Fence Progress GC came by Monday still thinking 10' rails. I'm glad, because he might have sent the stuff back to Lowes for 8' lumber otherwise, just to save money. We compromised on 9 feet. It's hard to get post holes perfect with just an X marked on the ground with orange paint. Suppose two posts happened to be 10' 4" apart? How do you attach a rail then? If 2 posts are on a slope, the rail should be cut at an angle. I don't want them to cut corners, just angles. A man in a Bobcat and a posthole digger attachment showed up shortly. They left with approximately 35 holes in the yard. Why does this remind me of "Bringing up Baby?" No one showed up Tuesday. Would the man whose job it was to fill the holes back up arrive today, before the man whose job it was to put posts in the holes yesterday? No, they are out there this morning setting posts. Just 2 people. It's going slowly. I wish they wouldn't use concrete. What if the neighbor breaks a post with his car. How do you fix that with a big chunk of concrete in the ground? I don't want to watch anymore. I didn't overthink this project enough.
When I was doing home repairs for folks, we did a number of handicap ramps and some deck extensions. We had to pour concrete around the uprights (actually, we dumped dry Sakrete out of the bag, tamped it around the post and either wet it down or relied on rain & ground water.) I'm not sure I understand what benefit it conferred (other than meeting Code.) Maybe it prevented the entire assembly from leaning.
(9/20/23) Wednesday The post-setters finished yesterday with 39 posts. The rail-putters are here already this morning.
In this part of Georgia they probably do it to keep from having to dig deeper holes and to save money buying shorter posts. The ground rarely freezes below 3 or 4 inches. Some winters not at all. Just got back from talking to GC. They were planning to run the wire all the way down to touch the ground, 9 inches below the bottom rail of the fence. Yikes! That would be bad in so many ways. It means they will have to cut off some of the 48" wire mesh, but so be it. They should have bought 36" fence wire. It's my fault. I should have planned this out better beforehand. I assumed they would know better about fencing than I do. I do have some experience with field fence, but it's mostly how to cut trees off of it.
To make the dogs have to work a little harder to get through the fence. I know they can still go under, but they would do that anyway if they have a mind to, and then bend the bottom wire all out of shape. Besides if the wire touches the ground, it will rust quicker, even if it's galvanized. He is also going to move the bottom rail down to 7" above ground instead of 9. Dodged several bullets.
You know what? There's something to that. The rails are all up. The yard looks bigger, but if feels a little claustrophobic now. When the wood turns black it will blend in better. I may take another video when they leave. The birds like the fence, but the not squirrels and ground squirrels. I used to watch the ground squirrels scurry as fast as they could across the yard, from one hedge to another. Probably worried about our resident hawk.
Fencing is not the only thing going on lately. It's always something, and they usually happen all at the same time. The cat has not been eating for 2 days. Yesterday the side of her face started swelling up. Pretty sure it was a bad tooth. The vet school does not have a small animal "dentist" and therefore refused to even look at her. The regular vet is booked up for 2 days and cannot see her, but thought it should be looked at immediately. They recommended another practice. The doctor at the new place showed me the bad tooth, the abscess, and when she pushed on it, it started draining. They gave her an antibiotic shot that is supposed to last 14 days. I don't believe it's working at all. Also pain killer, fluids, drew blood, and sent us home. (Any vet could have done that.) Since she is 15.5 years old, they will not drain the abscess until blood work comes back, because it requires sedation. Probably not until Monday. Tonight she is not doing well at all. Her face is swollen more. Still not eating, lethargic, limping on the back legs. Can hardly move. The vet tech gave the pain killer orally and most of it ended up on my hand. I'm tempted to give a second dose. I'm guessing this will mean at least 4 visits. First to drain the abscess and stop the infection, then likely a tooth extraction, then a follow up. I feel bad for her. Thought things would at least be better, not worse. This is stressful to say the least.