Wood Fences

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Fasteners

Buy 2 1/2" or 3" hot-dip-galvanized common (with a large, good-holding head) 6d or 8d nails, or for the power driver, same-size, self-tapping deck screws of galvanized steel or the new silver rustproof alloys. To fasten thin trim boards, get galvanized finish nails with small heads that disappear into the wood.

Bill of Materials

Now, figure how many infill boards you'll need per bay. Multiply this by the number of bays plus gates for running feet of infill stock needed. The number of bays and gates multiplied by two or three equals the number of rails. Posts needed equals the number of bays and gates (plus one if fence does not make a closed loop around the property.) If you use posts for corners and gates that are a size larger then the line posts, adjust accordingly and add in two sister posts per turn in the fence if you intend to reinforce corners.

Figure the most economical, waste-free way to buy lumber: for 4' infill boards, buy 8' 12', or 16' boards—whichever is cheaper per running foot, not 10s or 14s, which would leave two feet of waste. Don't try to convert your list to "board fee," a measure of the square footage in a tree used by timber cruisers and a few lumber yard clerks who delight in confusing do-it-yourselfers.

Take your itemized list, including fasteners and gate hardware, to several building supply outlets and price the fence out. Be sure to find out if delivery is free to your place (it usually is, up to a certain number of miles, with large orders). And, don't be afraid to ask about upcoming sales. Also look into bargain-priced "packages" consisting of nothing but raw lumber and a plan; some may save you considerable money.

Layout and Construction

Now, take a ball of stout hemp (nonstretching) twine and a supply of 24" wood stakes to your fence line. Sink stakes a foot deep at your gate posts and corners, and stretch the line taught across their tops. If you have the confidence, measure along the line to locate post holes. One foolproof method is to lay out the actual fence framework along the line—spacing posts with one trial rail cut to measure as determined in your plan.

If you come to a corner and are running short, you can adjust by subtracting the space taken by an infill member or two (or width of a picket plus space between pickets) from adjoining bays. If long, add a bay and reduce length of all bays to make space. If you decide to compensate in only one or two bays, locate shorts at the corner rather than gate end of the flight of fence.

Now, beginning at the gate posts, dig post holes, set stakes and build the frame of the fence one bay at a time. Tack-nail rails to posts (using small nails that aren't hammered in all the way).

Lacking a tractor and auger, you can dig post holes with a clamshell posthole digger or a spade. Sink posts 1/3 of their length. If soil is soft, compact sides of the holes by jamming a 2 x 4 in the bottom and waggling it hard against the sides. To discourage wet induced rot, guarantee drainage at post bottoms by putting a 6" layer of gravel at hole bottom, tamping especially well, using a tamping bar and setting the bottom few inches of the posts in tamped gravel as well.

Use a carpenter's level to assure the post is plumb in all dimensions and add soil in thin layers, tamping each well. For the most stable gate and corner posts, set the post in 6" of gravel, then pour a concrete collar around the next 6". (Mix a bag of dry concrete premix and pour in the hole, bulking the collar by adding in rocks if you have them. Be sure post is plumb and let concrete set for a day before topping with tamped soil.)

Again don't submerse the bottom of the post into the cement; this would trap moisture and result in accelerated rot. Now, build fence one bay at a time. You'll have to remove the guideline to dig post holes, but to locate each line post precisely, replace it and align it tight, straight, and even with the outer edge of the corner stake and all posts already in place.

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