How to Put Up a Privacy Wood Fence
Building a privacy fence around your home will add value to your property as well as give you a sense of security. The installation process only takes a couple of days and is pretty easy if you are handy with hammer and nails.
Things you will need:
- Four-by-four-by-eight foot pressure treated post
- 80-pound bag of concrete
- Two-by-four by-eight foot boards
- Pickets
- Assorted exterior wood screws
- Power screwdriver
- Wood stakes
- Hammer
- Contact your local utility company. Call and have them flag your property for underground utilities. This will prevent you from hitting a buried gas line when you start digging.
- Obtain a building permit. Contact the local building department in your county to find out what requirements are needed for building your privacy fence.
- Position your stakes. Place them in each corner of the yard to designate the spot for your fence.
- Begin digging your post holes. To expedite this process you can rent a gas powered post hole digger from your local home improvement store.
- Put your post holes in place. Position the four-by-four-by-eight foot pressure treated posts in each corner. Next, pour a bag of cement into each of the corner posts. Compress the concrete around the post to keep it level and straight. Pour water in the surrounding area of the corner posts. This allows the concrete to soak up the water and set in around the posts.
- Connect the pickets to the fence. Allow at least 1/8-inch between each picket to allow for their expansion and contraction. Make sure the pickets are even by using a carpenter level.