane is sent to the furnace - it is no longer suitable for anything. Having selected high-quality specimens, they are sorted by length, and then determined by the height of the fence. To build a high-quality hedge, a slab suitable for decoration is selected.

Processing options:

• rough sanding;
• fine grinding;
• impregnation with an antiseptic;
• tinting with special means;
• application of coatings.

The result depends on the correct processing.

Staged processing

To begin with, the croaker is freed from the bark. This can be done with a scraper, an ax or a well-sharpened bayonet shovel. It does not matter which tool you prefer to work with, the main thing is that you feel comfortable. By the way, "business" slabs not only enclose household plots or the adjacent territory. With its help, the construction of gazebos, decorative canopies and playgrounds is carried out. For such purposes, it is recommended to grind the boards with emery. Then they can be covered with a tint of the desired shade. Here stain, drying oil and even strongly diluted potassium permanganate are suitable. There are popular factory-made multi-component products on sale that simultaneously perform decorative and protective functions. They will protect the original natural material from decay and fire, as well as protect the slab from damage by harmful insects.

Deciding on supports

The elements holding the sections of the slab fence can be made not only from wood. Many owners experiment by installing pillars made of brickwork, metal and asbestos pipes of suitable diameter, into the cavity of which concrete mortar is poured for greater strength. When choosing columns, make sure that the design is in harmony with the rest of the buildings. If you prefer wooden supports, then a bar with a section of 10x10 cm is suitable for such purposes. First, you need to impregnate the prepared elements with an antiseptic, because they will have to be buried in the ground, where decay processes occur much faster.

Pole installation

After the material for the posts is selected and processed, you can begin to build a fence. Installation of supports is carried out in stages and begins with markings. To work, you will need a tape measure, pegs and a strong rope.

special attention - marking the corners. It is customary to control the correctness of the layout using the old-fashioned method using three boards, the sides of which will be in the ratio 3:4:5.

Now you can determine the places for installing pillars in the ground, and here you must adhere to important rules. Supports for a wooden fence from a business slab are mounted from each other at a distance directly dependent on the height of the fence (the higher it is, the smaller the spans should be) and within 2-3 meters.

Installation of supports for fencing from slab is carried out to a depth of about 50 cm, below the freezing point by 30 cm. Such calculations will help to avoid loosening of the fence at the time of seasonal ground fluctuations. The bottom of the pit must be compacted and covered with gully sand, a layer of 10–15 cm. A simple drainage system will be obtained. When everything is ready for the installation of supports for the slab, they need to be dug into the ground strictly vertically. It is recommended to fill the pit by a third with gravel and compact it with high quality. If you install a wooden fence on sandy soil, be sure to water the recesses several times with water and tamp with a beam, ensuring the shrinkage of loose rock.

Mounting

How to make a fence not only durable, but also beautiful? After the supports and veins, it's time to start installing the crossbars, which are mounted horizontally and fixed to the vertical posts at the top and bottom. A slab board is nailed to the veins. Like wood poles, horizontal bars need to be treated with antiseptics. If you plan to tint the elements of the fence, do not forget about the crossbars.

Each plank of the slab is nailed to the upper and lower horizontal support with galvanized nails or screwed with self-tapping screws intended for outdoor work. Before nailing the boards from the slab to the frame of the future fence, decide on the direction of their laying (horizontally or vertically) and the principle of placement (with or without gaps).

The gaps in the fence somewhat reduce the strength of the wind, but reduce the resistance to its gusts. If you want to hide from prying eyes, then your choice is a solid structure, but the most beautiful fence is obtained with gaps between the planks, although this is a matter of taste.

When performing vertical sheathing of the fence, it is better to cut the boards lengthwise into two parts. After that, one of the halves must be attached to the horizontal jumpers with the convex side inward, and the next, on the contrary, outward. With a horizontal installation of the slab, bars with a section of 5x3 cm are fixed to the vertical posts on both sides, which will serve as overlays, and the boards themselves are nailed to them with their ends. By following simple rules, you will make a fence with your own hands that will last for many years.

The most budgetary and practical option for a wooden fence is a slab fence. It is easy to make it with your own hands, and the material is easy to purchase at any sawmill for nothing or for little money. The fence turns out to be reliable and durable, and if you try, it will also be beautiful and unusual. What is this material, and how to build a beautiful structure from it?

What is a croaker?

In fact, the slab is a waste of wood production. It is a board sawn from one side, its second side retains its original appearance and texture of a raw log. Previously, it was used only as firewood and for finishing temporary or draft objects. But over time, gardeners learned to build strong and original fences from the material. Its cost depends on the type of wood, type of processing and size.

The advantages of a fence made of this material in the country

1. Availability and low price
2. Easy to install
3. Durability and reliability
4. Aesthetic appearance
5. Weather resistance
6. Identity and originality
7. naturalness
8. Versatility

The croaker also has disadvantages. Firstly, the process of processing raw materials is complicated - each die must be polished and processed. This will take a lot of time. Secondly, any wood material has low fire resistance.

There are two types of croaker - wood and business. The first type is not suitable for a fence device, since its surface is uneven and most often it is a split of unstable tree species. Sheds are sheathed with business slabs, used for the construction of formwork and outbuildings, fences and partitions. It, in turn, is divided into thick and thin. The slab formed into packs is more expensive than the piled slab, since it contains less waste. The best is the calibrated type of material, or block house. It is ten times more expensive than an ordinary business slab. But it will also have to be processed and cleaned.

The unrooted slab seduces with its texture, but over time the bark will peel off, and a bark beetle can start in it. The barked and polished material looks expensive and noble, and if it is also treated with protective impregnations, then the durability (20–25 years) of the fence is ensured. Grinding services are provided for an additional fee by sawmills, but it is quite possible to clean the dice from the bark yourself - with an ax and a grinder.

There is no significant difference in species, but poplar (rots) and birch (excessively hard and warps) should be avoided. It is worth remembering that after the material is delivered to the place, it should be sorted and processed in a short time, otherwise the bark beetle will very quickly make the wood unusable. Then it is recommended to dry the plates.

Fence Options

• Vertical, or stockade. This is the easiest option to perform, when the dies are stuffed vertically onto a pre-prepared frame.
• Horizontal, without the use of crossbars. The croaker is stuffed horizontally from pole to pole end-to-end, with gaps or overlapping.
• Double-sided fence, in which unedged boards are mounted on both sides. This is the most expensive option, since you need twice as much material.

Options Gallery

Combined fence decorated with croaker Simple slab fence Double slab fence

Materials for the device

1. croaker
2. Poles (metal, wood)
3. fasteners
4. Crossbars - poles or beams, or long dies of the slab itself
5. Sand, gravel
6. Special compound for wood treatment
7. Resin or mining
8. Dye
9. Cement

Fencing Tools

1. Twine and tape measure
2. Carpenter's ax
3. Sander
4. Shovel or drill
5. A hammer
6. tassel

It is important that at the time of the construction of the fence there was dry weather and the unedged board could dry out after processing. The slab fence device can be divided into three stages.

• Calculation of the fence area and the amount of material.
• Site preparation and marking.
• Timber preparation.
• Installation of support pillars and frame arrangement (if necessary).
• Slab patch on the frame.

Calculation of the fence area and the amount of material

To calculate the number of poles and building materials, you can use the free online calculator, or make the calculations yourself. They begin the calculation by measuring the perimeter of the territory that needs to be protected. Next, the distance between the supporting pillars is determined and the amount of necessary building materials, as well as their costs, is calculated.

For example, if the plot area is 12 acres, then the perimeter will be 140 meters. If the distance between the posts is 2 meters, and the width of the gate is 1 meter, then a total of 70 posts will be needed. With a board length of 2 m, a width of 10 cm and a thickness of 2.5 cm, for the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe fence, which is 278 square meters. meters, you will need 1390 pieces or 6.95 cubic meters of slab. The material is taken with a margin, so as not to buy more later. With a fence height of 2 m and a width between sections of 2 m, you will need a metal pipe 76 x 4 mm.

Next, we calculate the depth of burying the pillars in order to determine their length. In order for the fence to stand firmly and not be subject to the force of the wind, the depth must be at least 60 cm. The foundation for the slab fence is not needed, but the metal supports must be concreted. Wooden poles must be treated with bituminous mastic or charred.

In soft soils, the posts are driven into pre-drilled holes. The pillars are set strictly according to the level.

A step-by-step guide to building a slab fence with your own hands

Step 1. Material preparation. The debarking of the croaker is necessary, and it can be done with a shovel, or a carpenter's hatchet. Next, the croakers should be marked, filed and sanded. After careful polishing, the wood is covered with any protective composition in two layers. To do this, you can use a spray gun or a wide brush.

Step 2. While the slabs of the slab dry, work begins on marking the holes and installing the support pillars. The distance between them should be no more than 2.5 m. The slab can be mounted on both wooden and metal poles. Metal supports are dug into the ground to a depth of at least 50 cm, and concreted. Wooden supports must be treated with bituminous mastic. Do not forget about the drainage of rubble. Backfilling is carried out in layers, followed by ramming. All pillars are level.

Step 3. Attaching the slab. Even before the start of the stripe, it is worth deciding what the appearance of the fence will be. If the slab is mounted vertically, then horizontal slats will be needed. As fasteners, nails 150 or self-tapping screws are used, previously lubricated with drying oil or machine oil. With horizontal installation, the slats are not needed, since the slab is attached directly to the supporting posts or overlay bars. It is better to mount the dies with an overlap to avoid later cracks. The croaker is a heterogeneous material, but this gives it a certain originality.

On top of the dies, you can nail a visor board - protection from moisture.

How to decorate

There are several ways to turn an ordinary fence into a designer one.

1. Figured sawing of the edges of the dies.
2. Painting, tinting stain, varnishing.
3. Partial firing, after which the dies are varnished or varnished.
4. Brushing - scratching out the fibers with a brush, and subsequent toning. Before brushing, the croaker can be burned - and you get a finish and protection.

• The overlap of boards when stuffing humpbacks with a Christmas tree should be at least 1.5–2 cm, especially for poorly dried material.
• The optimal board width for such a fence is 20 cm. Wider boards may crack during operation.

Video on the topic "How to build a fence from a slab"

A fence made of unedged boards is in some way an art object. If you approach the task with diligence and imagination, then he will delight you with his exclusive appearance for a long time. On average, a slab fence will last from 10 to 20 years.

Horizontal installation

The fence has the function of protecting and decorating the house and cottage. Wood is one of the best materials for it. However, the cost of selected wood material is quite high.

Since each owner wants to use environmentally friendly material on his site and at the same time cost-effective, one of the options suitable for such parameters can be a slab fence.

Introduction to the material

This type of wooden material, on the one hand, has a side that is smooth from the cut, on the other, it is covered with bark. Its pricing policy is determined by the type of tree from which it is made, the method of processing and the section obtained by cutting the log.
If the owner has free time, then making a slab fence with his own hands is easy, and at the same time he will receive a number of benefits:

1. Economic - you need to pay only for delivery and movers. Since the slab is a sawmill waste, you can pick it up for free at any sawmill.
2. Installation of a fence from a slab is simple, so you do not have to pay specialists for installation.
3. Has high strength. Will compete with corrugated board for sheathing the best quality.
4. It will look harmoniously with any design solution for a house or a summer residence, as wood is the best material given by nature.
5. Resistance to moisture, exposure to sunlight and other natural factors.
6. Long service life - more than 20 years.
7. A unique decorative highlight is the texture of wood.

Like every material, the slab has its drawbacks. It needs processing, it is unstable to fire.

Material handling

Scheme of obtaining material

Since the slab is an economical material, it needs additional processing, such as removing bark, knots, and various kinds of roughness.

First of all, you need to eliminate the bark in order to avoid subsequent sabotage by insects living in it.

With the help of a grinding machine or an ax, the bark is stripped. It is better to do this together or on a comfortable table. After processing, it is desirable to apply mastic on the boards and dry them on the street.

Required material and installation location

Treatment of wooden poles in bitumen

For the supporting part of the fence you will need poles (wooden or metal). The number of posts depends on the length of the fence. They are placed at a distance of 2.5 m from each other. For marking, twine is used, which is placed from pole to pole.

You will also need sand, gravel, cement, a shovel, saw, hammer, nails, screws. In addition, you need to remember about the protective coating of the tree, which will also give it a certain color.

The installation of the slab can be carried out in several variations:

1. Horizontally or vertically.
2. Intermittent or butt.
3. Overlapping with horizontal or vertical arrangement.

At the request of the owner, the slab fence can be made uneven from above. For example, with a sharp top, in the form of a peak, concave or convex.

When installing a fence from a slab with an overlap, it should be no more than 20 mm. It is also better not to use very wide wooden boards. It is highly likely that cracks form on them over time.

Installation of the supporting part of the fence

Phased installation of support elements

The initial stage is to mark the place for the installation of support pillars. For marking, wooden pegs and twine are used, which are pulled between the stakes. Under the gate, you should also consider a place.

For support pillars, holes are drilled or dug, which will hide them by about a quarter. Supports are reinforced with metal or wooden struts.

The recesses with pillars are filled with gravel and poured with concrete mixture on top. All this will tighten the pillars tightly, and they will be resistant to various external influences.
Further, the boards are mounted on the supports so that it is possible to mount the main coating on them. For installation, a saw and fasteners will be needed.

Mounting the slab on the frame

Wooden sheathing is mounted to the frame horizontally or vertically.

In the horizontal version, a beam of 50 * 30 mm is mounted to the pole on both sides, and a slab is fixed to it with nails or self-tapping screws. It will not be possible to install it end-to-end due to its unevenness at the edges.

If nails are used as fasteners, it is advisable to pre-coat them with drying oil.

When mounted vertically, the slab is fixed to the support pillars with the convex part inward. Further, through a distance of 40–50 mm, another layer of it is fixed, but the convex part is placed outward.

Protection and design

Processing wood material before fastening

A slab fence can be made not only practical, but also interesting in terms of design, it all depends on your ideas. At the top, the fence can be made flat or figured.

In order for the wooden fence to last longer, it is subjected to antiseptic treatment. For this, a special composition (glazing) is used. It is decorative and protective at the same time, so that the material becomes resistant to moisture and insects. According to the color scheme, the composition is chosen dark or reddish.

Slab fences will last for many years. They are beautiful, reliable and will delight their owner, and will become a reliable protection for the site. In addition, such wooden material significantly saves finances, which will be useful for the improvement of the remaining territory of the house or cottage.

We build the original and cheapest slab fence. How to make a fence from a slab: photo, video. Slab fence options.

A slab fence is the cheapest option for building a wood fence. Slabs are waste (sidewalls) that remain when sawing a log, they are practically not used in construction and can usually be purchased at sawmills for almost a penny.

You can buy slab at any sawmill, its cost is cheap. I do not recommend taking a poplar slab, it is not durable, breaks and rots quickly. If you take a birch slab, then it will be difficult to hammer nails into hardwood.

Support columns.

Wooden poles with a diameter of 15–20 cm can be used as supporting poles. The length of the poles depends on the height of the future fence, it should be noted that about a third of the length of the pole is buried in the ground.

Crossbars.

If the direction of the slab boards is vertical, then you will need crossbars to which they will be attached, boards or timber will do.

Tools (axe, hammer, level).

To begin with, the slab itself must be cleaned of bark, if left with bark, then the wood will quickly rot, besides, the bark will still flake off and fall off. You can clean the croaker from the bark with an ax or a large cleaver.

How to quickly clean the croaker from the bark video.

We stand a slab fence.

To begin with, the slab itself must be cleaned of bark, if left with bark, then the wood will quickly rot, besides, the bark will still flake off and fall off.

You can clean the croaker from the bark with an ax or a large cleaver.

Next, you need to install support poles under the fence, but first they need to be treated with an antiseptic, and the part that will be buried in the ground must be tarred or at least covered with used engine oil. If there is no resin or oil, you can do as our grandfathers did before, just burn the lower parts of the pillars on the fire, soot will prevent the wood from rotting for quite a long time.

But the most effective way is to cover the wood with bitumen, heat the bitumen in a bucket on a fire and cover with a brush the part of the post that will be dug into the ground.

The pillars are dug into the ground, digging holes under the pillars with a shovel is a rather time-consuming process, it is better to use a garden hand drill, things will go much faster.

The distance between the posts is no more than 2 - 2.5 meters, otherwise the fence may sag.

The slab can be mounted horizontally directly to the posts. Boards can be tightly adjusted to each other, or you can leave a gap. We level the boards and nail them to the posts.

If you place the slab boards vertically, then you will need crossbars to which they will be attached.

The crossbars are attached to the posts, then the slab is already attached.