How to Install a Preassembled Fence Panel

Preassembled fences come in a wide range of styles.

Fences should be a balanced combination of form and function. They should add an attractive accent to your lawn and garden while also working to give you privacy, safety and containment. Preassembled fence panels, which come in sections that are added to posts, have made adding a fence to your home's landscape easy.

Things You'll Need

• Post hole digger
• Crushed rock
• Fence posts
• Level
• 2-by-4s
• Stakes
• Concrete
• Trowel
• Drill
• Stainless steel screws

Instructions

1. Dig post holes using a post hole digger tool. The post holes should be between 2 and 3 feet deep--around 1/3 of the length of the posts--and 10 to 12 inches wide. The length of the posts will depend on the height of your fence panels and should be at a height that can support the top rail of the fence panels. The distance between the centers of the post holes needs to match the width of the fence panels.

2. Fill the holes with 6 inches of crushed rock. This will provide drainage.

3. Set the posts in the holes and brace each post using 2 or 3 short sections of 2-by-4s. Use a 2-by-4 section as a brace by butting one end against the side of the post and using a stake to secure the other end on the ground.

4. Use a level to make sure the post is sitting straight up and down.

5. Fill the post holes with concrete. Use the level again to make sure the posts are still plumb and make any last adjustments, if necessary.

6. Trowel off the top of the concrete so it slightly slopes away from the posts. This will allow water to run away from the wood.

7. Allow the concrete to cure for at least 24 hours.

8. Set the panels onto and between posts. Use a drill to screw the panel rails to the posts.

Tips & Warnings

• To help ensure the proper height of fence posts, you can install the corner posts first then tie a string between them at the needed post height. The string will create a guideline. Some builders prefer to set the posts a bit high then cut them to the necessary height with a saw once the concrete has cured.

References

• Lowes: Install a Wood Panel Fence