So I built a new fence this past week. All Pine dog ear pickets. I put up one section of about 12ft first, I think this was on Teusday. Yesterday Sunday, I finished the gates and noticed the boards I put up on Teusday shrunk leaving a huge gap between the boards! My first question would be, WTF?! My second question would be, should I unnail them all and move them closer now that they shrunk? thanks for your help!
Man.....that's learning the hard way! As for pulling and re-nailing......that's up to you. You might damage the pickets when you try to pull the nails. I'll never forget when I had a deck and boathouse built at my old house. The builders cut all 2X6's for the flooring and just laid them out. They then left for several days to let them "shrink in the sun." I figured that just had to finish up a job somewhere else, but sure enough, I noticed that the spaces between the boards got bigger after a few days. When they finally nailed them into place, they placed them as close together as possible, but even after letting them shrink, the boards still got smaller over time. There's just a surprising amount of moisture in pine, and after a while, it evaporates. You get left with noticibly smaller boards. Sorry 'bout that.
Fence boards will shrink and expand with the weather. I wouldn't move them closer together unless the spaces are ridiculously large because they may swell later and have no space to expand in.
Haha, I like the Seinfeld reference. Elaine: It shrinks? Jerry: Like a frightened turtle! Elaine: Why does it shrink? George: It just does. Elaine: I don't know how you guys walk around with those things.
Well, when I'm in my back yard I can totally see the street through the picket spaces. Whats the point of a fence by then I figure?! I might wait until the summer after the wood has had a chance to dry and shrivel up a bit more, then move them closer. Then again, it might not be a bad idea to drive around and look at other people who paid to have a nice fence built. Hey, its my first fence to build! Pole, JV, thanks for your help. Oh yeah rH, are you kidding me?!! Those pre-shrunk boards are at least twice as much the money!
I havent had that problem with the cedar ones used in my new fence. How much of a difference is there between the two kinds?(pricewise) and is it worth it to not have to deal with the problems.
Cedar were 1.99 and the Pine were, 1.19. I'm not sure if the Cedar ones are treated like the Pine ones, which gets them wet and makes them expand....then shrink when they dry! I bought 70 of them so I basically saved 56bucks for buying the pine. If its true Cedar planks don't shrink , well then I think its worth the extra $$. Oh, and cedar smell nicer too.
