Not Doggie Do-Dos on the Lawn Again – Directions on How to Build a Fence

Not Doggie Do-Dos on the Lawn Again – Directions on How to Build a Fence

Imagine that you have finally reluctantly turned off your mobile to avoid distractions so that you can get your yard back into some sort of order over the weekend. Late Sunday afternoon you finally look at all your hard work and think your yard looks great – a job well done. You promise yourself that with a little maintenance you will keep it that way.

Arriving home late Monday from a hard day’s work the first thing that you notice are doggie do-dos on your neatly mowed lawn. By this time you have had enough of cleaning up after the neighborhood dogs and have to face the prospect of building a fence to keep them out.

Even though you consider yourself a bit of handyman you have never actually built a fence before. Sure you have nailed back the odd paling or two over the years but the prospect of building a whole new fence is a bit daunting even though you would not willingly admit it. Your phone rings and Charlie and the boys are waiting for you to join them at the local pub. Good you think maybe they have some ideas about building a fence.

So reluctantly you bring up the subject of fence building with your mates who as usual are so called experts on building fences. They tell you how important it is to plan the whole process and that the first thing you must do is find out from the relevant authorities what sort of fences are allowed in your neighborhood and if any permits are required before you commence building your fence. You also need to contact the neighbor if it is a boundary fence and get their permission in writing to build the fence and to share the building expenses. By this time your head is spinning and you have not even dug a hole.

Continuing on they then talk about getting a good set of plans so that you are not guessing as to how much material you actually need. You can then give your neighbor a good estimate otherwise you might find yourself half way through the job, out of materials and with a neighbor reluctant to cover further costs. They then talk about digging holes well below the frost line so that when the ground freezes it does not up-heave your posts. Never thought of that you think to yourself. You then hear about the story of a bloke who built a fence that looked just awful because he did not accurately locate each hole so that the posts lined up with one another.

Charlie says you should start with the end posts and allow the concrete to set so that you can then stretch a string from one to the other so that you create a perfect line from one post to the other. Then drive a stake every 6 to 8 feet along this line and make sure you measure carefully so the posts are equally spaced. Align your posts with the string and make sure they are level vertically and brace them while the cement sets. Give them a couple of days to cure before adding the actual fencing. He also says it is a good idea to secure your fencing with screws instead of nailing against the post so they if they work loose you can tighten them. He then goes on to say you should seal your completed fence so it will last for many years.

So you arrive home with all this knowledge in your head but seem to have more questions than answers. You realize you really only have a broad outline on how to build a fence and are missing all the finer more important details.