Sultan sits on the Sultan River, on the way up the highway toward the trails and the passes. Yards step with the terrain. Water comes off the higher ground, crosses a lawn, and heads for the river or the ditch. A racked fence on a steep rocky slope opens a gap a dog uses, or it twists the posts. We step it, and we dig into rock instead of perching the post.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98294 · 2020 population 5,458
Step the fence with the hill
Posts on a foothill lot sometimes hit rock early. We do not stop at the first stone and call it deep. The post is founded, even if that means a different footing. The fence follows the grade in steps you can see, with the bottom gap consistent enough that you are not looking at daylight on one bay and buried board on the next.
Wind on an open slope loads a solid board fence. We say if the exposure wants a more open style. A solid sail on two posts is a future repair.
The ground in Sultan
The useful projects are the ones that make a sloped lot walkable: a gravel path that stays put, a rock wall where the bank is cutting, a drain at the top of the slope so the patio is not the creek. Forest edge is close. Alders and maples lean in, and after a wind the cleanup is limbs, not a few leaves on a patio.
Lawns exist on the benches. They need seed that can take shade at the tree line and a soil that is often thin. We do not promise a golf-course surface against the timber. Native mountain plants hold the cuts better than a bark bed that just slides downhill in January. Access for machines is usually fine along the highway side and tight once you are in the trees. We look at that before we promise a wall.
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
Posts
Deep, plumb, and crowned at the top of the footing so water sheds. The wood that touches soil is treated or it is steel. We do not set a cedar post in a soup of native clay and hope the gravel dust saves it.
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.
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.
More from this crew
- Fence installation across the region
- Retaining walls in Sultan
- Gravel installation in Sultan
- Hardscaping in Sultan
- Landscaping in Sultan
- Fence installation in Gold Bar
- Fence installation in Index
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.
