Flashback to My Childhood

a view into our neighbor's backyard

It started out as a typical, long weekend.  We had plans to start on an array of projects and leisurely work through as many steps as we could.  Then, an unplanned (but in all reality, probably forecast) wind storm ripped through our neighborhood, reeking destruction upon trees and restaurant signage. Thankfully, we were mostly spared, except for this one section of fence that backs up to our rear neighbor (the one with the two bloodhounds).   As you can see, the wind blew the fence in and caused the slats to fall right out.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice the gaping hole until after returning from a Home Depot run in the afternoon.  By then we didn't see the blood hounds and there were paw prints on the ground around the fence.  I sure hope those dogs found their way home, even if I do tire of their braying.

adding vertical supports to the fence

Anyway, upon seeing the gap my first words to Mr. DIY were, "We need baling wire and those metal fence posts."  He let me settle in to that comment as he silently trudged through the cold and snow for a closer look at the damage.

You see, my only experience fixin fence was (were?) during childhood summers spent on my grandparents ranch.  Like any Midwestern family, we fixed things with what we had available.  For my grandparents, the available supplies would have been baling wire and those metal fence posts.

Now, return to the present.  Neither Mr. DIY nor myself are presently nor have ever been ranchers, so we certainly don't have baling wire lying around.  Obviously, my statement was pretty silly and I was grateful for the silence provided by Mr. DIY.  Instead of chiding or teasing me, he let me linger in my memory and come to the present reality on my own terms.

those pesky slots in the fence posts

So, once a Midwesterner, always a Midwesterner. While we didn't have baling wire handy we do have a cart full of wood (thanks to Mr. DIY's status as an amateur woodworker) and plenty of screws/nails.  So that's what we used.

Our back fence is made of slats that fit in-between the posts.  When those strong winds blew, it caused the distance between the two fence posts to change and the slats fell right out.  Mr. DIY's first steps were to shore up the eastern side of the fence so the wind wouldn't blow it over again - at least when it blows from the west.

project wax, stinky but effective!

After shoring it up, we deemed the fence "level" and began the process of putting the slats back between the posts.

Our first go wasn't very successful.  The boards were cold, dry and unwilling to allow anything to come back between them. That first slat didn't slide, so we did what came easiest and tried to force it.  Well, I think we all know what that led to - a cracked slat that still wasn't in place.

While Mr. DIY tried different angles and methods of force, I let my problem solving gears slip into action. After remembering how easy our dresser drawers slid after waxing them, I knew the same answer applied here.

We just needed to apply wood's best friend: Wax!

Luckily, Mr. DIY keeps this Johnson paste wax around for his projects. So we smooshed some of this into each fence post groove and slid those slats right into submission until that gap was no more.

Thanks for stopping by our neck of the DIY neighborhood. And as our favorite neighbor Mr. Rogers used to say, "You always make each day a special day for me, by just being you. There's only 1 person in this WHOLE world like you; that's you yourself, and people can like you exactly the way you are.  I'll be back next time. Bye-bye!"

Bye-bye neighbor!

Voila! Our mended fence.  No purchased supplies necessary.