# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  Are pine pickets from Bunnings supposed to be trimmed?

## fency

I bought all my pickets (1500 x 70 x 22mm H3 pine) from Bunnings. This for a nice front fence, painted, etc.  
I notice two things. One is that they all actually measure about 1510mm in length. The second is that they have one very rough end (a bit splintered sometimes, very rough end grain) and one nicer end (but still a little rough). 
Now Im wondering if I am supposed to trim the ends off the pickets? I would get a much, much cleaner end with my mitre saw and I would get them to a more exact length.  
Question is: are they supposed to be trimmed before putting up?

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## r3nov8or

I would trim them for a better painted finish, less prone to gather dust/dirt. Say 2mm off the good end, the rest of the bad end

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## r3nov8or

You could also install with the better end at the bottom and then cut the top once the fence is complete. Eg for a curved top or other design

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## Bros

I used H3 Colonial Pine top palings for my side fence and fence across the front only from the house front 25 yrs ago and left them unpainted and they have faded to a light pine colour and they still look good.
People down the road have just moved in and have their front yard to the boundary done with square top palings with no gap and they look ugly.

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## r3nov8or

> I used H3 Colonial Pine top palings for my side fence and fence across the front only from the house front 25 yrs ago and left them unpainted and they have faded to a light pine colour and they still look good.
> People down the road have just moved in and have their front yard to the boundary done with square top palings with no gap and they look ugly.

   :Biggrin:  maybe they think that of yours  :Biggrin:

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## Bros

> maybe they think that of yours

  Maybe they do but I get a breeze through my fence they don't and in Queensland a breeze is something precious in summer.

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## fency

Thanks all. I decided to trim them. It was a pain but the end are now buttery smooth.

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## r3nov8or

> Maybe they do but I get a breeze through my fence they don't and in Queensland a breeze is something precious in summer.

  Thought you were more talking about the flat tops (which are 'on trend'), but yes agree that no gaps is not the best choice in the heat

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## Bros

After 25 yes unpainted.

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## r3nov8or

> After 25 yes unpainted.

  Fixings have done well. What did you use?

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## Bros

Galv flat head spiral nails. No nail gun just all by hand.

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## r3nov8or

Doesn't seem to be a trickle of rust stain anywhere? From the days when HDG was done properly!

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## Bros

I learnt a lot from building a fence at our previous place with hardwood pickets and I used a nail gun to fix the palings. This time I bought all my fencing timber from a fencing supplies and I got some good advice there as they were fencing contractors as well, before the Bunnings time. 
On the other side on me the previous neighbor had a fencing contractor erect a hardwood fence about 6 mths before we built and it is now in disrepair with pickets coming loose.

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## PiL

> Maybe they do but I get a breeze through my fence they don't and in Queensland a breeze is something precious in summer.

  My council requires gaps between pickets for a front fence. Cant remember exactly but it was something like a minimum 20%. Also max height of 1.2m. 
I built mine maybe 3 years ago, and hand picked all my pickets. Ive looked at them again at bunnings recently and the brand has changed and definitely not as good as they were.  
Recently replaced the hedge with buxus as the natives i planted were too brittle to withstand being on a nature strip.  
(1st pic 3 years ago. 2nd pic about 2 months ago)

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## Bros

Nice fence, I like the colonial tops and the painting, not the solid wall look.

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## PiL

Dug up some more pics of pickets.
Further to previous comment, the current range seem to be very wonky, bent and warped. Plus there are less decorative choices. Also think they're a lot wetter.
Looks like you've already purchased so probs too late, but I would buy from a specialist fence supplier if there's one near you if anyone else getting started reads this thread.

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## r3nov8or

https://www.demak.com.au/shop/produc...ing-melbourne/ 
I'd forgotten the names of the profiled tops. Maybe they differ by area or manufacturer. I recall Osborne above being called Gothic...?

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## Bros

> I'd forgotten the names of the profiled tops. Maybe they differ by area or manufacturer. I recall Osborne above being called Gothic...?

  We're different up here as they are all called Colonial. A close up of the fence after 25 yrs. I did mine the hard way nailed with a hammer one by one pre Bunnings days.

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