New Fence Install, Day 8: Second Row of Pickets Begins

July 12, 2025

This morning, Liz was out in the suburbs and I had a day of fence work to myself. With the first row of pickets (mostly) done, I circled back to work on the second row (we’re doing a board-on-board style fence).

After about 10 minutes after fully charging, the compressor made a weird noise – like it was attempting to charge up but struggled. I bled out some air, and the thing kicked back in full force… so I figured things were fine.

As I moved along on pickets, the nails started to not go in all the way. I was thinking I kept hitting some knots, and kept adjusting the depth gauge on the nailer. Eventually, my slow brain put it together enough to check the compressor… and sure enough, the pressure was super low.

And the compressor was more or less dead.

Luckily around this time, Liz had called me and was on her way to a Menards in the suburbs, that carried cedar pickets (we had cancelled an order of 8′ boards, and realized we could do everything with just 6′ boards… which we needed more of).

I guess it’s the best of luck and timing that the compressor died when it did. Because I ran in to look up options, and Liz was most definitely going to be in the right place at the right time.

Liz, with an additional 60 pickets that she sorted and found (and loaded) herself.

And our new compressor! We had a very large 8 gallon one for the house, but decided that we didn’t need anything quite so big, moving forward. We’ve got a few nailers that require a compressor (a stapler and a brad nailer, in addition to the siding nailer)… and all of them work in the 70 – 120 psi range. So this guy seemed just fine for our purposes.

With the small tank, it fires up more often – but the sound is much, much quieter.

Re-turning the siding nailer, to figure out the right depth.

In addition to the pickets, I was cutting up some 1×6 boards to cover up the metal posts on the neighbor’s side. A lot of cutoffs (and a lot of tags from the ends of the boards).

A view of the boards along the far back of our yard.

A similar view, but including the arbor – which I continue to just love and want to show off all the time.

Another view of the fence, with a very overgrown Tippi that desperately needs a trim.

As I was working, it was definitely hot out – but a lot of breezes came by to cool things down, if only momentarily. I felt a strong sense of satisfaction, carrying boards back on my shoulder, walking across my yard.

It felt very adult. It felt very American. Walking along a bit of land that I own, and making it just a little bit better.