How to Put up a Fence the Easy Way

Installing a fence can enhance your yard in several ways.

Putting up a fence is an effective way to create a private space, keep your children and pets safe and add a decorative finish to your landscape design. With these simple-to-understand instructions, you can put up a fence that will be perfect for you.

Things You'll Need

• Mason's line
• Garden stakes
• Shovel
• Post hole digger
• Digging bar
• Posts
• Level
• Tamping bar
• Tape measure
• Fencing

Instructions

1. Have utility lines located and marked. When building up a fence, the very first thing you should do is contact you local utilities and have one of their engineers come out and mark where any buried cables are on your property so they're not damaged during construction.

2. Position your fence. Once you know there are no buried utility cables where you want to place it, you can stake out the fence position with the mason's line. Using garden stakes and the line, lay out the fence by stringing the line 5 inches above the ground. This will help you to see if any leveling needs to be done and gives you a great starting point that helps you to keep your posts and panels or posts and wire in a straight line.

3. Dig the first post hole. When putting up a fence, you need to measure the appropriate post placement carefully. Premade panels or even barbed wire fences rely on the post placement for structural support, so be sure to check and double-check the post placement.

4. Dig a 10-inch diameter hole that is at least 32 inches deep. Starting with a shovel and finishing with the post hole digger, maintain the 10-inch diameter all the way down. You can use the digging bar to loosen rocks and cut roots. Save the soil that you remove from the hole to be used to refill it after placing the post.

5. Place the first post. You will want to set your posts in the center of the prepared hole. Fill the hole with 8 inches of soil. Check that your post is level by placing the level on both sides of the post and then compact the the soil at 8-inch increments. Check that the post is level at each step. You may want to enlist help, so that one of you can hold the post while another fills the hole.

6. Measure and mark post placement on your mason's line. Use your measuring tape to mark the additional placement for each post, remembering that the width of your panels and posts needs to be exact. If you're putting up a wire fence, the distance between your posts should not be longer that 8 feet.

7. Put together your fence by connecting the panels or wires to the posts. The fence should be from 2 to 5 inches above the ground and level, so place each panel or bottom wire carefully. Your mason's line will help you to verify placement before screwing the panels in place or tightening the wire.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, the level is your best friend; you don't want to do this twice.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish