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What did you do this week (and weekend)?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
YES!
I finished a fence and got it inspected and approved this past week. Started it all the way back in July! Severely underestimated how long it would take, then had a bunch of big things come up in life (like having a baby) that delayed me even further. Finally got everything squared and cleaned up.
Made it almost entirely out of reclaimed lumber that I purchased locally for $200 (four trips with a completely filled bed on the back of my truck to pick it all up, still have a bunch left over that I'm not sure what to do with). Total monetary price of the project was around $500 including the wood, tons of deck screws, $30 fence permit, and a couple of tools that I did not have yet, like a reciprocating saw and belt sander. Not bad for a ~100-foot fence that's six feet tall and has two gates.
However, the time and effort involved was MASSIVE. I've added fence-building to the list of things I would never want to do for a living, right up there with landscape work and roofing. And to make matters worse, I started it on the first week of July. Since the 4th was on a Tuesday, I figured I would take Monday off work and have a good four day week to start it, then maybe continue working throughout the week and have it done in a week or two, definitely by the end of the month. Well here we are in December and I just now got it inspected and approved. Turns out that first week of July was super hot. And not just hot, but the hottest ever. Like that's not even a hyperbole. The hottest average temperatures recorded on planet Earth EVER recorded were all in that first week of July 2023. And that's the week I decided to start building my fence. Ain't that something.
Well, it's done, finally. Technically it needs a coat of paint, but I'll leave that to my wife since she comes from a family of painters and enjoys using the spray gun. But the actual construction of it is done. And that's the last time I ever want to do it again. Would I do things differently? You bet. Would I have started in the hottest month ever recorded? Probably not. Am I proud of it? Hell yeah, my parents recently got quoted between 6 and 11 grand for a similarly-sized fence just up the road from us (price variations due to potential layout, material, and number of gates).
That's enough rambling. Can you tell I'm excited to be done with this project? Now to start on the next project: building an entire swing set and playground in the backyard for the baby to use as she gets older. At least it's not 100 degrees any more.