Hardwood Fence???

[Sam777]

Hi all. I am getting the back yard done up and had hoped/planned to install a hardwood fence. I am wanting this for mainly asthetic reasons, however, I am also wanting the area I am doing to last and to have a quality feel.

So I have been getting quotes etc and of course the fence is starting to become an issue. Over in NI we don't possibly have the same range of suppliers and initial costs are looking to be very expensive. As I have said I want this to be a really tasty job but my budget could be very challenged by paying nearly £2k for materials alone for the fence.

I have some queries and was hoping someone could help me:

- If I am to go down the route of a hardwood fence what is the best hardwood to go for?

- If you look at some of pics I have uploaded into my fence pic file how do they get that very rich colour? How difficult will it be to maintain that look?

- Am I being silly in considering the hardwood fence if 70% of the reason I want it is to create the look as you see in the pics?

- What other options would people suggest in order to try and achieve that look that I am after but may be a lot cheaper?

Hope people can help.

 

[Deleted2797112]

They look oiled, possibly stained too. I think they'll take a lot of maintaining to look like that. The timber would naturally weather to a silver-grey. Don't know how the hardwoods compare but a lot of outdoor stuff seems to be made from ipe these days.

 

[r896neo]

You are right about suppliers here in northern ireland. There are very few hardwood fences or decks at all in these parts. I have done a couple of slightly different fences for people but hardwood as you have experienced is a different price league al together.

Here is one i did last year because the client wanted something a little nicer than the usual closeboard affair.

http://www.sjsmithhomeandgarden.co....2011/12/Fence-with-capping-and-face-rails.jpg

If you don't need a solid type privacy screens/ slatted are a nice feature and would stand up to our very wet weather a little better.

You can try macgregor hardwoods for yellow balau decking which could be turned into a fence easily or Irvin and sellers in duncrue sell Western red cedar cladding profiles which might also work.

It seems completely mental but you may find buying from the likes of silva timber and getting it shipped over from the mainland is comparable price wise.

As for the timber appearance you need to be on the case oiling it every year with good UV stable oils to try and keep that dark appearance. Even then after a few years it will silver down.

Normal softwood boards with some extra detailing like in the picture above and then painted a solid colour like dark grey work very well as a cheaper alternative.

 

[JohnD]

have you considered chestnut? it used to be very common for quality featheredge, don't know if it still is.

Or are you going for some kind of paling, or post and rails?

'neo's looks nice, what's it made of?

 

[r896neo]

Just normal softwood. Its the capping and infill rails that make it look nicer.

The client originally wanted a tongue and grooved affair they had seen in an american magazine. A little less rain in california than belfast.

 

[Sam777]

Gents thanks for all the responses - first chance to read them! Yep the old Norn Iron climatic conditions don't help matters when selecting.

Thanks Neo for your input and that looks a very nice job. It is interesting that you mention McGregors as they are meeting with me tomorrow so hopefully I will have a better idea where I am going after meeting up with them.

I will update after meeting up with them and discussing it all with the gent that is re-doing the patio area and installing the fence.