I am building a fence (parallel) on my property line that divides my backyard and my beighbors. I need to find the angle I need to cut my rails at. My backyard is at a upward slope. is there a general formula that I can use or is there a landscaper out there that can describe the method used to do this?
2007-03-21 11:49:36 · 7 answers · asked by Greekosuave 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Got a 50 foot garden hose? Drive a stick into the ground at the top of the hill. Tie one end of the hose to it. Run the rest of the hose down the hill. Put a taller stick in the ground, tie the hose to it then fill the hose with water. keep adjusting the height of the hose until both ends are full of water. (water seeks it's own level). Measure the distance from the ground to the top of the hose and write it down. go inside and make a scale drawing, then measure the angle with a protractor.
While I was typing this, I just thought! To find the angle to cut the rails, just vertically plumb the post, lay a rail on the ground next to it, and draw a line. It doesn't matter what the angle is in degrees!
2007-03-21 13:22:52 · answer #1 · answered by billy brite 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
place a stick in the ground at the top of the hill so that the top is at your eye level and the stick is plumb. Tie a piece of string into the hole of a cheap, plastic, drugstore protractor and tie a weight onto the other end. Tape a drinking straw onto the straight edge of the protractor. Stand at the base of the hill and look up at the stick, sighting through the straw, so that you can just see the top of the stick. The string and weight should dangle down by the degree markings. Once properly sighted, pinch the string to the protractor and read the angle. This is not the most accurate method, but it is very simple, and doesn't require any math. Some hints to make this even easier: put a post-it note on the top of the stick; the straighter the straw, the more accurate the gauge; to tie the string to the protractor, thread the string through the hole then tie an over-hand knot; a nut or a bolt makes a great weight for this. Think of this as the poor man's sextant, it works on the same principal, but it is way cheaper.
2007-03-21 12:33:35 · answer #2 · answered by nathanael_beal 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was beginning to give up on everyone, until 'williams' last paragraph. Some people make simple things waaaayyyy too complicated. Like he said, you don't need a number, you need to draw a line on a board. Who cares what that number really is. That's how you cut handrails on a set of steps. Plumb the posts, lay the handrail on the steps, mark the line.
BTW, your slope is not going to be the same from one end to the other. It might be 15 degrees between posts 1 and 2, and 18 degrees between 2 and 3, and so on. The other methods give you the overall slope, but don't account for the contours. Marking each rail as you go will keep them a consistent height off the ground. Marking them all the same will give you the same height at either end, but in between the ground will rise and fall in relation to the rails.
2007-03-21 15:33:17 · answer #3 · answered by normobrian 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Simple solution. Set your posts plumb. Take a piece of lumber longer than the spacing of the posts, and lay it on the ground, and draw a line on the post along the top of the lumber. Use a t-bevel to measure the angle plumb along the post and the angle of the line. Transfer the angle to the miter saw or lumber if using a circular saw for the rails. Then you can measure from the line for whatever height you need for the top rail. Just measure the same side of the adjacent posts. If you measure the downhill side of post, measure the downhill side of all the posts. Just that easy.
2007-03-21 16:32:33 · answer #4 · answered by robling_dwrdesign 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get an angle Gauge and read the angle. If it says 15 deg then that is what the angle will be to run parallel to the ground.
2007-03-21 11:54:30 · answer #5 · answered by Fordman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not really, its cut and cut again with a junk piece of rail until the degrees are what you need...it needn't be perfect.
other wise if you want to be precise, take two pieces of PVC pipe and place one at the level btm and one on the hillside and where they meet, take your table saw gauge that makes degrees for you, set it and transfer it to your rails. one you've got your skilsaw set at the proper angle, just go for it; you won't forget it.
that's what most carpenters do, me too!!
2007-03-21 12:38:56 · answer #6 · answered by ticketoride04 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pathogoren theorem. B2xH2. If you know the height of the hill.
2007-03-21 11:59:34 · answer #7 · answered by gary r 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋