How to Install a Lattice Privacy Fence

Outline the area where you want to install the fence using chalk or stakes and a string, keeping the lines as straight as possible. Insert a marking flag every 8 feet along the fence line to designate the post locations.

Score the ground next to each flag with the tip of a shovel to mark the spot where you have to dig. Remove the flag and use a post hole digger to make a 3-foot-deep hole in the ground. Although you can dig slightly smaller holes, a hole that measures 1/3 the length of the posts will anchor it securely in the ground. Repeat for each flag along the fence line.

Tamp the base and sides of each hole with a length of scrap 2-by-4 lumber to firm the soil. Prepare concrete in a 5-gallon bucket according to label directions. Pour 5 to 6 inches of concrete over the base of a corner hole and smooth its top with a trowel.

Stand a post vertically in the hole and put a carpenter's level on its side. Adjust the post's alignment until the level reads plumb, indicating the post is vertical.

Nail two 4-foot-long 2-by-4s diagonally to the post, one on each side, to brace it to the ground until the concrete cures, or hardens thoroughly. Insert the lower end of each diagonal brace into the ground or nail it to a stake in the ground. Pour concrete around the post until the hole is filled to 2 inches below the soil line. Continue installing and bracing posts in this manner for all the holes.

Remove the diagonal braces when the concrete has cured. Pack dirt into the gaps between the concrete and soil line. Measure the space between two adjacent posts along the fence line and cut two identical lengths of 2-by-4 lumber to this measurement.

Measure 4 inches from the top of each post and from the soil line, and mark the two spots on a post. Place the ends of a 2-by-4 on the upper marks between two adjacent posts and secure it with two 16d nails. Repeat the process for securing the other identical lumber length to the lower marks on the posts.

Measure the vertical space between the ends of the two horizontal rails you just installed and cut two lengths of 2-by-4 to this measurement. Hold each length vertically along the inner edge of a post and secure it in place with 16d nails. Repeat this process of forming frames for the lattice panels along the fence line.

Trim the lattice panels so they fit over the frames. Hold a panel over the frame, with an assistant holding its other side. Hammer a row of 10d nails, spaced 4 inches apart, on each edge of the lattice to attach it to the frame.