I've been looking at my cedar fence slowly age, and have watched my neighbors all put up the vinyl fencing. It looks good, but it's expensive and would require pulling out all the galvanized steel pipes. A guy at work says I could just replace the cedar slats with recycled plastic ones that look like wood. I could replace the 2x4's, use the same steel posts and hardware, and just throw grabber screws through the plastic slats just like they were new cedar slats.

However, I can't find anything like that on the internet. I've found plastic lumber on several sites, but not in a thin shape (like 1/2" x 6" x 6'). Everything is at least an inch thick. There seems to be lots of composite decking options (like Trex), but no individual fence boards. Is there such a thing? And how would that hold up over the years? Wouldn't it droop or warp even worse than real cedar, especially at the top?

 

Most of the plastic fencing is in a system, and the slats are usually a one piece panel. You might be able to get something made, but it won't be cheap.

 

Is your fence cedar or pine? Is it rotting or just changing colors? If you're only worried about appearance, spray it with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water, then rinse with a nozzle on the end of a garden hose. You can then stain it to make it look better.

If the fence is rotting, it's probably pine. Replacement with cedar pickets will solve the rotting issue.

 

Home Depot for sure and probably Lowes carry a 6 ft dog-earred treated pine fence board that is colored to resemble cedar. I would avoid the vinyl fence system. The solid panels catch a lot of wind and end up leaning slightly after a good storm

 

Not if the post are set right. The panels aren't even solid they are spaced just like a cedar or pine fence. Even the individual "dog ear" boards aren't even solid. It can be a life time fence if installed properly. As far a purchasing individual boards I am not sure if that is possible. As ford_six said it is sold as a series of panels.

 

Just a thought, but what about using composite deck boards? You could get a couple out of each one and it would probably hold up better than plastic/vinyl.

 

The existing fence is mainly changing color. The 'clearcoat' is coming off, and what's underneath is a much lighter shade. Whatever it is, it sure has plenty of knots in it. Compared to the panel-style vinyl fences, it looks pretty shabby.

The original fence was installed in '96, and was the only one on the block to begin with. There is a 1" space between each slat (I guess that was due to the constant winds here). Nowadays, there are plenty of adjoining fences, so I don't think wind is such a big deal anymore.

I like the pre-stained board idea. That way I don't have to worry about staining the other side of the fence. My backyard neighbor would work with me there, but the side yard neighbor has a vinyl fence that runs parallel to mine, with about 6" space in between. There is a massive amount of junk that has blow in that gap over time, plus a few aspens that have volunteered in there too. Only the cats can get into that space, so I'd never get stain on it again once it's up. I'd like to take my fence down on that side and claim the extra footage, but his fence is broke in a couple of places and leans on mine.

 

i dont like plastic fence they crack and break in real cold weather

 

I agree, last winter one of the driveways that I snow blow has a plastic fence and the neighbor piled up about 2 feet of snow along it and it cracked one panel right it two.

As for buying pre-made plastic dog eared fence boards...I have never seen them.

 

Yeah, well ..come tell that to my neighbors with the leaning vinyl fence, "professionally" installed by the fence company!

 

Professionally installed just means they got paid to do it. Ask your neighbor if he went with the low bid. It's not hard to find a contractor willing to cut corners in order to lower their price.

 

Yeah, my neighbor has had lots of problems with that fence. The panels pop out at the slightest provocation (soccer ball impact, big dogs) and I don't think the posts have any reinforcement in them. Most of the new vinyl posts and gates I've seen have aluminum cores in them, but these seem to be all plastic. They bust off right above the concrete footer. It looked like cr@p 8 years ago, and 2 sets of neighbors have moved in and out without making any improvements.

Home Depot has a sale on dog-ear cedar slats, $1.89 each. The composite decking is more like $12 for a similar size piece.

 

I had a fence installed in '89 that was red cedar 'board on board' as they called it.
It is 4 feet high and has a 1 foot high piece of lattace on top of that.

It looked really good until it became gray (weathered).
The fence installers said to wait ONE YEAR before staining.
That was too long. I should have done it within 3 or 4 months.

Here's what I did to my fence.

Pressure wash with nothing but water. (If you use a detergent or bleach, you have to rinse that off, too!)

Allow to air dry for a couple of days. The fence looked like it was new.

I went to Home Depot and got some fence/deck stain. (OIL based.)
I bought the 'Red Cedar' color.

I also bought a sprayer, like what you put down insecticide with (you know, with the pump on top).
Be sure to wear protective gear for your face and eyes!!!!!!!!

I stained my fence, inside and out.
Granted, it took almost TEN 5-gallon containers, but, my fence looked beautiful for another 10 years!

 

Exactly!!!!!

I lay concrete as a side job / hobby and you would be supprised at some of the crap the "professionals" lay.

As for your neighbors Gevans17 I would be happy to tell them that their fence wasn't installed properly because I am 99% sure it wasn't. Sure it could be some low grade vinyl fence and the poles could be bending but I highly doubt it. Most of the top manufactures such as Certainteed line the inside of their vinyl 4x4's with aluminum tubing to make them more rigid but still have the pristine white on the outside. I am pretty sure the poles weren't packed right or there is a gutter drain spout outlet right next to the leaning portion.

 

All im saying is it was straight and pretty until the wind blew it over