Tips & Tricks for Building Wooden Fences

Preliminary Planning

• Before you start building your fence, create good drawings of what you want the fence to look like. Measure your yard and create drawings with accurate scale. These drawings not only are helpful when building your fence, but also you should take them to your local utility companies to find out if you will be drilling into any utility lines. You also need to take your drawings to the local zoning board to find out if your fence is within local code and to get any permits you will need.

Post Holes

• Post holes should be placed six or eight feet apart to ensure fence stability. The width you use will depend on the kind of fence panels you buy. Smaller panels can use six-foot spaces while larger panels use eight feet. Place a stake where the end post will be and where the other posts will be installed. Account for any gates or openings in the fence. Post holes should be dug to a depth that is equal to 1/3 the total length of the post. For example, if you want a fence that is six feet high, then you will need nine feet tall posts.

Post Packing

• When it comes to packing your posts in place, you can use dirt, gravel or concrete. The rain and elements may make dirt and gravel impractical choices, however. Over time, water and ice can move gravel and dirt, and that can damage your fence. The most stable choice for post packing is concrete, but once you concrete a post into the ground, it cannot be moved. A trick you can use to get straight posts every time is to pour the concrete into the hole after the post has been installed and then use a level to make sure the post is straight. Then put two metal rods on either side of the post and tie the post to the rods. Check one more time to ensure the post is straight, using the level, and then let it set for at least a week before moving to the next phase of your fence construction.

Bottom Spacing

• The Ace Hardware website recommends that you keep your wooden fence bottom rail two inches from the ground throughout the installation. This allows the fence to expand and contract with the elements without causing damage. The bottom spacing also prevents the wet ground from decaying the base of your fence and allows easy access for a weed trimmer to keep the base of the fence clear of weeds and grass.