Home Improvement

Installing a new fence is a great way to give your home privacy, and a unique look. There are many options when selecting a fencing product, from different kinds of wood to vinyl, plastic, and metal just to name a few. Like a foundation is the most important part to a home, the fence posts are the most important aspect of your fencing.

Fence post installation is quite labor intensive, and requires a strong back. If you have the time and motivation to do so, by all means pick up a shovel and get to work. However, hiring someone else to do the work for you is not always a bad idea either.

First you must mark out where your fence line will be. You will need one post for each corner of your yard, and then posts about every 7 1/2 feet apart along your property line. It is extremely important in fence post installation, that your posts are true, square, and level.

The toughest part by far, is actually digging the hole during fence post installation. If you are planning on building a six-foot high privacy fence, you should plan on purchasing 4×4 posts that are 8 feet tall. You should dig a hole in the ground about 8 inches in diameter, my minimum 18 inches deep. If you can go 24 inches, your fence will be that much stronger.

Using a fence post hole digger, is a good way to save some time and your back during fence post installation. However, if you want to invest the money in a post hole augur, you can dig the holes in less than half the time, with a lot less strain on your back.

Once you have the post holes dug, you will pour a little bit of dry concrete into the whole, about 2 inches worth. Next you will drop the post into a hole. While you hold the post at Square and level as possible, have someone slowly pour dry concrete into the whole evenly around the post. Once the concrete has filled a hole about halfway up, use a post-level, to ensure one final time that your post is square and level. Continue to fill the hole until it is totally full of concrete.

You can sprinkle a little bit of water on the dry concrete, but the Earth’s moisture will penetrate the concrete and dry it without the assistance of any extra water from a water hose. The longer it takes the concrete to dry, the stronger it will be. Make sure to pack the concrete around the post as tight as possible. The post should stay upright on its own and continue to remain level without the assistance of any braces. You can however add braces if you would like.

It is best to install all the post in one day, allow them to dry overnight, and then continue to build the rest of your fence the following day.