How to Install a Board Fence

Keep prying eyes out of your yard with a board fence. This type offers the best privacy and is difficult to climb - it's also the most expensive to build. Another version of the board fence - an interlapping board fence - has alternating vertical boards. This type holds up well in windy areas and looks good from either side.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fence Posts
• Measuring Tapes
• Weather Stripping
• Wood Preservatives
• Chalk Line
• Hammers
• Levels
• Variable-speed Drills
• Hammers

1. Set your fence posts 10 feet apart. (See "How to Install Fence Posts in Concrete" and "How to Install Fence Posts in Dirt.")

2. Use screws to install a rail between posts at 4 inches below the top of the fence, 1 foot below that, and 6 inches off the ground.

3. Choose pressure-treated wood, prefabricated panels, or precut boards for the slats. They should be of uniform size.

4. Lay the boards out side by side and snap a chalk line at each rail point to help you align them. (See "How to Snap a Chalk Line.")

5. Nail the boards to the rails using galvanized hardware. Butt the edges up closely - the wood will shrink eventually, no matter what, but you can minimize gapping by putting the boards up tightly to begin with.

6. Keep a level handy and watch the top and the bottom to make sure your fence is even.

7. Alternate the boards on either side of the fence for the interlapping method. Use a spare board to keep the spacing even.

Tips & Warnings

• Treat any areas you cut with a wood preservative.
• Finish the fence with a waterproof stain, paint, or sealer.
• Get your neighbor's permission if you will need to be on his or her side of the fence.

[tntitans21399]

on 11/30/2008 Should go more in depth, like a lot of people use 4x4 for the post, 2x4 for the side boards that the panels screw to and a lot more details.

[projectmgr]

on 8/15/2008 Yes it is too simplistic and incorrect. Posts ten feet apart might work with a 3 foot high fence. Step number 4 makes no sense at all. Step number 6 "keep a level handy". All posts should be vertically plumb in all directions and the vertical pickets as well. Step number 1; "How to install fence posts in dirt". Gotta read that one.

[twopolarbears]

on 6/13/2007 This is a BS article, and too simplistic for almost every wood fence installation.