I decided to start by trying to achieve a consistent height above ground and used that to determine how far to dig. I wanted 3 feet above ground, which left about 28" of post to bury. I dug the holes by hand (not an easy task). Then I tamped them down to help with the settling process. After positioning and hammering everything together, it was time to refill the hole...I just used the original dirt. I stepped on it, filled more and finished with another tamping. I'm hoping that will give us a good first winter experience. It looks great and holds it's place very well. We'll be putting in the rails in the back yard next. Since we have everything roped and marked, I'm going to rent a power auger for the holes to speed up the process. Next year, we'll pull some sod by these areas and begin inserting plants. The front yard already contains a Rose of Sharon Hibiscus. The fence was designed to just hold in the hibiscus' radius. Good luck with your fence Brent!

My vintage bed didn't come w/them. My friend's DH made them for me using1"x 6" boards~for strength, he screwed 2 together. He used some type of bracket(L)to connect to the headboard/footboard. 2"x4" were used to hold the mattress, no box spring needed. It a little tight tucking things in w/the footboard, so wish he would have allowed a few extra inches for 'tucking'. ;o)

I am currently in process of doing something similar to what your asking. TimberTech Radiance Rail with IPE as a top rail. I'm trying to determine what would be the best way to connect the IPE to the rest of the railing, the only contact the top rail makes is the posts. I'm thinking of just screwing down the top rail into the 4x4 PT posts and plugging. What were you thinking of doing? P.S. I'm using a 5 3/8 IPE railcap and found that when you set the railcap over the radiance rail post slips, it doesn't completely cover them - you have approx 1/16-1/8 of the post slip edge showing (on either side). The overall width of rail cap is actually wider then the post slip, but the profile of the rail cap cuts in making the bottom side a little just a little too narrow to completely cover the rail. I can take a picture and show you if you don't already have the prdocut to test with.

Your bed is possibly 3/4 size, which is designed to accommodate a 48" wide mattress. Some of the second tier brands will still make a 48" set. Second tier does not mean second quality. Just means their name doesn't start with an S. If you want to use a full size mattress, what you need to do is find an old mom-and-pop furniture store that also sells mattresses. Call and ask if you can purchase a "modi plate" from them. This will allow you to bolt rails to the plate, and then bolt the plate to the headboard and the footboard. You may want to consider a steel rail since its narrower and will probably get covered by a dust ruffle or sheets anyways. Good Luck