How to Install Stockade Fence at Home

Add privacy to your property with stockade fences.

Stockade fences do more than just mark a property line or keep a pet inside your yard. Since these types of fences consist of one board tucked next to another along the whole length, they provide privacy on both sides of the fence. Originally, stockade fences were built with one tree trunk, stripped of its bark, embedded in the ground right next to another and stockade fences often went 8 feet tall or higher. More recently, stockade fences consist of pre-made panels of flat boards.

Things You'll Need

• Stakes
• Twine
• Hole digger
• Concrete
• Concrete mixing barrel
• 12-foot fence posts
• Level
• 2 boards, 2-by-4 inches, 4 feet long
• Fence panels
• Stainless steel screws
• Drill with Phillip's bit

Instructions

1. Determine where you will put the fence. Fence panels come in 8-foot lengths and are easiest installed intact. Measure the distance to determine the number of fence panels you will need.

2. Put a stake at either end of your intended fence line and run twine between the two stakes to define the fence line.

3. Dig a 4-foot-deep hole, 10 inches wide, every 8 feet on center with the post hole digger. Align the holes along the twine line you ran between the end posts. For added certainty on the location of the posts, lay out the fence panels next to where they are going to go and ensure the posts are half way between the two panels as panels are sometimes not exactly to the expected size.

4. Place the post in the hole. Mix concrete with water in a concrete barrel, rolling it back and forth, for several minutes. Check that the mix is wet enough and pour it in the hole. Have your assistant hold the pole upright while you pour. Work a paint stick up and down around the wet cement to eliminate air pockets.

5. Adjust the post to vertical, checking on two adjacent sides with a level, and ensure the flat edge is even with the twine. You have to attach the panels to the flat side of the post so it's important that the flat side of the post runs along the twine. Brace the post in place using two 2-by-4-inch boards.

6. Wait two days for the concrete to dry.

7. Attach the panels to the posts by screwing from the front of the panels, through the horizontal rails and into the posts. The screws should go at least half way into the post so select your screws according to the thickness of the stockade panels. Situate the panels several inches off the ground to reduce rotting.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid loose hair and clothing when using power tools.

References

• Lowes: Install a Wood-Panel Fence
• Wood Fence Design: Stockade Fence
• OSHA: Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Workers from Amputations