A fence is more than a few slabs of wood. When creating a fence, whether it be for you to mark your property or just keep the breeze down, you will want it to compliment your house and property around it nicely.
Creating your a wooden fence is a very basic, simple do-it-yourself project that can be the foundation for your wood-working experiences.
Before you build and install your fence, it’s important to first consider the costs it will take to not only build it in the first place, but also maintenance fees. There are many types of natural activities that may break down your fence during its lifetime.
Wood Fencing
Quality is very important when doing any sort of build-it-yourself projects. If the fence will be residing in a garden in the backyard, it’s best fit to be built with a rustic type style of fencing material such as picket or split rail. More formal homes and gardens are better suited for a post and board, lattice, or even a simple basket weave style of fencing.
You are going to want to choose a rot resistant type of wood for your fence since it will be a long term investment on your part. Some smart choices include; cedar, redwood, cypress, or  even pine treated with pressure. Other aspects of the fencing should also consist of spruce, hemlock, or fir wood.
Trim Post Tops
Trimming the top of the fence posts to a pointed or dome-shape is important so that they allow water to fall from them easily in order to resist rotting. Caps will also prevent the end grain of the top of the posts from sucking in water and then rotting. Post caps may be bought at your local hardware store.
Fastening the fence is also very important. Make sure to only use galvanized nails and screws so to decrease the chances of rusting which tends to stain the top of the wood.
To Prevent Rotting
Coating or staining each side of each post before installing should help fight rotting.
Check up on your fence annually to see if any post or nail/screw repair is needed.
Anchoring the Posts
While visiting your home improvement store, pick up some metal spear connectors in order to anchor your posts. Since these will sink the fence posts into concrete, it will be much sturdier than if it was driven into the ground directly by a hammer.
Easier Ways to Dig
Household machine rental stores usually rent out post hole diggers, which will make hole digging much easier. It’s necessary to dig around a two to two and a half foot diameter circle for each post. If you live in a very cold region, dig below the frost line.
Uniform Pickets
If the pickets of your fence are not already separated into panels, clamp lots of them together into a bench vise and saw through them at once to save time and energy.
Spacing the Pickets Properly
Before diving right into the actual project, learn of the specific codes that are in enforcement in your area.
If your fence is a boundary, you’ll usually need to stay at least three feet away from your property line.
Use a spare picket as a spacing tool, in order to space them all correctly.
Repairing Rotted Wood
In order to repair the rotted ends of a fence post, simply saw off the damaged portion and attach a 2 by 4 horizontally at the base, nailing it to ones that are not rotted.
Make sure the fencing is at least a good one inch above the ground in order to let air circulate to dry the wood. This should prevent future rotting damages at the base of your fence.