The first thing that I made when I started doing my house up for Halloween was a PVC fence. I found the how-to on the net and started cutting and drilling. When I was finished I had a pretty cool looking fence. Over the years I used about everthing you could think of to top it off. Nothing looked just right to me. This spring while visiting my mother I noticed the small garden fence that she had gotten at Walmart. I remarked that they would make a good top for a fence for halloween. FOR HALLOWEEN! Next thing you know I am at Walmart carrying everyone they had up to the check out.
Here is one of the garden fence pieces. The ones that I got were from Walmart and they cost $1 each. It takes four to make up the topper for each length of fence that is being built. All the measurements in the how-to are for this fence. If you use a different fence for a topper then the measurements may not be the same
You will need 3 pieces of 1X2’s that are 8 ft long for each section that you build. I measured the garden fence and found that I needed to drill the first hole 3 inches from one end.
Next measure 5 and 13/16 inches to the next hole. All the hole from this point on will be marked 5 and 13/16 inches apart. It will take a total of 16 holes for 1X2.
You can use one of the fence pieces to measure for the holes once you have made a few marks. If you look at the picture you can see that the post with the finials on the garden fence with line up with the marks that are being made for the holes.
The fence section will be 93 inches long. At the opposite end of the 1X2 mark 3 inches to be cut off.
Once all the marks for the holes have been made use a ruler to mark the center of the 1X2. This cross will be where you drill each hole.
With all the drill holes marked on the first 1X2 it can now be used as a template for the rest of the 1X2 boards.
It’s a good idea to use a center punch to make an indent at all the spots that you will drill. This will help keep the drill bit from drifting.
A 3/4 Forstner drill bit will make quick work of drilling the holes for the fence. Forstner drill bits cut fast and leave a very smooth hole.
With all the holes drilled cut the 3-inch piece off the ends of the 1X2s.
Notice that the ends of the 1X2 are not the same. Make sure that when you install the PVC you have all three 1X2s lined up with the same ends all on one side.
How long you cut the PVC depends on how tall you want your fences. I used two different thicknesses of 1/2 inch PVC. The shorter pieces are made from thin wall PVC and are 27 inches long. The longer pieces that will be driven into the ground are thick wall and are 36 inches long. You need 14 27-inch lengths and 2 36-inch lengths for each section.
With all the PVC cut start to assemble the fence. Start with the top rail. This picture is a bit misleading. The longer PVC is to be put in the second hole from each end.
Here you can see why the smaller length PVC is a thin wall and why the longer ones are placed in the second holes from the end. The garden fence stakes slide into the thin wall PVC.
A pilot hole is drilled into the top rail and a 1-inch wood screw is screwed into 1X2 and through the PVC and fence stake to hold the fence together
Continue to Screw the PVC to the top tail till they are all secure.
The final two 1X2s slide onto the PVC.
Measure 19 inches from the bottom of the top rail to the top of the next. Fasten it with a 1 in wood screw as you did the top. I measured and fastened each end and the middle first then fastened the rest.
With the middle rail finished measure so that there is 5 inches between the middle and bottom rail and fasten it as you did the rest.
Here is its all together
With most fences that I have seen on the net, you use black spray paint to paint the fence. I think that if you were to go to a real Haunted house (one that has not had a human living in it for decades) the fence just might not be black. This one will be rusty with the help of a sponge and some Nutmeg Brown craft paint.
First, as with all PVC fences, you will need to paint it black. It takes about 2 cans of flat spray paint to paint each section that you build.
Just tap the sponge in the brown craft paint and then lightly tap over the areas that you want rusted.
The above pictures will give you an idea of how the rust looks. I used more paint on the tops of the fence and around the edges.
There you have it. The finished fence. It sure looks better than the first one that I made with the pumpkin toppers that people kept mistaking for toilet bowl floats!
I hope you enjoyed this how-to. If you have any comments or ideas I would love to here them