Hi,

We just moved into our first house and are starting some (hopefully) small projects. One is adding a gate to our fence so we can walk directly out to the park like many of our neighbors. I asked at HD what type of wood fence this was and they thought it was a pressure treated pine but another employee thought it could even be spruce. I was just curious if anyone had a more definitive thought/opinion. Typically, do the railings come with the round tapered ends or is that something I would need to do? Same question for the top of the posts.
Thanks for your help!

 

Welcome to the forums.

PT wood isn't going to match even if you get the species right due to the age of the existing wood so I wouldn't be worried about pine, spruce or fir. Have you looked at the supply available at the box stores as well as local lumber yards?

 

I haven't seen anything in stock at either HD or Lowe's, I have yet to go to a lumberyard but will call around today. Both of the big box stores said they could order and have it here by mid-June (June 16 I think was the rough estimate) so not too long of a wait.

I see your point on color and didn't think of that, I wonder if my initial plan might need some revising in terms of attempting to match color/style/etc perfectly.

Thanks again.

 

The easiest way to get a color match would be to stain all the fencing [new and old] with a semi-transparent or solid stain. There will still be grain/texture differences but the color will be pretty much the same. I haven't used it in a long time but a bleaching oil stain might also be an option for the new PT wood. You could also just let nature take it's course - the new will be weathered similar to the old in a year or two.

 

Check out this web site:

Fencing | Morgan Timber Products | Your Forest Stewardship Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

 

thanks Wirepuller and Marksr for the advice.

Wirepuller that website looks perfect thanks for that, they aren't too far away either so that's a plus. Thanks again!

 

This response is based on opinion plus experience ..

If you are only trying to cut in a gate way on this fence why not change it up a little bit? You could install an iron gate in the middle of a line of split rail or round rail fencing and it would look awesome.
You could also install a typical spaced picket fence gate in the middle of the line and it too would look awesome...
Maybe even a general rail gate used for areas that contain horses...

There is no rule for what type of gate needs to be installed on post and rail type fences... Most times if its a walk way or even a driveway the best thing you could do is change the type of materials used so that you would enhance the opening... showing people that this is the way in.

Arbors also work very well to enhance openings in fence lines..

As for the type of wood you have there... It does not matter if it is Pressure treated Spruce or Pine... Both will gray the same way over time.

It does not look like Cedar... Most places would not pressure treat a cedar anyway.

If I had to take my best guess from far away I would say this is Pine.

No matter what the type... you could custom cut the ends of the rail to resemble and fit into that type of post.

If you need to custom cut the post all you need is a 2 inch diameter hole saw.

To custom cut the rail you would cut the end of the rail to box it out... to a 3 inch square end... then trim off the corners of the box making into an octagon... then trimming off those corners to make it more like a spindle.
You would likely be able to fit the squared end into the post.. and for sure the octagon end more easily... There really is no need to cut the post into a spindle.. but it can be done.

Good luck in your fencing project...

If you have any questions on the change up in materials feel free to do a search on line... Putting something like "wood gate with split rail fencing"... Or "iron gate with split rail fencing"... The search will show some interesting views..

Greg's Fence NJ~

 

Sorry for the delay in posting this but thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas. I ended up doing something different than originally planned (thanks GregsFence) and purchased the new posts from Morgan Timber (thanks Wirepuller38). It's a basic gate but works perfectly for our needs. Thanks again!