How to Lay Out a Long Privacy Fence

Construct U-shaped frames called batterboards out of 2-by-4 inch boards. Make the legs 18 inches high, and the crossbeam 24 inches long. Construct two batterboards for each corner of the fence.

Drive the legs of the batterboards into the ground 18 inches behind each corner of the fence, positioning them so they form a right angle. Keep the batterboards at the same height.

Tie a string to the center of the crossbeam of the first batterboard, and walk it down to the batterboard that faces it in the next corner. Do this with each batterboard so the strings intersect in the corners.

Check the strings for square by using the 3-4-5 method. Mark one of the strings 4 feet from the batterboard that it's tied to, and mark the other string in the same corner 3 feet down from the batterboard to which it is tied. Measure the distance between the marks diagonally across the corner. The corner is square if the distance measures five feet. If necessary, adjust the strings by sliding them on the crossbeams of the batterboards.

Set the other corners, using the same method. Mark the location of the corner posts by driving a wooden stake into the ground along the inner edges of the intersecting strings.

Mark the position of the line posts by driving wooden stakes into the ground between the corner posts. Place the stakes directly against the string.