Mount Deck Rail Posts
Notching posts over the band board, staging the carriage bolts so plumb survives tightening, and blocking so the rail takes a real lateral load.
Space Fence Slats Evenly and Level Using One Slat as the Gauge
Technique: Even Fence Slat Spacing
The Problem
A run of fence slats shows every error at once. The top edges sit in a line the eye reads instantly, so one slat 3mm proud reads as a mistake from across the garden, and the gaps between slats do the same thing — two slats a little tight makes the next gap a little wide, and by the end of the run the drift is obvious.
Measuring each slat individually doesn't fix it. A tape measure hooked on the top rail gives you a fresh chance to be a millimetre out on every board, and those millimetres accumulate in one direction.
The Technique
The whole method sets up two references first, then repeats one motion.
- Decide how far the slats stand proud of the top rail and mark that height on one slat. Fix that slat at the start of the run and check it for plumb — every other slat on the fence is taken off this one.
- Fix a matching slat at the far end of the run the same way, plumb and at the same height.
- Run a string line between the tops of those two slats and pull it tight. This is the line every slat's top edge comes up to, so it has to be tight enough not to sag in the middle — a slack line puts a dip in the centre of the fence.
- Find the straightest spare slat you have and drive a small nail through its side, near the top, so the nail head projects. This is the spacer.
- Hang the spacer on the top rail by that nail, so it sits against the last fixed slat and holds itself in position. Both hands are now free.
- Push the next slat up tight against the spacer, bring its top edge to the string line, and fix it.
- Lift the spacer off, move it along past the slat you just fixed, and hang it again for the next one.
Pro tip: The nail is what makes this better than the usual offcut-as-spacer trick. An offcut has to be held in place with one hand while you position the slat with the other and fix it with a third you don't have. Hooking the spacer on the rail means it stays put on its own, and it stays put at the same height every time, which an offcut wedged by hand does not.
Pro tip: Re-check plumb every five or six slats rather than trusting the run. Timber is not perfectly straight — a bowed slat will lean the next one slightly, and small leans compound in one direction. Catching it every few boards means correcting a millimetre or two across the next few slats instead of discovering a visible tilt at the end of the fence.
Safety note: The string line sits at head height across the run and is nearly invisible once you stop looking at it. Tie a rag or a strip of tape to the middle of it if anyone else is working on the fence line, and take it down before you carry anything past.
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