The Stillaguamish sits on the north edge of town, and a lot of the yards along the valley floor are old river ground: fertile when it drains, and a slick gray clay when it does not. Winter rain piles up against houses that back toward the Centennial Trail and the river parks, and the lawn stays soft long after the street looks dry. A shallow post in valley clay heaves and rots. We go deep, and we do not let the bottom board sit in the grass that never dries.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98223 · 2020 population 19,847
Posts in clay that stays wet
Flat ground makes a straight fence look easy and hides a soft hole. We bell the bottom of the hole or we set the post so it cannot lift. Concrete is crowned. A dish of concrete around a post is a cup of water against the wood all winter.
Gates on flat ground still need a brace and a latch that works when the wood is swollen in January. We build for that month, not for the dry Saturday we install.
The ground in Arlington
Arlington is a valley town, not a hillside suburb. Lots near the farmland and the trail are often open to the west wind and sit on clay that holds water. After a wet week the soil smears under a boot and the moss moves into any thin spot in the grass. Houses closer to the river have a second problem: the ground is low, so a downspout that just dumps at the foundation has nowhere useful to send the water.
We plan work around that. Drainage goes in before we talk about a patio or a new lawn. Native plantings that actually belong on this floodplain — vine maple, salmonberry, and other understory that can take wet feet — do better than a plant list copied from a drier lot. Gravel paths and low rock work fit the rural edges of town without pretending the soil is something it is not.
How we do the work
A fence in this county fails at the post. Wood rots where it meets wet soil, and a post set in a soft hole leans when the clay shifts. We set posts deep, we crown the concrete or the rock so water does not pool on the wood, and we keep the bottom of a board fence off the ground so it is not wicking mud.
Cedar for the boards, pressure-treated or steel where it touches the soil. We do not bury untreated lumber. Gates are built as gates, with a brace, not as a short panel that sags by August.
What we look at first
- The property line, before we dig
- Slope, and whether the fence should step or rack
- Who keeps the good side, and where the gates need to swing
- Sprinklers and the neighbor’s grade
Gates
A diagonal brace in the right direction, hinges that can carry the weight, and a latch you can open with one hand. The gate post is bigger or deeper than the line posts. A sagging gate is a build problem, and it shows up fast.
Stepped or racked
Stepped panels on a real slope, so the boards stay plumb and the gaps stay even. Racking a flat panel down a hill twists the frame. We pick the method from the grade, not from a photo.
How long cedar lasts
A well-set cedar fence in this rain is often in the fifteen to twenty year range, longer if the bottom stays dry and you stain it before it goes gray and split. The posts outlive a careless bottom board. We build so you can replace boards later without replacing the line.
More from this crew
- Fence installation across Snohomish County
- Retaining walls in Arlington
- Gravel installation in Arlington
- Hardscaping in Arlington
- Landscaping in Arlington
- Fence installation in Marysville
- Fence installation in Granite Falls
- Fence installation in Stanwood
Sources for the climate and the water
- USDA plant hardiness map for choosing plants that can take a Snohomish County winter.
- EPA WaterSense on watering less once a lawn or a new planting is established.
- EPA Soak Up the Rain on keeping roof and yard water from becoming someone else’s problem.
