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i love being at home. my workshop and garage are places where i relax. two hours in my garage - even just cleaning, has a similar effect to a day or two leave from work. what i do not like is an impromptu audience.

my garage faces the road the. when i open my roller door then the entire shop is exposed to the road, and as any human being would, passers by always have a nice look inside. unfortunately, crime makes us skeptical of every stranger. terrible, i know but hey... having just recently had the paving in my driveway repaired and leveled my kids were aching to ride their bikes in the driveway. because of the a fore mentioned skepticism i'm not comfortable with every passerby having a little dialog with my toddlers... point was the steel palisade fence was far to open.

closing it up completely is not a very safe option either - i have been told. i decided that i'll go with an idea that i had ages ago to put wooden slats in between the galvanized steel palisades. leaving a gap between for two reasons: 1. there will still be a level of visibility through the fence, but looking in will no have to be deliberate as the small gap will not give a clear view to the moving passer-by. the second reason was wind. the steel palisades are only bolted into the clay brick wall that it it is standing on and a proper coastal storm ,m like we occasionally have will create some unwanted diy if i were to make the fence a complete barrier.

i shopped around somewhat since everything is done on a shoestring budget. the hardware shop prices were ridiculous. i found a place that treats the timber and mostly deals with round poles. the wood was pressure cooked in a chemical i only know as H3. it is rot and bug proof. (if the timber is in contact with soil then you need to use the ones treated with H4)  i used 75x25mm pine fence slats of various lengths for the different parts of the fence.

after catting all the slats to the precise lengths required, i cut the corers off the tops at 45 degree angles. i used the miter-sled that i used to make the picture frame. i simply cut one corner flipped the wood over and and cut the opposite corner. adding a stop to the sled (i just nailed it on temporarily) made the cute repeatable for every slat.

i then drilled holes (roughly 25mm) in the tops as well. i like adding a little detail to stuff. it removes the "homemade" factor. but i did not take a picture...

now it was the job of fitting the slats to the fence. my initial idea was to drill through the galvanized angle iron and bolt the wood to the steel. after careful consideration i realized that making a hole in the galvanizing would introduce rust. and that would kill my palisades fencing. so i went back to the wood shop and bought more slats. i ripped these slats down the center and used then behind the fence. putting a bolt through the fencing slat and through the wood at the back fastening it with a nut. this effectively clamped the wood to the metal without damaging the galvanizing. the bolt holes where drilled after getting the slat in place. turns out the gaps in the palisades are not nearly as accurate as they look...

and there is was. the wood was given a coat of boiled linseed oil, only because it makes the grain pop out, and that is nice. the effect is great, my kids are loving being able to play in the driveway! and i have not set foot in the garage since i finished...