Courtyard Project - How To Install Fence Slats

If you follow Jarrah Jungle on social media you will have seen us installing the courtyard fence slats over the last few weekends.

Lexi is so excited about her new play area being created she can't wipe the smile off her face!

We broke this project up in stages, first we hung the gate and next we installed the fence slats.

Instead of paying someone $2000 to install the fence slats, we spent $400 on a saw and did the job ourselves over 5 half days.

The other tools needed to install the fence slats we already had - a level, drill and drill bits, pen, pencil and measuring tape. 

This was a 2 person job so no baking muffins in the kitchen for me, I was outside working with Mr P being a tradies lady and it's a good feeling being able to say I helped to build this!

First of all we did one complete fence panel to work out how to install it and then once we knew what we were doing we installed the rest of the fence in stages - cut and fit all the inside channels and then cut and installed all the fence slats.

This way we weren't changing tools and drill bits all the time doing the side channels then the slats,  then swapping again, so it was a much faster way to work.

STEP 1 - INSTALLING THE INSIDE CHANNELS

The channels we cut to size, centered on the inside of the brick pillar, pre-drilled them, then making sure they were centered and straight, screwed them into the bricks.

Installing the channels was half a days work, a lot of time was spent checking the measurements and the level to ensure it was straight.

STEP 2 - INSTALLING THE SIDE FENCE SLATS

Once all the side channels were fitted we could install the fence slats. This is when the fence really started to take shape and look like a proper courtyard.

It was really great the way the slats were packaged with plastic between each slat, this kept them tightly wrapped so we could cut 5 lengths at once.

This saved us a heap of time as you can imagine, with each panel being a different length and height, some were 14 slats high and others 9 slats high, so there was a lot of measurements and cuts to be done!

For the gap between slats I wanted it to be quite close together and private, but the gap had to work in with the height of the pillar, the channel and the width of the slats as well. So we put on our thinking caps and got the calculator out to work out the best combination with the measurements.

We ended up with 14mm gap between each slat and the very first piece of wood we grabbed to use as a spacer was exactly that size, how lucky is that!

So that was my job to hold up each slat with the spacer in between while Mr P screwed it in, working our way from the top down to the bottom.

The most important step in installing these slats was to ensure the top slat was absolutely perfectly straight, this took time to level each side until it was spot on and then it was screwed into place.

Then we moved down one by one taking care to space and screw until we got to the bottom. The end caps helped give a really nice straight edge to the bottom slat so it looked neat and even.

STEP 3 - INSTALLING THE FRONT FENCE SLATS

The front fence panels were really long at 3.8 metres and had a bit of movement when hung between the pillars. They wobbled a bit too much for our liking so we made a middle post to secure the slats to so there was no more movement and to make it stronger.

This meant we had twice as many slats to cut, so instead of 14 slats each panel we had to cut 28.

We don't do things the easy way in the Jarrah Jungle but we make sure they are done right and will last a lifetime!

You can buy the middle posts for about $20 but the place we bought the AliTimber from was closed for the weekend so we decided to make our own post.

We made the post using a left over fence post from when we hung the gate and attached a channel to either side of it.

We even painted the screws so you couldn't see them, we found a small can of Colorbond Red Manor spray paint that matched the jarrah metal slats perfectly.

We made a bracket that we attached to the brick, then attached the post to the bracket. We spent ages making sure the post was perfectly straight before we could start installing the metal slats to either side of the post.

 

STEP 4 - INSTALLING THE CORNER FENCE SLATS

Now for the two corner panels, they were really tricky to install because they are on an angle the side channels can't sit flush against the bricks, so we had to make up brackets to secure the channels to the bricks.

First we had to make up the fence slat panel free standing, which was a lot harder than making the panel when it's secured to the bricks. Once it was perfectly straight and level, we attached 3 brackets to each side.

The brackets had to be bent in the vice (thanks to our lovely neighbor who let us use his shed and vice for this!) so they would sit around the frame and screw into the bricks.

With the Colorbond Red Manor spray paint we also painted all the metal brackets and screws so they're the same colour as the jarrah metal slats and they blend right in you, can't really see them now so it worked a treat!

It was my job to paint the 12 brackets which took forever to do .... they were covered in a sticky barcode label which took hours of scrubbing and soaking in orange oil to get off, I then soaked them in vinegar and water to remove any residue and this also helps the paint stick to metal, I used a primer spray paint on both sides, and then the Colourbond spray paint on both sides ....  this took hours! 

The other corner at the front of the house is a perfect spot for our letterbox and house numbers ..... that's this weekend's project!

I'm really proud of what we've achieved out here and can't wait to landscape and furnish this area so we can sit out here and enjoy all our hard work!


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My Top 5 Book Reviews - By Australian Authors

I can't believe this will be the third Monday I don't have a book review for you but I do have a good excuse - I've been reading the longest books lately and there is no time to finish a book a week like I usually do.

The book I'm reading for Book Club at the moment Cutting For Stone is over 500 pages and the month before Molokai was over 400 pages. Phew that's a lot of reading in a month! 

So because I don't have a book review for you, instead I'm going to share my favourite books I've reviewed that are written by some brilliant Australian authors.

Here are my top 5 book reviews by Australian authors:

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is narrated by Death aka The Grim Reaper and tells the story of a young girl and her family in the midst of World War 11. This is the kind of book everyone should read, young and old, it really does tell an amazing life changing story.

This book established Markus Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia. He has written a total of 5 books and lives in Sydney with his wife and kids.

2. King Of The Road - Nigel Bartlett

This book is not for the faint hearted, it's a thriller and suspense novel about child abduction.  It was fast paced and brilliantly written, I couldn't put it down. 

Sydney based author Nigel Bartlett is a freelance writer and editor and has worked for many of the best known publications in Australia. This is his first novel. 

3. Campaign Ruby - Jessica Rudd

This is a very funny book about politics, in a Bridget Jones style of writing, that will keep you engaged and interested (even in politics) until the very end.

Jessica Rudd is the daughter of our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. She's had 3 career changes from Law, PR to Politics and now enjoys life as a writer and is based in Beijing.

4. The Contract - Avril Tremayne

This is a very entertaining and funny modern day romance about an unlucky in love 23 year old woman who signs up the services of her best friend's brother to teach her the art of seduction.

Avril Tremayne lives in Sydney and has written many novels with a similar theme - sexy, witty, modern romance novels like this one. 

5. The Girl In The Yellow Vest - Loretta Hill

This is a modern day young adult romance novel about life in a FIFO mining community in the outback of Western Australia.

Loretta Hill is from my home town of Perth, Western Australia and has become one of my favourite authors. She has written a total of 7 women's fiction books. 

You can see my Q&A interview with Loretta here and my review of her latest book The Maxwell Sisters here

I'm sure you'll like one of these books written by some real talented Aussies! 

Who's your favourite author?




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Courtyard Progress - AliTimber Fence Slats + Gate

Finishing the courtyard fence around the front of the house has been on our to do list forever and I'm so happy to finally have some updates to share as the last few weekends we've been working on it.

Let me take you back to when the limestone courtyard was built over 2 years ago now .....

The courtyard was approved by Council in March 2013 and then it was built in October 2013.

Once the limestone pillars were built we then debated on whether to use wood or metal fence slats between the pillars. 

We worked out the pros and cons of both and wood was going to be about the same price and would need ongoing maintenance. Whereas metal would need no maintenance, it is stronger, and easier to install, so in the end we couldn't resist the metal option.

When I say metal I mean aluminium which is powder coated in a wood grain look finish. It also comes with a 10 year warranty, what's not to love about that!

We got samples from metal fence companies around Perth to try to get a colour match for our jarrah garage door. 

This is where we came to a grinding halt because we couldn't find the right colour - there were various shades of jarrah but none that matched the garage door. 

So we put this project on hold and went on to renovate our kitchen, dining room, laundry and powder room.

Once we got approval to subdivide our block late last year, we knew we had to get a move on and finish the front courtyard and add some kerb appeal to the house. 

So we resumed our search for the right coloured jarrah fence slat again.

We found a pretty close match from Awards Fencing who stock AliTimber and decided to just go for it, especially when we managed to save almost $1000 to what we were quoted the previous year! 

We ordered a slatted gate which they made to size, as well as the gate posts, end caps, hinges and handle.

The fence slats are a DIY install so we had to work out how many lengths of fence panels we'd need for the courtyard, as well as channel extrusions and end caps.

The fence slats come in 5.8 metre long lengths and 3 different thicknesses - thin, medium and large - we went for the medium size which is 65 x 15.

The gate and metal slats were delivered within days and they were packaged and wrapped really well to protect them from marks and scratches. I was so impressed with the packaging, there was even plastic wrapped between each slat, so there was no way they would scratch.

The reason for the packaging is the slats scratch quite easily and we had to be very careful with nails and anything metal as we were installing them, we made a few marks on them but heard a tip you can hide the scratches with shoe polish so we'll give that a go!

The packaging made cutting the fence slats a lot easier too as we kept them wrapped and cut 5 at once which saved us a heap of time!

First of all we hung the gate, as this was already made to size it only took a couple of hours to fix the gate posts to the brick, install the hinges and hang the gate. 

As you can see Lexi is getting excited about having a whole new playground to hang out in!

Because we rendered the bricks of the house we didn't think one gate post would screw into the brick very deep due to the render/plaster on top, so to be safe we attached two gate posts together for extra strength and depth. 

We screwed the double fence post into the brick wall, attached the hinges to the gate, and then hung the gate from the posts. 

It already feels more secure and private with the gate on which is what we wanted. 

I want to put a door buzzer on the gate so we can lock it and anyone that wants to come in will have to buzz us to be let in! 

So that's about all for today's blog post, as this one is already very long (well done if you've made it all the way to the bottom here!)

Next I'll share the install of the fence slats to the courtyard. We are still finishing this after working on it over the long weekend we hope to finish it off this weekend.

What do you think of the AliTimber - can you believe it's not real jarrah?

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