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The block arrived early this morning...by the end of the day, our fence was complete; all that is left is the "ironwork"...

I am going to try and make this shorter and sweeter than the last article; I get long winded, I know!

They brought the block in on a flatbed truck this morning at about 5:00am, and off-loaded it fairly quietly overall. Once on the ground, the crew arrived and started moving the block in place. Once again, I am amazed at their skill and efficiency; 4 or 5 guys and a lot of "back-breaking" labor moved all the blocks properly into position inside of an hour or so. Once they had about half the blocks in place, they started to mix cement and place them. I left for work.

My wife calls me up later while I am at work, and she is so excited. Yesterday, she was a little flustered because of the way the yard looked after they left for the day (as you can tell from the pictures in the previous article, the yard was a bit trampled). Today was a 180 degree turn-around; she really loves and enjoys the new fence:

Fence Work: SE Wall Questions or Comments?

Our new front gate is so much better than what was there before: A wooden monstrosity bolted to a rusting welded I-beam from the 70's, threatening to fall apart if you so much as looked at it cockeyed. Now we have a much wider gate through which we can easily move yard debris and tools. I can't wait to see new gate installed.

Fence Work: South Wall Questions or Comments?

   

Fence Work: SW Wall Questions or Comments?

Down the southern wall we share with our neighbors, and to the southwestern corner; our new pedestrian path gate beckons. My wife took our dog out for a walk along the pedestrian path this evening, and when she returned she was so happy about the addition. Our old fence had no way to access the path, except by climbing over, which isn't fun (even our dog has done it, though, when she was younger!). This will allow for easy access for walking or biking (or, for some of you longer-time visitors to my site, riding my electric bike, if I ever get my lazy butt back to work on it - ahem).

Fence Work: Rear Wall Questions or Comments?

   

Fence Work: Pedestrian Side Questions or Comments?

Looking north along the rear wall, from our side and from the pedestrian path side of things. Both of these views also give a look at the view portals, which will be fitted with ironwork fencing tommorow, and give us a much better view of the drainage channel, canal, and far trees. Also note the presence of drainage holes along the bottom of the fence. In the past, we have had days during our monsoon season where it rained for so hard, so long that the backyard ground became saturated. Our soil is a clay-like composition, and so it doesn't drain well. With the old fence, it would hold the water in, and once it nearly came into the house, it was so flooded and deep. These drainage holes should prevent such an incident from happening again.

Fence Work: Northwest Corner Questions or Comments?

   

Fence Work: North Wall and Shed Questions or Comments?

Here are two views along the wall which originally toppled. The first shows the northwest corner, as well as a closer view of the drainage hole. It's difficult to see in this picture (it is clearer from the ones above along the west wall), but the drainage hole is that lattice block, plus two smaller blocks below it; it's about a square foot of drainage, and there are three along that back wall. Along with the gap at the pedestrian gate, there shouldn't be any more flooding issues.

The second image looks west toward the shed. There isn't much more to say. It's solid, it's straight, and it's plumb. This is one hell of a fence...

Fence Work: Backyard View 1 Questions or Comments?

   

Fence Work: Backyard View 2 Questions or Comments?

...as well as one hell of an improvement to the look and value of our backyard!