Saw a fence in a Denver park that made me rethink post spacing

I was walking through City Park in Denver last weekend and saw this old wooden fence around a garden. The posts were set about 9 feet apart, which seemed way too far for the 6-foot pickets they used. The whole middle section was sagging like a smile, and you could see where the rails had pulled away from the posts over time. It was a clear case of someone trying to save on posts and lumber but costing more in the long run. It got me thinking about all the shortcuts we see on jobs and how they never hold up. Has anyone else run into a fence where the spacing just doomed it from the start?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_price9121d ago

My buddy tried to save cash on his backyard fence with posts 10 feet apart. The whole thing leaned after one winter, totally proved @phoenix_wells right about needing strong rails too. What's the worst spacing you've seen hold up?

phoenix_wells22d ago

Actually 9 feet is pretty normal spacing, the real problem is they probably used cheap thin rails.

paul_owens2517h ago

Yeah, "cheap thin rails" is the real killer. I once tried to space posts way too far apart to save time, and let's just say @phoenix_wells would have had a good laugh at my wobbly mess. Learned that lesson the hard way.