How to Build an 8-Foot Cedar Fence

Installing an 8-foot cedar fence adds value and security to a home. Naturally resistant to decay, mold and cedar, cedar withstands outdoor elements and lasts many years. Installed properly, cedar fencing enhances privacy, increases protection, demarcates your property and helps confine children and pets to the enclosed space. Depending on personal preference, install 8-foot-tall cedar pickets, lattice panels or wooden boards between posts. Although the methods of installing each fence vary slightly, the overall task is one the family handyman can easily accomplish.

Wooden stakes
Twine
Powdered chalk
Post hole digger
4- by 4-inch cedar posts, 10 feet long
Concrete
Bucket
Carpenter's level
2- by 4-inch cedar boards, 8 feet long
Circular saw
Galvanized screws
Drill
Cedar pickets
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Insert wooden stakes into the ground at the corners of the fence line, and tie a length of mason's twine between the stakes. Mark the locations for the corner posts on the ground using powdered chalk. Also measure every 8 feet within the fence line and mark the spot on the ground for line posts. Decide the width of the cedar pickets and the spacing between them. The pickets are usually 3 to 5 inches wide, and spaced 1 to 4 inches apart.
- 2
  Dig a 3-foot-deep hole over each marked spot on the ground using a post-hole digger. Tamp the base of the hole to level it and firm the soil.
- 3
  Stand the posts in the holes. Enlist a helper to stand a post vertically into a hole while you pour concrete mix around it until several inches from the top. Prepare concrete beforehand by mixing water to concrete in a bucket or wheelbarrow. Check that the post is plumb with a carpenter's level, or adjust the angle lightly before the concrete cures. Continue standing the posts in the holes until you cover the entire fence length. Leave the concrete to cure overnight.
- 4
  Inspect the concrete to ascertain whether it has cured. Add dirt into the remaining hole until in level with the surrounding soil level. Tamp the dirt to remove trapped air pockets.
- 5
  Cut two lengths of 2- by 4-inch cedar boards down to 8 feet each using a circular saw. The two boards form the horizontal rails for the fence. Install two horizontal boards between every two posts. Measure 6 inches upward from the ground and mark the spot along the inner edge of a corner post. Extend the mark to the adjacent post. Also measure 6 inches below the top of the corner post and mark the spot along its inner edge, and the edge of the adjacent post.
- 6
  Join the two horizontal rails over the marked spots on the parallel posts using galvanized screws. Test the stability of the structure and add more screws, if necessary. Repeat the procedure of adding rails between the remaining posts.
- 7
  Nail a cedar picket to the top and lower horizontal rails between two vertical posts using galvanized nails. Hold a piece of scrap lumber in your desired width to serve as a spacing guide between adjacent pickets. Keep the lower ends of the pickets at least 2 inches above the ground. Repeat the process of attaching cedar pickets to each 8-foot section until you cover the entire length of the fence.

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