We have a small backyard, about 18’x18′ square with neighbors on both sides. Just to be clear ~ WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS! People about our age on one side and the unofficial mayor of the block who’ve been here for 20+ years on the other. They’re great.

Our fence however…. well… sucks stinks {“suck” isn’t classy and, if nothing else, I’m one classy dame}.

It’s being held together with flippin’ zip ties and wire.

That’s a good look, right?

Super safe. {/sarcasm}

This is “L”. She’s the completely adorable boxer/German Shepard mix that lives next door.

And that is the loose panel she can just about squeeze through.

While I would love for her & Bruce to have some puppy play time, that’s also the section of fence with this nasty mess of wire.

Having to explain to the neighbors why their super cute puppy is tangled in ~ and scratched up by ~ said wire isn’t really on my TO DO list. Adding yet another zip tie and securing the bottom would certainly keep “L” from visiting but it doesn’t solve the dreadful eyesore that is our fence.

PLUS the wire is on our side. Bruce has successfully avoided it thus far but he deserves a safe, hazard-free backyard for barking at squirrels and doing his biz-niss.

Saturday, we went to that orange big box store up the road for a solution. We had two options ~ typical wooden stockade fence or a composite made out of recycled plastic. We could have special ordered exactly what I had in mind but it 1) was way more expensive and 2) needed to happen today.

Option 1: Classic/Basic Wooden Stockade
Each wood panel was a little taller & wider than the composite but I’m not really a fan of the pointy tops. Plus, it’ll look like what we’re ripping out if you don’t weather-proof it. I have a strong dislike for painting {I know; I’m weird. Paint’s so great and easy blah blah blah} and PLENTY of painting to do inside. About $40/panel.

Option 2: Composite Dog-Ear Privacy Panels
The composite is made out of a recycled material {rock!}, comes with a 20 year warranty {which I don’t know how to redeem if need be}, but ~ most importantly! ~ requires absolutely zero maintenance. No painting, sealing, weather-proofing, nothing. Hose off if dirty. That’s it. My kind of cleaning! Plus the tops aren’t pointy {did I mention I don’t like the pointy tops??}. Did I mention it was only $31/panel? {Of course the panels were slightly smaller than the real wood.}

I’m sure you’re shivering in antici…

pation to know what we picked.

Shocked? Me neither.

From here on out, comes the very best part of this story. See… I had to work Saturday afternoon. I got to pick out the fence, disappear, and return to a magically installed brand new fence. It was spec.tacular. I completely understand why people hire contractors. Coming home to a completed job without having to lift a finger is amazing. It’s even more amazing if you can pay those contractors with a Wendy’s lunch. Bwahahaha!

Rob & Dad started by tearing down the old fence.

{which probably would’ve only taken a stiff breeze}

The old fence posts were completely rotted, so there weren’t any real holes for the new posts to go in.

Rob & his dad dug new ones where the old ones would have been {ya know, if the old ones had been secured with anything more than dirt}.

Hole -> Post -> Make sure it’s straight with a level -> Pour in dry fast setting cement -> Add water -> Wait until set.

For this first panel, the post was secured with quick setting cement first, then the panel was screwed to the post.

The neighbors get the pretty side of the fence.

I think “L” approves. {Don’t you want to just eat her up?!}

The last panel was the one that gets secured to the house. While this old post isn’t in awesome shape, it is firmly attached to the brick of our house. It’ll hold fine until it completely rots away. It’s not load bearing, just keeping the end from flapping in our neighbors yard.

We secured the last panel to the house, then the post, then added the cement.

Cementing this one after attaching the panel seemed to work just fine.

TA-DA!! A new fence. For this little guy.

Nice work, gentleman!

Is that not 8 trillion times better?!

{The neighbors have a concrete wall at the back of their lot, so our fence doesn’t actually go all the way back to the chain link. The little piece all the way on the right is just to keep Bruce from going behind their wall.}

The store only had 3 sections left of this particular fence, which was exactly what we needed for this one side. We don’t plan on doing the other 2 sides until the spring or summer but I’m wondering if we should just have them order more now. It’ll take up space in our house but I want everything to match and that price was crazy good for composite fence.

Before / After

What’s your preference, authentic wood fence or composite?