Cheap Wood Picket Fence
Here on our farm, we count our pennies and look for creative ways to reuse and recycle whatever we can. Any building project no matter how small is planned way in advance. This month’s project was to build a cheap wood picket fence around the kitchen garden. We hope to keep the chickens from using it as their personal space, plus add a pretty visual to my favorite garden. We do have a poultry net electric fence around our meat chickens, but our hens get to free range while we are outside with them. The hardest part is keeping them out of my garden.
After reviewing our budget, we determined we could spare $200 to complete this project.
With a quick walk around the farm, and a few how to build a picket fence Internet searches we came up with a plan using what we already had and keeping to a $200 budget.
We already had a good supply of wood pallets behind the barn and knew we could get more if needed.
Hubby went to work taking the pallets apart and cut them into the picket shape.
I am so thankful he is good and strong because taking apart pallets is not something I can do. I was able to lend a hand in taking out the nails but other than that it was truly man’s work!
Most of our budget went to buying treated 4×4’s, and 1×6’s for the frame of the fence. The wood cost $175. Hubby measured everything out and built a frame around the whole garden first.
As hubby screwed the pickets onto the frame, I was right behind him painting. Before I decided what I was going to paint the fence with I priced out paint and determined I did not have enough left in the budget to buy paint. I only had $25 left after we purchased wood for the frame, so I had to get creative again.
I have always loved the look of white-wash, so off I went to find a recipe. I am happy I choose that method, I was able to stay within our budget, and I love the results it gave us.
Here is the recipe I used for whitewash:
- 4 cups rock salt
- 12 cups hydrated lime (This is NOT garden lime and I had to purchase it at the feed store.)
- 2 gallons of water
Mix all ingredients in a 5-gallon bucket and paint on the wood surface. I painted on one coat, let it dry for 24 hours, and then painted on a second coat.
In these pictures, it looks like we completed this project in one day, but it took us a couple of weekends. It was so rewarding that we stayed within our budget and got a beautiful cheap wood picket fence around the kitchen garden.
Thank for stopping by!
Tracy Lynn
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It looks great! I love that you repurposed what you already had on the property! I hope you’ll come share this outdoor post on tomorrow’s Maple Hill Hop!
Thanks Daisy! It was a labor of love but I am so happy with how it turned out!
That is really great, you finally got your white picket fence. What a great job you guys did.
I sure did finally get my picket fence and Craig did a wonderful job!
We are in the early planning stage for a picket fence around 2 sides of our property (the backyard has a 6 foot privacy fence. We have a deal on wood – free! My husband lies your design and I will try the white wash. Your post came at a great time!
That is wonderful! The whitewash really saved our budget and looks wonderful! Have fun with your building project!
Wow, you white picket fence is quite pretty and charming. Never would of thought to use pallet boards. I like how you cut them at the top…looks really cute. Thanks for stopping by and letting me know that you love vintage aprons as much as I do!
We are finding so many ways to use pallets…they save us so much money on buying wood for projects. Hubby is now working on a wood box for the porch and at some point we will be re-doing the porch floor using pallets. I can’t wait to share all of this great project with everyone!
I love repurposing. Your fence turned out beautiful. Glad you shared that Whitewash. We just finished a paint project, whew, paint is indeed expensive! Are you sharing on Hometalk.com? You should be!
Thanks for linking up with us at Home Matters! I always look forward to your great ideas and recipes.
Shirley I am so happy with how the whitewash turned out, but better yet was the cost savings!
I absolutely love this! THank you for such wonderful directions! would you be willing to share it with us over at Country Fair Blog Party? It would be the perfect post for our readers!
I’d be thrilled!
Jan
Jan thanks for stopping by and I will go check out the Country Fair Blog Party!
It looks great. I’ve always loved picket fences.
I have always loved them but they have always been out of my budget, but my wonderful hubby found a way we could afford to build one. I am a happy wife!
Tracy, The fence is beautiful! I love the alternating angles of the pickets. It must be much easier than trying to cut even points on all the boards. Thank you as well for sharing the whitewash recipe. I am showing this to my hubby and pinning.
I looked at so many styles and we decided on this one because it was the easiest to cut!
Wow!! How cute! How simple! Love the results! Great job Tracy!
Not for sure if this would keep the raccoon’s out of my garden, but I would love to have a fence like this around it.
Thank you for joining the Country Fair Blog Party!
Laurie – Country Link
The fence is keeping all of our chicken out of my garden, but not too sure it would keep a raccoon out?
this is one of those – “its so simple, why didn’t I think of that” moments – Thanks for sharing!
I have had those moments as well! I love to walk around craft fares and I often see things and think the same thing!
Beautiful!
I found this post by visiting the Frugal Friday Link Up Party. I love this creative use of pallets. The fence looks beautiful! 🙂
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this. My husband and I are in the process of buying a new home and we need to put up a new fence. We are currently on a budget so this is perfect.
Our recycled pallet fence was a perfect fit for us. You do have to re=paint it with the whitewash every year but it gives a nice rustic look.
I love this! I was wondering if you know how deep the posts were set into the ground. Since its short fence, you probably didn’t need to put cement around them, right? How high was the fence? Thanks so much!
Regina we only put cement in the corner posts and it is about 25″ high. Just high enough to deter the chicken from digging up my raised bed. One of our hens does jump over the fence but the rest of them have not figured that out yet!
How big of a space did you fence. It is beautiful. We spent a lot of time chasing our 12 chickens from the garden last year.
I think it is about 30×30. I have one chicken that will jump over the fence but all the others have not figured it out!
It looks great thank you!! I’ve been looking for ideas to keep the neighbors dogs and kids from cutting through my front lawn and flowers, I think this will be perfect!
How tall did you make the fence?
Rebecca it is about 30 inches tall.
How long will whitewash last?
Sharon I have been adding a new coat every spring.
Thanks for sharing this. The whitewash looks perfect! It looks so much better than painted. How did you cut the pickets? Did you cut the pallet boards lengthwise in half, then at what angle at the top?
Holly,
We did cut them in half with a circular saw and then angled the end. You can cut them any length you want for as high as you want your fence. I didn’t want a very tall fence since I wanted to see my flowers spill over the fence. The whitewash needs re-applied every year but I love the look it gives…old and rustic!
I was wondering how big is your fence? Also how many pallets did it take?
We are think about doing some of out backyard but want to see what it would cost before hand.
Love the post!!!!
Abigail I don’t remember how many pallets we used but the fence is about 30″.
Wow, I am very impressed by your blog/website and all that you do! I also live in SC (closer to the Charlotte, NC line) and have 5.65 acres of land that I’d like to start putting to good use. We have horses & currently only have an electrical fence. I’d like to replace some of that with a nicer looking fence between our neighbor’s property and the back of our home. I think I need approximately 600 feet of fencing to do that. I do have some cedar posts that I’ve saved from clearing space for the horses. My hubby really is not much into the simple homesteading life, but I’m hoping I can talk him into it. Thanks for all of your advice!
Shannon
Shannon I have met so many wonderful people from South Carolina through this blog! We have spent a good bit of time in Rock Hill up near Charlotte. My hubby works up there a lot.
Lovely fence! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home.
Fantastic job on that fence, Tracy! Looks amazing. Thanks for sharing with our link party!
This was such an adorable and smart project! I will feature Thurs. at Home Sweet Home!