Treated vs untreated fence?

[HoLeChit]

So I’m looking around at getting my fence replaced, it’s in pretty sad shape. Don’t have a lot of money to throw at it though. Gonna DIY it. My posts are steel in concrete and in great shape still. Comparing prices between treated and untreated pine, I’m looking at $7.50/linear foot for untreated, vs $9.75/linear foot for pressure treated. Considering that I already don’t have the cash laying around for the fence as it is, it looks like untreated is gonna be the way to go. Which means I should probably seal it. Going with Thompson’s water seal will add another $.80-1.20 per linear foot.

I know very little about pine fence. We only need it to look good for 2-4 years, after that I don’t care. Should I seal?

With my specified time frame, will untreated suffice? Or will I be kicking myself in a few years?

 

[TinkerTanker]

2-4 years? I wouldn't seal. It'll last 5 years without any serious degradation. Just throw it up and enjoy.

If you do it at your new house, be sure to use 4x6 treated posts and spray it down with linseed oil or some kind of fence stain every 5 years. Thompson's doesn't really seal and I've only had bad experiences with it. I prefer the Sherwin Williams stuff or Ready Seal. I do a lot of fencing. I don't like to do it more than once every few years either.

 

[bigred1]

Your untreated no stain/water seal fence will look like this in a couple of years I'm guessing. One thing you sure don't want to do is place the boards all the way to the ground....water/moisture from the wet dirt will wick up.

 

[JEVapa]

Spend the little teeny tiny bit of extra dollar(s) and get cedar. Not pine anything. You won't regret it. You will regret pressure treated. It is sh*t that after several years, you'll be replacing pickets, and wondering why your fence is everything but straight when you know it was straight when you put it in.

I've been down this road a couple times, never will I use pressure treated fencing ever again. Won't waste the time or $$ on it; I'll put up hog wire before I do.

Besides, cedar looks better and takes stain better.

 

[swampratt]

I bought severe weather pressure treated Pine fence panels from Lowes about 4 years ago and almost every board curled at the bottom and many bowed at the tops.
Looks HORRIBLE.
I fell for the Severe weather Pressure treated gimmicky name.

That stands for Green not kiln dried Dog Crap.
Cimmaron Pottery went out of business years ago West of Yukon.
An add in the paper everything in the old warehouse must go and for free.
I collected enough shipping crates 12 foot by 4 foot to make a LOT of fence.

This stuff was not treated.
I put it up in the year 2000 and 99% of it is still just fine.

I did paint roll used transmission fluid on it and this keeps any ants or termites from eating it and helps it live.
I will never buy another pressure treated board.
I have bought single 1x6 by 8 foot pressure treated boards and made a nice fence and it all warped also.

I like to lay bricks or pavers under my fences to let them have something to rest on.
You can get quality used fence on craigslist for cheaper than new and get cedar.

I got a huge stack of cedar panels a couple years ago for 15 bucks a panel.
All season hardware store on 152 had Redwood panels for $56 a few years ago and I got a few trailer loads of those but as it goes No more of those.
They were very nice and all of them i put up look great.

I hate treated pine.

 

[Roy14]

Almost anything is a better choice, both financially and for longevity, than a wood picket fence. If you can handle something non-traditional, woven wire, 6’ bull panel, r panel, etc would all be my choice before going back with pickets. You have to be willing to dress it up some with wood accents but they can definitely be done tastefully.

If I’m doing wood anything outside, I treat it heavily. This has a good reputation but I’ve never found it in stock in person when I needed it, so order ahead of time.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wolman-...elow-Ground-Wood-Preservative-1902A/204746309

 

[swampratt]

Most of my yard fence is Cedar slabs from the sawmill.
I put the bark side towards me and cleaned up the sides to make the slabs fit together well facing the neighbors yards.

Some saw mills will sell you those for cheap. The one I went to it was 20 bucks a load.
Semi truck or pick up truck with a trailer is 1 load and 20 bucks.
My trailer got stacked high and I pulled it with my 78 Nova.
I could make 64 feet of fence with 1 load.

Heck if you had time and energy and a chain saw and some cedar trees which are free for the cutting most places you could make a dandy fence.

My cheap 2 cents worth.

 

[Forgalspop]

Here are pictures of fences I built 12 years ago and a tree fort, all built with ground contact treated lumber. They all still look great. Some of the boards I reused from a prior fence I built 32 years ago with railroad ties as posts. The railroad ties rotted out; the treated boards did not. I built the tree fort partially out of boards from the 32 year old fence. My experience with ground contact treated has been positive.

 

[TinkerTanker]

I think OP said he wasn't going to need it more than 2 years. He could almost put up spaghetti noodles. Too many of you guys are talking like he wants a lifelong fence and has thousands to spend.

 

[Roy14]

I think OP said he wasn't going to need it more than 2 years. He could almost put up spaghetti noodles.

If I were doing something with that in mind id be checking fb hourly for used fence pickets and sections. Often enough I’ve seen them come up for free or nearly so, but you have to be fast to beat everyone else to their location