How Do You Fence?
Fencing an area is done for one of three reasons: keeping things in, keeping things out or beautifying a piece of land. Fencing comes in a variety of styles, like picket, post and board, or wire, and can use a variety of materials, like wood, metal or vinyl. Regardless of the exact style and material that you will use to construct a fence, there are a few standard pieces that all fences have: posts to provide stability for the fence and rails to connect the posts.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- Pencil and paper
- Post hole digger
- Shovel
- Pre-mixed concrete
- Posts
- Rails
- String
- Level
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1
Measure out the dimensions of the area or property that you want to fence in, and draw a diagram on a piece of paper. Determine the location of the fence posts, and make marks showing where to install them on your diagram. Fence posts should be evenly spaced, and between 8 to 10 feet apart. For some pre-built panel fences, the post spacing has to be exact, and will be listed in the fence kit manual.
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2
Dig the holes for your posts. You can use a shovel, but a tool like a post hole digger makes this task much easier. Terminal posts, which include corner posts, end posts and gate posts, should be between 2 and 3 feet deep. Line posts should be between 1 1/2 and 2 feet deep. If you are going to add concrete to the holes, ensure that the bottoms of the holes are slightly wider than the tops.
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3
Fill the holes with concrete. Only do a few at a time, to prevent the concrete from curing before you are ready. Push the posts down into the concrete, ensure they are perfectly level, and let them sit overnight. Start with a terminal post, and use a string and a level to ensure the posts are all set to the same height. Some fences, like chain-link, will require the terminal posts to be three inches higher than the line posts.
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4
Install the rails between the fence posts. The method that you use to attach the rails to the posts will depend on the type of fence you are building, but most rails will be screwed into, or bolted onto, the posts.
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5
Attach the actual fence material to the rails. Most fences will have the actual fence material, like the chain-link material or wooden pickets, be held up by the rails. There are exceptions, like post and rail fences, which have no material, and vinyl panel fences, which combine the material and rails into a single panel.
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6
Install the gate. The gate will attach to one of the gate posts -- or both for double gates -- on a set of hinges.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Not every type of fence needs to have the posts set into concrete, but it is recommended that you at least set corner posts and the gate post that holds up the gate into concrete.
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References
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