Tips for erecting your fence.

All gardens can be made more useful, more practical and more beautiful with a garden fence. A good fence offers a defined border to your garden, extra security and of course much needed privacy between you and your neighbours.

A fencing project can feel a little daunting, especially, if like me, you are not hugely practical and the most carpentry you have ever done is that spice rack you made for your mum back in woodwork class 100 years ago. 

So last week, when I decided to go ahead and take down the old wobbly abomination that I inherited with my new house last year, I went to ask some of the boys on the yard for their advice and we came up with this handy guide. (And as you will see from the pictures, it was a huge help.)
 

The right tools for the job.

First off, you need to have the tools to do the job. As most fencing comes precut to your required size, power saws and other terrifying tools like that are not often needed.

• Fence panels
• Fence posts
• Tape measure
• Spirit level
• Nails/Screws
• Saw
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Post hole digger
• Drill/screwdriver

 Personally, I was convinced to buy myself a power drill/driver. It made the whole thing much quicker and made my father in law happy that I had finally bought some tools.

It's the best bit! Getting rid of the old one!

If you’re installing a new fence where there wasn’t one previously then you will obviously want to skip ahead to “the process”. For those who have an existing fence then you will need to get rid of this old fencing first before you can begin erecting your new one. This isn’t a pretty or delicate process, you simply need to pry out the old wooden posts and demolish old panels. A big hammer and some brute force, or a father in law who used to play rugby for Cornwall is pretty useful.

Get it up!

The first thing to do is decide which kind of fence you want, with wooden fences you can get the pieces ready-made. When making the holes for the posts with your hole digging equipment you should make it around 2 feet deep (the bigger the posts the deeper you’ll need to go.
There are many different kinds of fence panels which you can install in your garden, some require brackets which allow you to affix the panel to the post whilst resting on gravel board at the bottom for a tidy finish. In some instances the panels will interlock with the posts but need to be snugly fitted to avoid any rattling.
When you fix in your posts you can do so with semi-dry or wet concrete. Wet concrete will require you to leave the mixture to set before you move on to panel installation – any movement in the post will ruin the precision of your fencing.

And that is about it. "Measure twice cut once!"
For all your fencing needs, give us a call on 01494 562406. Our experts here are happy to help and will let you know exactly what you need for the job.