Repairs: fence maintenance: metal strapping

Self-tutoring about home repairs: the tutor mentions some thoughts.

Supposedly a “bomb cyclone” hit Tuesday and Wednesday. It was able to push the barbecue, held in place by a cinder block, across the deck. I went outside late Wednesday afternoon and saw a section of the fence was broken. It was too late to do anything about it, since these days it’s dark here around 5pm. Therefore, it would be a Thursday project.

The fence is decades old. Its posts are treated, but the rest isn’t. Much of it was originally cedar, I believe, but some has been swapped out for newer boards from other dead fences. I think my wife wants to replace it, but I don’t.

My wife had mentioned perhaps metal strapping would work to reinforce the fence. I looked up “metal strapping with holes” online and was impressed: it’s around $12 Canadian for 25 feet by 0.5 inch, depending on the kind one gets. Thursday morning I picked some up.

Under the partly sunny sky of early Thursday afternoon I unwound about six feet of the metal strapping, fastening it at intervals along the fence. By 3pm it was buttoned back up, secured by the metal strapping.

Last night we had another howler of a storm — not quite the bomb cyclone, but still pretty gusty. This morning, the fence is whole, looking rather stately and dignified, if rustic.

That fence and I have history:)