We last wrote about the below-grade drainage mediation at our adobe home ‘Casablanca’ in the Spring of 2024 when we put the cistern in. Before that, we had begun our latest berm adventure while completing the turf stone driveway, forming the long shape from the excavated material. We have a special place in our hearts for berms since we started building them on the edge of our suburban street in Florida out of salvaged concrete curbing (much to our neighbor’s chagrin).
We love berms because they help protect the property from unwanted runoff and flood water, they provide a measure of privacy and soundproofing, and they create an interesting landscaping feature with a change in terrain and elevation.
Building the new berm at Casablanca was a game-changer in many ways. Besides the practical matter of blocking water from running off straight into our precious adobe walls, it also closed off the original driveway and main access point for vehicles, creating a little more security and protection from the well-traveled state highway.
To fully capitalize on this effect (and to better dog-proof the yard), we decided that the hip-high pile of dirt needed a little more reinforcing. Enter our fancy fence at a massive discount!
To start, we peeled through Craiglist ads for months and months to find the right material. We needed to find some metal posts to set knowing we were going after a metal fence in the typical romantic Northern New Mexico aesthetic. We managed to find 8 pieces of 8 ft. 3″ well casing for $80 in Rio Rancho in October 2023. Eight months later, after an exhaustive search to cobble random pieces together from multiple listings, we were grateful to find this third-hand driveway gate in Albuquerque for $475.
We also picked up a metal security door set from a local friend for free. Together, all the short pieces would be enough to cover the length atop the berm at the old driveway, and the door module was tall and wide enough to fill in the section where there was no berm to create a gated passage from the house to the new garage drive.
At that point, we were ready to invest in a good welder to do this job – and many more to come. Ben had a hand-me-down stick welder in the corner, but it was not the right tool for this. He chose the VULCAN MIGMax™ 215 Industrial Welder with 120/240V Input to grow with us (about $1,250 with power extension and accessories). Then we stalled out. Again.
We didn’t have a good way to dig the post holes into the ground under the berm dirt. Digging by hand was not an option at this point because we needed to get through the old road bed/driveway under the berm (reflect back on the madness that was hand digging the garage drainage ditch). We had priced out the Home Depot power auger rental and were having a hard time deciding on a schedule to pick it up and do the work. It also made our bones rattle just thinking about running that thing. As it happens, a post popped up on our local Facebook community bulletin board for a mobile pipe fence welder!
It kind of defeated the purpose of us buying the VULCAN if we hired these guys, but we figured they had the full setup to knock it out quickly and finally put this project to bed. When we asked for a quote, the young man came out to non-nonchalantly size up the job – no measuring tape, diagrams, calculators, or business card. Then, his partner called in with a price – $2,500 using our material!! I asked if that was the best they could do, and he said he could offer a “massive discount” because business was slow in January. We agreed on $1,350. Fair? You tell me.
They showed up the following week with their skid steer and auger attachment to dig the holes. These kids were fresh out of community college and were riding that thing like a bucking bronco, literally. I could hear their incredulous chuckling and ‘yee-haws’ from inside the house.
Apparently the dig gave them more of a fight then they anticipated. I checked the alignment of the posts after they poured the sakcrete (borrowing my bucket) and was assured before they left for the day that it would be straight by the time they finished. Yah.
They returned the next day to start welding on the fencing panels. I figured they would’ve cut off the unnecessary wheels and latches and such from the former installation, but no. That attention to detail was not part of the “massively discounted” arrangement.
After borrowing our corded drill when their cordless one died, one guy ended up needing to drive back to town (60 miles away) to get a drill bit to finish attaching the door panel to the side of the house. The other sat in the truck. When the panels were all up, I asked if they would cobble the gate for us using the leftover materials we had. They said that would have to be a separate ‘custom’ order, starting at $800.
Needless to say, I was feeling a little raw after our last contractor fail. Nice kids, not professionals. But, they saved us the hassle of having to dig and set the posts ourselves, which I guess was worth it? Ben and I ended up going back and cutting off a section to reset it so it was better aligned with the rest of the fence, fixed the door swing by cutting off and moving the hinges, and reinforced some of the questionable welds in other places.
We removed the leftover misplaced hardware then found a way to repurpose it on the new custom gate which Ben expertly created with the last bits of material and his new VULCAN… All those years sweating his ass off working at Structural Steel in Florida paid off! He realized, though, that the thinner low-grade fencing material needed a different technique, so he invented the ‘Yeargin Method’ to piece together all the little bits without melting them through.
Installing the gate on the crooked posts was another fun way to learn as we go and try new things. It was hard to get a ground, but Ben found a way!
So, at the end of the day, we reused, repurposed, rebuilt, repaired, reconfigured, reclaimed, restored, and rehabbed our way to a new custom security fence at Casablanca! We spent a little over $3,000 cash and maybe 10 hours of our time sourcing materials and working on stuff ourselves. I’m pretty sure we would not have been able to order up a new install for this yard for less than $10,000.
But the best part is that having the fence work done means we can get started on planting the berm with native varieties that will attract hummingbirds and other pollinators, as well as grow in over time to create a lovely natural privacy screen.
And a postscript for the keenest eyes: You may have noticed the little door. It was covered up with a metal plate when we moved in. It wasn’t until we had the security of the fence that we felt comfortable trying to open it because we weren’t sure if it would close again! This little door has been a personal fascination of mine because of it’s petite size (24×72) and also it’s potential to open up a new portal and view of our beautiful Sierra Nacimiento on the north side of the house. Another happy bonus project!
I use this door daily now and have more plans to finish the area outside to be a little patio where we can park a grill and a couple of chairs to enjoy some tea. We’ll also be working to clean out this storage area in the garage so we can let some light in. What summertime projects do you have cooking this year?
