THE FENCE MEDIC, LLC
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Hot and Busy!

7/25/2017

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What a busy two weeks its been! Between the work I have done in Lexington, partnering with the "Fence Guy of Louisville" to help him get caught up, going part time at the hospital, starting a part time job at a small county EMS service and running a business. I must say, its been busy but I love the variety, the challenges have been stimulating and the people have been amazing. 
The most memorable moment in the past two weeks was this 6' tall privacy fence I built for a client. I used pressure treated pine for the pickets and had some unique challenges to work around, most notably a large tree branch that she will eventually have removed but needed a secure fence to keep her dogs in. I placed the fence to fit around this branch, built that section with screws so it can be removed and used a jig saw to make an opening to fit around the tree branch, allowing room for the branch to flex and move. 
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Everything about this project went better than I had planned. I spaced the post to fit between trees as much as possible, reducing the number of roots needing to be cut. With some trial and error, adjustments  were made to the string used to layout this fence so that the middle and top 2x4 supports would fit around the large tree branch and allow the fence to fit under another branch. I had plenty of shade to work under during the heat wave and had a wonderful client. I hope this fence provides the privacy and security she was needing! 
Partnering with the Mike ("The Fence Guy of Louisville") has been a great opportunity to learn new skills and receive constructive criticism. Mike strongly advocates on appearance over numbers, meaning that if the spacing of a picket is exactly 2" then some posts will be seen when looking at the fence. Mike taught me to slowly make adjustments at 1/8" to 1/4" of an inch at a time to conceal each post while giving the appearance of perfect spacing. Mike takes this approach to everything when building his fences, he says that variances in spacing between pickets, posts and the top of the fence must be made gradually. He also possess an obsessive commit to quality, if a single post appears off, he will remove it and set a new post, even if it means delaying the project. 
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One area of fence building I have been nervous about is cutting arches and scallops. I have simply not possessed enough practice to feel comfortable taking a saw blade to something I have worked so hard to construct. The only way to improve is to practice, here I am cutting scallops in a 4' spaced cedar picket fence. To have the scallops flow consistently requires first tracing a line using a flexible piece of trim work. Adjustments are then made and if a mistake occurs while cutting, you readjust back to the line slowly, not abruptly to keep the flow consistent and appearance fluid. 
I will finally conclude this rather lengthly update with that which truly matters. Life with those we love. As I learn and grow as an individual, I slowly learn, most often from my mistakes, that its the seemingly little and insignificant elements of life that we will one day reflect upon and esteem as the most precious. I have found a lot of happiness in working hard, learning a craft that I can apply my own artistic style to while running my own business. Ultimately, these fences will one day fall down, someone will come back and build atop of what I constructed and haul it away to the dump. So also will our children grow, our parents age as this present day fades away. What truly matters, I do believe, is not what we do with our careers insomuch as what we do with our hearts, our time, our love.  The most important career objective I have is to stay small enough to never detract from what truly matters!
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This is what matters
Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains."
​-Henery David Thoreau 

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Strong Gates

7/12/2017

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Building a quality gate has proven to be a challenge to learn. The most common call I get is for leaning or sagging gates, many of which are not that old. The force working against gates is the same force that drives geology; pressure and time. No mater how well built the gate, it will eventually start to sag and yield to the laws of nature.  ​
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The key to building a gate to last more than a few years is to design it as small as reasonable, construct it as light as possible  and secure it a strong and solid structure. When building gates, we use lightweight cedar for the framework and pickets, cedar is significantly lighter than pressure treated pine and is naturally rot resistant. We then secure our gate hinges with 4 inch lag bolts into either a 4x6 or 6x6 post set with 160-200 pounds of concrete per post. 
​Gates require crossmember support to prevent sagging and dragging, gates are often built with this support member nailed to the outside of the framework. While this is better than not having any support, it is better to fit the support member as tightly as possible into the framework to help prevent sagging. ​​
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Building a gate to last as long as the surrounding fence takes time and patience and does not happen by chance. While there is additional cost in building a strong and light gate, we believe its a worthwhile investment. If you are having gate problems or would like a free estimate on replacing a problematic gate, feel free to give us a call! 
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Graphics Finished!

7/8/2017

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After a long process of trying to find a reasonable company to design, print and install vehicle graphics on our truck, we are finally finished! We used Image360 here in Lexington. We had to wait a few weeks to get everything installed but the entire process from the initial consult to the design and installation went flawlessly. Their prices were very reasonable and we are very pleased with how it all turned out! Our youngest son can be seen offering his critique.



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This is what the driver and passenger side doors look like. My artistic and talented wife designed the picket fence logo at the kitchen table a few months ago. I scanned it into a PDF and Image360 was able to refine and incorporate the logo into this vehicle wrap. I love how the process of building our business has also turned into a family project involving so many friends, coworkers and neighbors.
The vehicle graphics were finished at the perfect time on Friday. I am working my last full time shift at the hospital on Saturday before going to part time status and becoming 'The Fence Medic' full time. I have a small job planned for Monday and Tuesday of next week and plan to work with Mike Watkins, owner of 'The Fence Guy of Louisville' later next week to help him get caught up on a few jobs. If you have any fence or gate projects that you would like help with, please consider contacting me. I am licensed and insured, I offer a generous warranty for new installation and will do whatever it takes to build a reputation for doing quality and honest work!
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Why?

7/3/2017

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PictureHalfway up Bedtime for Bonzo
If I said I was not afraid, I would be totally lying. Fact is, its 1:30 AM and I am sitting at my messy desk entering receipts and numbers for the month of June. The house sleeps, even Cami, our chocolate lab gave up waiting on me and retired to her bed. Why am I doing this if I am so afraid? I have asked myself these questions nearly everyday of my life. I recall climbing a rock wall for the first time when I was 8 years old at Kings Island. It looked incredible, until I was 20 feet up and nearly went catatonic with fear and begged to be lowered. That rock wall stayed on my mind and I wanted so badly to try it again. Though I have always been terrified of heights, I kept climbing every chance I could find and found that the majority of my fears were not based on actuality but rather imagination. 

A few weeks ago I was climbing a classic Red River Gorge climb called “Bed Time for Bonzo” with my good friend Tim. About 100 feet up, the route made a turn onto a ledge before following a crack to the summit. Once on the ledge, I stopped and looked down and I froze with fear. My hands started trembling, I wedged a piece of protection into the crack and then I shoved another cam behind it. I stayed on the ledge too long, the longer I stood the more rampant my imagination ran about the trajectory my falling body would take if all my anchors failed or my rope broke. I imagined myself breaking my neck, shattering my spine, puncturing a lung before going unconscious. The mental imagery became really awful as I thought about how my wife and children would react in my fictional mental situation. I then stopped my destructive train of thought and looked at the incredible sunset to my back that I was neglecting. I took a deep breath and reflected on the reality that my probability of having an accident would be greatly increased by attempting to retreat downward. In the words of Robert Frost, “The only way out is through”, so I took the gear I had left, I leaned back and climbed upward off the ledge and 5 minutes later I was at the top. I put Tim on belay and a few moments later we watched as the sun disappeared in a sea of orange clouds as the valley floor below us slowly covered with fog. 

Climbing has afforded me this moment and so many more like it that I simply won’t ever forget. So why am I doing this? Why am I walking away from a reliable paycheck, job security, retirement and everything that just makes sense? Because life is precious, its short and I want to live to see the view from the top, even if I am terrified. I want the freedom to have just a few more minutes with my kids. I want to work hard with my hands, I want to build our own reality, our own dreams. What if it all crashes down? What if the phone does not ring and jobs don’t come? What if I make mistakes and fail? What happens if I mess up our taxes? What about the things that I know I should be worried about but I don’t know what they are yet? These are all thoughts that I have at 1:30 am and maybe I am wrong, crazy or delusional but I feel strangely confident that Frost is right, the only way out is to simply push through this.

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    Philip Sallee

    Owner and founder of "The Fence Medic". 

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