# Faux Wrought Iron Fence



## STOLLOWEEN (Apr 13, 2008)

Posted the instructions for making a Faux Wrought Iron Fence from 1x2 inch boards, ½ inch PVC and sheets of craft foam, the process is fairly simple but gives some impressive results.




























The tutorial can be found here.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Brilliant! I've been looking for alternatives to the plastic finials. and this seems to work well. Looks terrific, and the how-to was very well put together....as your fence was.
Thanks!


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

Wow, you've used some alternate materials/methods here with excellent results!


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Would have never thought (believed) those were foam. They look great! How many linear feet of fence fo you have altogether? Looks like a sizeable lot.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Thanks for taking the time to document the build of this beautiful fence.


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## STOLLOWEEN (Apr 13, 2008)

Thanks everyone...I'm really happy with the look of the new fence/gate....as I mentioned in the tutorial if you can use all black foam it will make the painting easier. I used a power sprayer to cover the first five 8-foot sections and still had many areas where the bright red/yellow/blue/green foam showed. I hand painted the last two sections with better results. There is a total of 56 feet of fence in the photos. Also, happy to share the build process of this fence...it's so simple, I hope everyone finds it useful.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Thanks Scott, I needed to get some new finials this year an this may solve the problem.


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## Ramonadona (Nov 4, 2011)

Yep, yep...I needs me some craft foam finials!!! Thanks Stolloween!


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Amazingly simple - Astoundingly effective!


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## Palmdale Haunter (Mar 3, 2012)

Wow! Looks amazing!


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

Very clever alternative for purch'ing the decorative parts.


I gotta say, though.. all those little triangles make me dizzy just looking at them. That had to be insanely tedious.
how much time did it take overall to complete the project?


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## STOLLOWEEN (Apr 13, 2008)

Tracing and cutting the foam was the most tedious part but it only took a couple of hours...the whole project was completed in a weekend.


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

I have always wanted to do a fence, but I wasn't really sure I wanted to go the pre made finial route. This fence version might finally push me to build one. I added your tutorial to my saved _to do list_! Thanks for sharing, it turned out great!


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## Jooky (Nov 10, 2010)

That looks really great. How did you decide on 4 foot lengths of PVC pipe? Seems like that would generate a lot of waste pipe since most of what I see comes in 10 foot sections. Did you find a good source for 20 foot lengths or something? Also, about how many sheets of craft foam did you use? I need to make about twice as much fence as you did (120 linear feet) and I am concerned about the cost. Once again, that is a great looking fence.


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

This is a great look. I'm either going to be adding onto or re-doing my fence for next year and I'm definitely borrowing this.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

If you had an arrowhead-shaped cookie cutter (modified a little) you could southern engineer a die to mass produce the finials. Put the cookie cutter on a stack of foam, place a block of wood on top and drop a sledge (lightly) on it. I really like the material application.

How does the craft foam act (bend, warp, flex, etc...) in the sunlight and/or warmer temps?


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## jdblue1976 (Nov 18, 2010)

Fabulous! How long did it take to do your yard?


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## MapThePlanet (Nov 12, 2010)

Looks great, thanks for the Tutorial too!


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## STOLLOWEEN (Apr 13, 2008)

Jooky said:


> That looks really great. How did you decide on 4 foot lengths of PVC pipe? Seems like that would generate a lot of waste pipe since most of what I see comes in 10 foot sections. Did you find a good source for 20 foot lengths or something? Also, about how many sheets of craft foam did you use? I need to make about twice as much fence as you did (120 linear feet) and I am concerned about the cost. Once again, that is a great looking fence.


I did use 10 foot sections which resulted in 2 feet of unused PVC, but I chose a 4 foot high fence because it worked best with my existing columns plus I did not want the fence too high to obstruct the view of what will be placed in the cemetery. For each 8 foot section I used about 6 sheets of craft foam, each sheet being 11.8 inches x 17.7 inches. I picked up a 12 sheet pack of foam at Walmart for about 5 dollars each. I do have several uses for the 2 foot leftover sections of PVC that I will share once my display is up and running.


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## STOLLOWEEN (Apr 13, 2008)

jdblue1976 said:


> Fabulous! How long did it take to do your yard?


The fence set-up was about 45 minutes...to fill the area behind the fence will take about 6 hours. Typically I prep everything in the back yard so my set-up just involves moving everything from the back yard to the front. I get a bit faster (and smarter) every year.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

STOLLOWEEN said:


> I picked up a 12 sheet pack of foam at Walmart for about 5 dollars each.


Craft foam packs - 36 sheets for $1 (Dollar Tree)


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## Jooky (Nov 10, 2010)

Stolloween

Thanks for the reply. Pricing online for 20 foot sections is ridiculous. 42 cents per foot at most online vendors, with outrageous shipping, so I think I will stick with 10 foot sections. I figure if I make my fence 40 inches tall, I can get 3 lengths per 10 foot pipe. While it won't be quite as impressive as yours, I think it will fine for my yard. You do some amazing stuff and I love looking at your site.


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

A nice, new twist on an old favorite. Brilliant!


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## thegreatob (Oct 19, 2009)

Totally stealing this as we speak.


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## Darkwalker (Jul 4, 2010)

Beautiful! I think I've found my new fencing.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Stoll fantastic job! I want to make this fence for next year can you give us the spacing distances? How far from the ends of the pipe was the wood screwed in? What is the distance between the two upper sections of wood? they are look to be about 4 to 5 inches? Also when you screwed the the pipe to the wood did you pre-drill the holes? did any of the boards crack when you screwed them to the pipe? Sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure I have all the details correct


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

The craft foam finials are pure genius! I had about 60ft of new fence that did not have finials. I saw this last month and knocked out new finials in one afternoon, then installed and painted them the next. You can't tell they are made of foam at all. I did not take my fence down until a week ago, and the finials held up to the weather with no problems. 

If you are making a larger piece using the foam, you can embed a wooden skewer or wire between two pieces for support. Cheap, fast, relatively tough, and effective. This one's a winner.


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks a cool effect to the look.


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Great job on the fence! So much detail and work put into it and it really paid off! Looks great!!!


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