fencerailingscrewswood
What can I do if the steel poles used for a fence are uneven? They're all supposed to be the same height, but for some reason, they're uneven (ie. surface is uneven, the welder din't measure correctly, etc). Every pole has a plate at the top where I can insert screws to hold a 2×4 long piece of wood. The poles and the floor cannot be changed.
What can I do if they're uneven? I was thinking of maybe using washers to fill up the extra space, but there has to be a more elegant solution.
Thanks.
Home Depot has a pretty good guide for building wire fences. If you prefer a post and rail look, you could always add a few rails to the design. It would make it look a little better and add some strength as well.
The result might look something like this:
I recently built my own garden fence from chicken wire and cedar. It managed deflect a 'direct hit' from my 80 lb. dog running full tilt. (I made the mistake of letting her in the backyard right after I finished it. It was dark out and she couldn't see the wires.) She's not a jumper, so we only had to make the fence 3' tall.
Here's the fence in progress, with 80 lb dog for size reference:
You call it a patio, so I assume it is not a wood deck (which would be easier to add a railing). I'd avoid attaching it to the house though it seems that the other end of the patio roof may be tied to the house already. Consider driving a super spike into the ground at each end to hold a post that will be the ends of the railing. At a 10 foot span, you'll want one in the center of those two as well. If driving the spike just off the patio won't work, then remove a patio stone and drive the spike where you need it. You can break/ cut the patio stone to fit around the post once its in place.
Best Answer
It depends on the size of the gap. For very small gaps, washers will work just fine. For larger gaps, cut a piece of wood (same wood as the top rail) to shim the gap, and just screw through it. If the gap is excessively large, you'll want longer screws, or you'll want to screw the shim to the long 2x4 first.