# Cemetary Fence WIP



## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Hi all-

Been working on things over the summer. I still need to complete my electric chair prop, that will be accelerating in the next month or so. Keep an eye out for that.

But, my attention turned to building a cemetery fence for my front yard. After seeing a few builds here and elsewhere, I decided I must pursue this!

I decided I wanted to go with simple, monolithic, masonry-like corner pillars. They are built on a 2x2 frame with 2x4's acting to hold it together. These are all butt-joints with screws. They are 7 feet tall and are 19.5 inches on each side. They are faced with 1/4 inch wafer board, rough side out. This stuff is cheap, and exterior rated. They are $7 per 4x8 sheet. I attached simple corner brackets for the purpose of attaching the fencing components. They are screwed into the 2x4 pieces to give them a solid attachment point.










For the masonry look, I thought about a lot of different options, but settled on a simple skim coat of mortar. I thought this would help add to the effect, where it looks like the posts could be very old and have been cheaply and quickly repaired by slathering mortar on them.

I used TEC Sturdy Flex Thin Set Mortar. This is the stuff made for laying tile and can be found at any big box hardware store. It's made to adhere to wood substrates, and seems to stick to the wafer board very well. I used a concrete trowel to apply a skim coat. I found you have to put it on kind of thick or else the pattern from the wafer board will show through. I purposely left the skim coat rough looking so it would actually look like masonry, and again, add to the effect. I did one side of each pillar and let it dry for a day. Repeat for the remaining sides.










Here are all 4 corners finished and dry. They look great as-is, but the mortar is not water resistant. I may give them a quick coat of gray exterior paint to help with that. Some of the glue/dye came through the mortar and left yellow marks. I wasn't sure about these at first, but I've come to like the pock-marked look. Again, I think it adds to the effect. These will surely bleed through any paint I apply. That's OK. Its creepy standing among these things. Reminds me of the Stones of Blood, a Tom Baker era Dr. Who. A good, creepy watch for anyone who hasn't seen it.










Next: the fence


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

The lengths of fencing are fairly standard design. 1/2 inch PVC pickets topped with finials from King Architectural Metals. My process was a little different from other projects. I grabbed SCH20 pipe. This is thinner and cheaper than the SCH40 pipe. I did have some SCH40 laying around that I used up in this project.

I cut the pieces to length; 3 feet 3 inches and 3 feet 6 inches as I recall. In order to attach the finials, I heated the end of the pipe with a propane torch until it was malleable and simply inserted it into the finial. After cooling the result is the end of the pipe has taken the shape of the finial.










Unfortunately, the finial does not stay attached and kids would make off with all them! I grabbed some universal pipe cement and used it to glue the finials to the pipes. I think these finials are ABS, so you cannot use regular PVC cement. The Oatey all purpose cement seems to have worked great.










Next, I primed the pipes and finials with matte black primer. I used Rust Oleum 2x coverage primer. Works great and sticks to the plastic very well. This will be the final finish. I grabbed some rust colored spray paint that I will use to add some rust to the fence later.










In the meantime, I ripped 1x4 pine boards in half and drilled 7/8 inch holes through them every 6 inches with the drill press. I then built a jig using old pallets and assembled the fencing pieces. The jig trick I learned in a WIP somewhere. I can't give credit cause I don't remember where I saw it, but it was an awesome idea. Gorilla glue to hold it all together.










Here's what they look like after assembly. Just need to paint the wood cross pieces and we are good to go!










More coming...


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Update Oct 11, 2015

I had a chance to put the final touches on the corner columns. The mortar I used to coat the outside is not water resistant. The different bags were not always the same shade and some yellow bled through from the waferboard underneath. I painted them with exterior flat paint tinted gray. Its the same paint I use on my tombstones. I thought the yellow blotches would bleed through, but they did not. I was left with a very nice looking finish.

Before:









After:









But, that like-new finish cannot stand. These must be aged. I used the watered down paint and water sprayer method. I used watered down paint at the top and squirted water on it to make it run. I'm not sure I'm crazy about how they turned out, but it will do for this year.










I'm going to add an update to the last page for the fence pickets. That part was fun.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

This is going to be one good looking fence! Lot of hard work and it shows.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

Your fence will be a great addition


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Love it! That is going to add a ton of spooky to your display this year!


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## scoobycraig45 (Sep 16, 2015)

looks awesome, i too have been thinking about making a new fence this year, where did you find the fence finals, everywhere i look they are so expensive.


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## iowachap (Aug 19, 2015)

*This is from company he said, 23 cents a piece on cheap ones*



scoobycraig45 said:


> looks awesome, i too have been thinking about making a new fence this year, where did you find the fence finals, everywhere i look they are so expensive.


http://www.kingmetals.com/Catalog/CatalogListing.aspx?CatalogId=c39&CatalogDetailId=527&NSM=Y


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Really like this thread. I'm rebuilding my fence next year and just bought a box of the same finials from another member here. This is a nice, simple tutorial with lots of helpful pointers. I'll be referring to this when I do my build.


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

iowachap said:


> http://www.kingmetals.com/Catalog/CatalogListing.aspx?CatalogId=c39&CatalogDetailId=527&NSM=Y


I used the 3/4" finials for this project. Those worked very well, but they do cost a tad more.


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Be sure to catch the corner column update in post 3 of this thread.

Here's the story on the fence pickets. I needed to put the finishing touches on those and set up smaller posts to sit in between the lengths of fencing, since I didn't want to make a huge column every 8 feet along the fence.

I stole the idea here. Bascially, you use 2 inch PVC for the mid-posts and put a piece of 1/2 inch PVC inside for stabilization. You can then drop the mid-post over some rebar pounded into the ground and this will help support your lengths of fencing. The rounds for the insert are held on the 1/2 inch PVC with Gorilla Glue.


















The inserts sit loose inside and are held in by the screws on the corner brackets. That way they won't fall out.









Here they are after assembly and painting.










But they are so boring!


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

I thought long and hard about what to top them with. Then I thought "Skulls! Skulls go with anything." Lucky for me, skeleton factory had these and they are perfect! With no modification, they fit right on.










In order to keep them from blowing or walking away, I put a single screw through the back of the skull to attach it to the PVC.









Here it is set up temporarily. I'm waiting for the utility locate guys to mark my yard. I will then start driving rebar into the ground and set this thing up. Can't wait!


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Here is the fence all set up. I need 2 or more fence sections, but that will be for next year. Thanks for reading everyone!


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## tjc67 (Jul 28, 2013)

Looks great. Were the skulls you used for the posts open underneath already for mounting or did you have to cut the bottom? 
I did something similar with my short posts but used smaller skulls attached to pvc caps so I could store them separately. Been using them for 7 years now so getting to the end of their life cycle and considering alternatives (plus I like the bigger skulls).


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## Iniquity (Oct 13, 2015)

It's looking awesome! I love the skulls on the posts.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

The fencing turned out well. Gives a very finished look to the yard.


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## Hsnopi (Oct 26, 2012)

I'm amazed at how you all actually get the time to do these projects! they seem so ambitious.


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

tjc67 said:


> Looks great. Were the skulls you used for the posts open underneath already for mounting or did you have to cut the bottom?
> I did something similar with my short posts but used smaller skulls attached to pvc caps so I could store them separately. Been using them for 7 years now so getting to the end of their life cycle and considering alternatives (plus I like the bigger skulls).


No modification at all. The skulls have a large opening on the bottom. They slid right on the 2 inch PVC without any trouble.


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Hsnopi said:


> I'm amazed at how you all actually get the time to do these projects! they seem so ambitious.


As I recall, I started this projection in June or July working on occasional days. I was still working on it until last week. They can take a lot of time. That's for sure.


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## jasonsbeer (Nov 12, 2014)

Thanks for the nice comments. I really think this project took my display to the next level. The neighbors have already been over to check it out. I think next year I will add a few more sections of fence to make it longer and will probably put capstones on the pillars, too.


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