Thread: Cemetery Fence advice, please?

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Hi gang -
I want to try my hand at building my first cemetery fence this year, using the popular PVC pipe and furring strip method. My question: how does one secure the pipe (vertical) lengths to the furring strips (horizontal)? Is there a "sweet spot" to put a screw through each join to keep it in place? Should I just glue everything? What trouble can I anticipate in trying to attach two different types of media (wood & plastic) together?
I did a quick search in this folder but didn't see my answer offhand - sorry if it has been discussed before, and thanks in advance, as always!!

I know you might have your heart set on PVC Pipe Fencing, but have you ever tried page wire. Cheap and easy to install and store. I bought 6 eight foot sections of Page wire from Home depot it's the stuff they use in concrete driveways, anyways I painted it up a nice grey then tied the sections together with small wire tie's which you can't see then bought some women's triangular makeup pad remover sponges painted them grey also then stuck them on each wire across the top then placed the bottom into the grass. all done. nice thing about this is you can expand or contract the area you want without too much trouble and it's flexible and can give you rounded corners if you like. I had looked a PVC sections and this alternative gave me better security from kid's hands and I drape all kinds of webs and trinkets from this fence. Well good luck whatever you decide.
Blood

Wolfman,
I think you have to decide how you are going to store the fence when not in use. I have friends who simply drilled a hole in the pvc and place a small screw or peg into the hole so the pvc won't drop threw the furring strip holes. That way you can pull them out when you are done with them. At each corner or joint section they put the pvc threw one end set of holes then one first set of whole on the next section. That way they can pivit the two section any way they want. However you need to have the first and last pvc pipes long enought to enter the ground or use some rod iron stakes to help stabelize the section. Then I have some friends who just use a screw into the furring and pvc via a pre drilled hole. These two way you can dissasemble the fence and store. However I do have another friend who glues and screws his sections together and then uses longer screws to join the sections threw predrilled holes. But he has to store the fence sections as its own whole piece. He then ties them together with tye wire and hangs then in his store room. which isn't too bad if you have the room. He also has some collum type end corner that are painted to look like brinks so he can put statues on them or what ever. he attached the fence to them with Angel clips which he put a screw into the fence section and then into the wood collums. To be honest you don't notice the screws once you have the entire fence put up.

If you're going to build the traditional 1/2" pvc conduit and 1x3 firring strip fence, the common practice is to drill a counter-sink hole (there's a bit for this available at any home improvement store) and then run a 1" drywall screw through the hole into the plastic conduit. The counter-sink hole prevents the thin wood from splitting. No need for glue.

Some pointers and general directions:
Choose the straightest strips you can find.
Lay out the strips on a flat surface (I used the garage floor), and mark ALL of them with a line at every spot where a post is to go. i.e., get the strips all evened up at one end, move in 4", draw a line across all the strips with a straight edge. Move over 8", do it again. Move over 8", do it again, etc... until you get to the end of the strips.
Attach pairs of strips together, one on top of each other. I ran a screw through them at either end and in the middle. Drill the holes for the conduit at every marked spot through the wide side of the strips.
Drill the counter-sink holes into the thin edge of the strips, trying to get them centered into each hole for the conduit.
Mark each strip on the end with an awl or scribe deeply with a pencil. You're marking each pair uniquely. I creatively used "1", "2", "3", etc...
remove the screws holding each pair of strips together.
Paint the strips before assembly (this allows you to paint inside the holes).
Remember that there's a wide joint on one end of every piece of conduit. When you divide up the conduit, remember to subtract the length of the joint from the total usable length of the piece.
Set up a stop on your table or chop saw to make sure that every pvc piece is the same length. Cut all the pieces.
Paint the pvc. I don't think there's a way to get a great finish that isn't time consuming. I laid mine out and painted them en-mass, rotated them, and then painted them again, repeating until they were uniformally covered.
Make a jig using a piece of scrap plywood or some 2x4's, or both. The jig allows you to line up the conduit at the bottom so it's all even, and sets the position of the bottom and top rungs at a particular spot. Without a jig, you're going to spend an extra 20 minutes on each section because you'll have to measure each piece before assembly.
Assemble the strips and conduit, doing one strip at a time.
Do any paint touch up.
Put on your toppers, whether they're light up skulls, skull whistles, or fancy fleur-de-lis.
Admire.

Craig

Hey Blood, Do you have any pictures of your fence you'd care to share? Thanks

Hey guys. I made a simple fence system back in 05 I still use today. I took that fake barbed wire you find online or walmart. Can't remember the lengths they came in. Screwed them into 1/2 inch pvc painted black. Did three rolls on each. Topped each pvc pipe with small plastic skull. Used 2'-21/2' rebarbed(found already cut at Home Depot) pound in the ground leaving about a foot up top. Slid my pvc pipe unto them and there it is. Storage is easy just lay it down lenghtwise and roll up into a nice bundle. Set up just as easy roll out set up onto your rebar.

Remember that there's a wide joint on one end of every piece of conduit. When you divide up the conduit, remember to subtract the length of the joint from the total usable length of the piece.
Make a jig using a piece of scrap plywood or some 2x4's, or both. The jig allows you to line up the conduit at the bottom so it's all even, and sets the position of the bottom and top rungs at a particular spot. Without a jig, you're going to spend an extra 20 minutes on each section because you'll have to measure each piece before assembly. END OF QUOTE

First off CraigInPA you gave some great tips 1)lay out all the strips and mark them at the same time 2)Screw two strips together so the holes line up. But I did get a little lost on the two items above 1) You are using PVC plumbing pipe not electrical conduit I didn't know one end of the pipe was wider than the rest of the pipe how much do you cut off?
2) Not sure what a jig is, and how it is used I know you explained it I just can't picture it help?
Thanks again for the tips.

When I built my fence, I cut shallow ring grooves in the PVC on my table saw (set the blade height about 1/32" high and rotated the PVC over the blade). I then put a bead of gorilla glue in the groove and slid it into place in the wood furring strips. Haven't had any splitting and the fence sections are still solid.

I used this fence from Home Depot. It's sold in 20' rolls. The price varies during the year, so watch for a sale. I didn't have time to paint it black last year, but that's on this years list. Just roll it up when the night's over. It comes in 24" and 36" heights.

Plumbing PVC is the same diameter at both ends, and is usually white in color. The conduit referred to is usually gray, and has one end flared to receive the other end of next pipe. I used the white PVC.
The rollup fence material idea is a new one to me. Looks like a good alternative if you dont want to make your own. Stores easier too.

My fence is in 8' sections joined by plumbers tape (thin metal with holes in it).
It folds up.

I think the PVC is a little more wrought iron looking than the roll up wood pickett.
Pete