Fences and Gates - Cedar or Treatet pine for the privacy fence runners

Hello All!! Great helpful site you've got here. I searched some for the following questions and didn't see anything (in titles anyway) that would help with my privacy fence questions. I have a couple of questions (Note I can barely lift my hands to the keyboard after 2 days of drilling/setting post so please forgive any mis-spellings or typos).

My beautiful bride and I are building a 350 ft, 6 ft tall privacy fence around our backyard, using 8ft 2" (Ø2 3/8 OD) galvanized pipe along with the Simpson pipe grip ties.

Would you guys recommend red cedar 2x4's for fence runners over treated pine 2x4's?? If treated (since it would save me a bundle$$) what type of lag screws should I use with the Simpson PGT's? Will the treated 2X4 eat up the standard galvanized lag bolts? (since the green screws are recommended for treated lumber)

Also, with the stain sealer, can it be sprayed on with a household sprayer?

Any help or tips would be AWESOME.

J-Do-it-myself,

Welcome to the forums.

Either the cedar or the PT will work for the rails -- you knew that. So it becomes a cost issue.

Standard zinc coated lag bolts will work in the cedar, but they will rust, leading to streaks.

If you save $$ by using PT, you need to use HOT DIPPED galvanized lags. Anything less and the chemicals in the PT will corrode them. However, the zinc in the galvanized is sacraficial, meaning it will eventually be consumed by the copper in the PT, but that will take several years.

Another option would be to use an organic polymer coated screw of bolt in the PT. Brand names include USP's Gold Coat, GRK's Climatek, and Simpson's Quik Guard or TufCoat. More expensive, but the copper WON'T bother it.

One of the 2-1/2 gal. garden sprayers work fine on a fence. Back roll it as you go.

Thanks Lefty, that is exactly what I needed to know! I set 3 more post, dug my last holes to finish depth this evening after work, I should be able to slap the rest up tomorrow evening, possibly a bit into Thursday evening. Man this is some tough work, for my wife and I anyway. I am going to check out the fasteners you recommended (organic polymer), see what I might be looking at. I know climate and a number of other things come into play, but in your professional opinion(s), how long can we expect this fence to last if we water seal it once every 2-3 years? Also, would you recommend screws over nail gun as well? And if screws, which kind, the green deck screws? And lastly (for what I think of now) is there any way to keep the beautiful "Red Cedar" look to the fence, or to at least extend it?

Oh yeah -- a fence is a lot of work!!

IMHO you did right by using the steel posts -- those will last years and years -- you'll just be replacing the rails and fence boards every 15 to 20 years. But easily half the work in a fence is the posts!

SCREWS to attach the fence boards. (Nails will pop.) Coated (or painted, if you will) deck screws that are either 1-5/8" or 2" will do fine. They won't streak like galvies or the gold dacronized ones will.

Keeping the red cedar looking like red cedar for any length of time is tough. The more transparent the sealer is, the less UV protection it has, and it's the UV rays that tear the sealer apart and allow the water to get to the wood. The water is what turns the red cedar to gray boards. A solid stain will protect the wood better, but you won't see the color of the wood -- just the color of the stain.