Thread: Cemetery Fencing

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Okay, do to budget I have no other option than to make a cardboard fence...ANY ADVICE?

I have been searching and searching to see if anyone has had any luck with this but have yet to have found out. I know that PVC and Pallets are the best options but I am limited both on money and on power tool experience

That being said, I figured cardboard would be my best fit...it's FREE...it's easy to cut...and easy to paint.

I will only be using the fence during my party so it will not be exposed to the elements for very long (and I'm not worried about it needing to be tossed afterwards - thats fine). My only concern is sturdyness. I plan on having 6-8' sections of fencing between each set of cardboard/paper mache columns (total length about 24')...but how do I keep the cardboard fence from bowing? I thought I might be able to zip tie the cardboard to dowel rods (and drill small holes in the columns to hold the dowel rods) but I'm not sure if this will work.

Please if you have any suggestions let me know...

-Dawn

Cardboard is a decent option. You can fold, cut and roll it to make it more structurally sturdy and it is usually free.

Check out this for just how awesome cardboard stuff can be:
http://cortecscenery.com/

Biggest thing is to do a trial run. I built cardboard columns for my graveyard fence, and I screwed up the first one, but I learned enough just to get it all right on the second try. Here's my columns:
Cheap graveyard columns - cardboard!

If you do a top and bottom fence support (where the pickets are nailed in on a real fence), do them in several layers (thicker means sturdier) and stagger the gluing together of the single sections, sort of like this:

_______________ ______________________
_____________________ ______________________
______ _________________________

Once you have those supports (sorry I can't remember the correct term for them) you can get the pickets cut out. These can be single layers, but I would make at least a couple of them 2 thickness' worth of cardboard and sandwich a dowel rod to drive into the ground for extra support. I'd basically try a few different methods to insert the dowel - if you glue it into the picket, how are you going to push it into the ground without tearing up the picket if it's really dry, hard ground? So you could leave a section open at the bottom to slip the dowel rod into once you've hammered into place... but there are many different ways to go about this, and I'm not an expert.

Attach the fence sections to the top and bottom supports, paint the whole thing (there are soooo many ways to paint this up), and attach them to the columns (either cut holes to shove the supports into the column, or hook them on there...

Thanks Frankies Girl...actually your columns are what inspired me to make my columns However on mine I used 12 pk boxes (8 per column) so far they are coming out pretty good, I plan on using pizza boxes for the caps on top and bottom and then painting them to look like either stone or brick. BTW...I love,love,love your pumpkins on top....I may have to see if I can squeeze them into my budget

Thanks for the advice on using several layers...I hadn't even really thought of that...maybe that and a layer or two of paper mache will do the trick. As for the ground post , I plan on having rebar or stakes pounded in the ground (pre instillation) so that I can use zip ties to hold them in place as well...

Thanks again for the advice, I'll post pics if and when I get them done,lol