Man, it’s been way too long since I’ve sat down to type out my thoughts and happenings. Life happens, and a month later I realize I haven’t talked to you all on here. I know I say this a lot, but Instagram specifically stories is where I can quickly share something, so it’s been my go-to place of expression in this season. Along with normal fullness of life we’ve been dealing with sickness, I started working out again 5 days a week is 5 hours less I have to spend on The Makerista, but it’s necessary and we’ve started competitive baseball. Well, we haven’t, Xander has. But it sure feels like a “we” thing. Practices and hitting and tournaments every weekend for the foreseeable future. It’s exhausting and a joy to get to see him learn, stretch, and have fun.
Along with all of that we have been doing some really exciting things to the house. This spring has been dubbed the “exterior overhaul” and come hell or high water we have a goal to make our backyard presentable by Memorial Day weekend. This will be our fourth summer in this house, and almost everything we’ve done thus far outside has just been a bandaid or an attempt at distraction. Here’s an old post with the before. Last summer we did a paver patio and landscaped the corner, but it’s time to address the bigger things – the areas that we really entertain in. All of these images are the real, unstyled, not picked up version of our backyard, ha. It’s not very pretty, but there is pretty on the horizon!
I’ll talk more about the house and the decks in some later posts, but today I wanted to address the thing we’ve already checked off the list: the fence. The fence we had didn’t particularly look terrible at a distance, but it did look worn. The main issue was the fact that it was slowly rotting away. Many of the posts had snapped off and carpenter ants were chewing away the panels. Micah had several posts propped up with metal stakes, but any time we had a very windy day we prayed it didn’t fall over. When you have a pool, a fence you can depend on is crucial.
We also had a section of the fence that was our neighbors. We wanted to create a seamless look and continue our fence all the way around. Our backyard isn’t really that big, but we needed almost 300 feet of fencing the pool utilities are fenced separately, so that adds a good amount more and the quotes we had received in the past where anywhere from $9,000 to $16,000. Crazy, I know.
This winter we decided getting a new fence was no longer an option, it was a priority. We had initially wanted vinyl or PVC because of the extreme low maintenance, and I like a white fence. But based on our bids I didn’t think it was in the cards. I started looking for cedar fencing that I liked and decided we’d do a cedar panel with a lattice detail on top. Then we started looking at big box stores and the cedar panels I wanted were the same price, if not a little more expensive, than the vinyl! Afterwards a friend who works in lumber gave us some insight. Oftentimes the reason big box stores in-stock items are so much cheaper is because they buy them in such huge quantities from the vendors that they get a great discount and pass on those saving to the consumer.
We shopped around, and Menards was having a sale, which ended up putting this fence about $1,500 less than the other stores. Between doing the work ourselves by we I mainly mean Micah and being open to in-stock product we went from spending 16 grand on a fence to a little over $4,000. Not pennies, but for something that just needs to be hosed off once in a while, totally worth it!
Like so many of the updates we do I couldn’t leave well enough alone. As Micah says to me all the time “why do you always have to make things difficult?!” Really, this was a very simple addition that cost a few hundred dollars more but made the fence look so much more expensive. Almost all vinyl fences come with a pretty standard, short cap for the posts. I ordered these ball finial caps off of Amazon. They really dress up the fencing that anyone could have and make it feel more custom and special. I was going to show you the difference, but Micah already siliconed the balls finials on…I told him I didn’t want to risk loosing any!
I can’t believe how much more put together our house looks already! I mean, we have a ways to go, but the fence feels really fresh and has me even more excited for the rest of the updates. I’ll be back soon with the next step…painting the house! Micah has been replacing some damaged boards and adjusting the front portico a bit for a more clean look. Weather permitting it’s getting painted next week!
Do you have a vinyl fence? Or do you prefer wood?
See more on our home’s exterior here.
LET’S CONNECT! FIND ME ON…
Beth says
LOVE the fence and especially the finials!!! It’s all in the details, right? It turned out beautifully. I have also been in our home four years….and we have no landscaping. This is my year for outside too!!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you, it really is! We hope to landscape after the house has been painted and we save some more money up! Good luck, Beth!
Kristen says
The fence turned out great, and I love the extra detail in the finials! Excited to see what else you do, especially what paint color you pick for the house. A colonial is my someday dream (currently in a new build craftsman), so I’m living vicariously through your blog! 😉
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you, Kristen! We’re excited to get going on the rest and then hopefully relax a bit in the pool! 😉 Thanks for following along!
Patricia says
Vinyl all the way – the fact that it require NO MAINTENANCE forever would cinch the deal for me !
We just replaced our very large deck with Azek . It looks amazing and this will be it’s 3rd summer – no maintenance other than a light hose with water ! We love it !
Your fence looks beautiful – what a difference it makes and you really got a fantastic price !!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Yes, the maintenance thing is huge! Thank you!
Kim says
Thank you for sharing the cost of this! We need to redo our fence, and I would never think the pre-made fences would cost less than a custom wood fence.
If you guys had an install happen, how much would that have added to your cost, if you don’t mind me asking?
Thanks!
Kim
themakerista@gmail.com says
I think labor is expensive and can often double the cost, but I would recommend doing what you can on your own. Maybe you can demo your old fence and save some there? Good luck!
Cynthia says
I’m excited to follow along on your backyard revamp adventure! So far it looks fantastic! We have multiple fences in our yard- two layers of fencing in some areas- and all are wood. I’ve seen houses in the neighborhood that put in new wood fences and they look amazing for a few months, but quickly get messy or warped. I don’t understand why people don’t paint or seal their wood fences! Yours looks amazing and I am really curious to hear your thoughts after a few months and some potentially heavier weather. I just can’t get behind the traditional wooden fence… I hope to follow in your vinyl footsteps this winter.
Question: do you share a fence with any neighbors, and do they have an opinion on the white versus their wood?
themakerista@gmail.com says
In our neighborhood you share fencing and are responsible for whatever you put up. We had to get it approved by the HOA and I think one neighbor might not love it, but it is in accordance with our covenant and we love it!
victoria says
It looks great! And I immediately noticed the ball finials; the details really make a difference, and you’re sooooo god at details. On another note, thanks for showing the backyard as is…I appreciate you keeping it real. It’s become so easy with blogs to only show “the pretty” and I really appreciate that you still show the other stuff.
themakerista@gmail.com says
So nice of you, thanks, Victoria!