How to Remove Wrought Iron Fencing
Wrought iron fencing consists of sections of fence attached to evenly spaced fence posts. The biggest difference in removal of wrought iron fencing versus wood or plastic fencing is that handling the weight of each wrought iron fence section requires care to avoid injury. Like other types of fence, each section is attached to the support posts at the top and bottom of the section with hardware. Assistance is generally needed to help to remove wrought iron fencing, as it can be difficult to manage the pieces on your own.
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Locate the bolts attaching the wrought iron fence section to the support post. Typically there are two bolts at the top and two at the bottom of each side of the section (fences with short sections or short section heights may only have one bolt at the top and bottom on each end).
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Loosen the bolts attaching the fence section to the support post on each end of the section with a socket wrench. You may need to slip a short piece of steel pipe over the end of the wrench to increase your leverage to break the bolts loose.
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Remove the bottom bolts on each end of the fence section completely.
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Remove the top bolts on one end and lower the end to the ground. Have someone hold the fence section so it remains upright. Remove the top bolts from the opposite end and carry the fence section to where the sections are to be stacked and stored. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 until all the sections are removed before going on to Step 5.
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Break through the top soil and any grass or other plantings that may have grown around the bottom of the fence support posts with a shovel. Dig around the post four inches and dig down at least 12 inches so there is no soil surrounding the post.
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Rock the post back and forth by pushing and pulling on it until it is loose in the ground.
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Pull the post from the ground. If the post is too heavy to manually pull out, lay some boards on the ground near the welded bolt bracket (that the fence section was attached to) of the post and place the pole jack on the boards. Pump the jack up so the lifting plate on the jack pushes against the bracket. Keep pumping the jack to raise the pole from the hole. Repeat steps 5, 6 and 7 to remove every fence post.
References
Resources
Tips
- Use the pole jack to support the side of the fence section from which you just removed the bolts while you are removing the bolts on the opposite end. This prevents the fence section from dropping down and placing more weight on the bolts (making them harder to remove).
Warnings
- Make sure you have a helper to steady the fence as you remove it so it does not fall over on top of you. Wrought iron fence is very heavy and you can be seriously injured by it.
Writer Bio
Cassandra Tribe has worked in the construction field for over 17 years and has experience in a variety of mechanical, scientific, automotive and mathematical forms. She has been writing and editing for over 10 years. Her areas of interest include culture and society, automotive, computers, business, the Internet, science and structural engineering and implementation.
Photo Credits
- fence image by Artiom Radonezhskiy from Fotolia.com
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