Paling warping

[mike88]

Anyone have experience glueing back paling? Would Gorilla Glue hold it back in place?

 

[Poppop]

 @mike88  Replacing them is probably your only sensible solution. If they've dried enough to warp they'll probably split if you try to flatten them back out again. The main problem with treated pine palings is that they are sold as "wet" timber and not kiln dried. I've seen 100mm wide palings shrink down to 95mm when they dry out and if they're not secured from every possible angle they'll twist up like a piece of licorice. That's why they're only $2.00 each.

[mike88]

Thanks @Poppop - appreciate the feedback. If I replace them, how can I prevent the same issue not happening again?

[Poppop · Accepted solution]

@mike88 I'm not sure if you can completely prevent it happening with that style of fence. If you look at my gallery you'll see I make a lot of garden ornaments and yard furniture out of palings. But when I design something I try to plan it so there's 2 nails or screws every 400mm or to hold everything flat. (Not really possible with a fence) I also buy bundles of 25 or 30 at a time and stack them with spacers in between each one.  Then strap the bundle  up tightly and let them dry out while being held flat for a couple of weeks before I use them. But for a fence I could only suggest fully painting the new boards before you nail them up. That might slow down the warping process a bit. Or maybe use some palings as horizontal rails on the back side of the fence so you can nail through two over lapping vertical palings and into the horizontal rail at the back. Or if you're prepared for a long term investment, look at replacing them with hardwood palings.

 Good luck

[Poppop]

If you use the horizontal rail idea. Try putting the nail in well away from the edge to avoid splitting. Place it so the nail goes in beside the inner palings. The pressure from the outer paling will keep it flat. Pre drill the holes and use screws for an even grip. I hope my picture makes sense. 

 

[Gosurvey]

Glue won't work. Palings are cheap...replace the warped ones with new, and this time...pre drill them and screw them in. Don't use nails....they will split. You're welcome...

[JackR]

The answer is two part solution . Instal a top rail and use galvanis thin ribbon that the top picket nails go through. The top rail protect the top ends of the pickets and the thin metal ribbon hold the full width of the pick in place for the full length of the fence.

[KevinMall]

good point, done exactly this myself ie predrilled and then used square head torque screws and of course painted them too.

[PhoenixClose1]

I have the same problem now (in 2024).

Some questions ---

1) Some have suggested using screws (instead of nails) and predrilling for putting new replacement palings:

- which screws are recommended to use for standard width paling (in VIC)? 

- if I predrill, how far do I predrill?  Do I predrill just the new paling or also into the railing or other paling I'm attaching to?

2) Do I avoid the hole where the old nail used to be or should I aim to reuse that hole?

3) Sometimes the railing has seen better days but I don't want to replace them, is there something cheap I can do to prep it before attaching a new paling (eg, will an easy to use filler like Parfix All Purpose be of any benefit?)

Thanks

[JacobZ]

Hi @PhoenixClose1,

Thank you for your questions about re-fixing warped palings on your fence.

1. You can use Zenith 8 - 10 x 40mm Galvanised Countersunk Rib Head Timber Screws as this will go through the paling, which is usually 16mm thick and into the rail, which is usually 38mm thick. 
   
   You should predrill through the paling and into the rail. This removes material so the timber is not forced outwards and does not split. In the case of a 40mm screw, you should predrill 40mm from the face of the paling. You can put a piece of tape on your drill bit, 40mm from the tip to let you know when to stop.
    
2. You can reuse the nail hole as long as the diameter of the screw is larger than the diameter of the hole. If the screw is too narrow, then the thread will not bite into the timber and will not create enough force to hold the paling in place.
    
3. When you say the railing has seen better days, is the issue that the timber is rotted? Or that there is cracking that won't allow a screw to bite into the timber?
   
   Fillers are generally used to fill nail and screw holes before painting, so a filler product will not be particularly useful in this application. If you could provide some further details of the issue I'd be happy to offer some guidance. Some photos would also certainly help.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[PhoenixClose1]

Thanks @JacobZ !

Great tip on marking the drill bit. I haven't tried that before. 

I have an Ozito drill but no more drill bits. 

What size drill bit is best for the screw you mentioned?  6mm, 9mm, etc?

Attached are a couple of photos. I guess the railing is in better condition than I thought. At least the face where the nails go (photo 1).

But I had a chance to see the top (photo 2).  Terrible condition. It's on the neighbour's side of the fence, so I can't do much. Plus the neighbours are renting so I can't expect them to spend to fix up the fence.

But if it was on my side, what could I do to clean up the rail's top and delay further deterioration?