Putting Up A Fence Post







Putting Up A Fence Post: 3 Tips

If you need a new fence in your yard, you might not realize that one of the most difficult parts of installing it is going to be digging in the fence posts. They need to be dug to a certain depth, for example, and they need to be the right size for the job. Since they are so integral to the look, finish, and sturdiness of the finished fence, it is crucial to get the fence posts right before moving on to the rest of the installation. Here are some tips on how to do it.

Choose The Right Size
Unless you want your fence to fall over or be unstable at the very least, choosing the right size of fence post is vital. Don’t just buy whatever is in the local hardware store and hope for the best; you can buy fence post supports and bases online so you will always have all the choice you need, and you will be able to buy the right size.

It is important to know that one-third of your fence post should be dug into the ground. Therefore, once you know what height you want your fence to be, you need to add another third on top of that height when you buy the posts. For example, if you want a six-foot fence, you will need to buy eight-foot posts, since two feet of the post will need to be underground.

Prepare For Installing
As much as you might want to, you cannot simply bang the posts into the ground and start putting your fence up. If you do, the fence won’t last very long, and you will be making the job much harder for yourself in the long term anyway.

Start by checking for the location of cables and pipes that might be under the ground where you are thinking of putting your fence. You can do this yourself with specialist detection tools, or you can call in utility suppliers to check for you – it will all depend on how confident you feel in this task. It is also important to knowt he boundaries of your land so as not to accidentally put the fence on your neighbor’s property.

Once the ground is known to be safe, you can mark out the fence line using string or spray paint and only then should you begin digging for the fence post-installation.

Digging
Remembering the rule that one-third of each post needs to be underground, you can start digging holes to accommodate those posts. Add around six inches of gravel to the hole (meaning you may have to dig it even deeper) as this will help to keep the posts stable. You should also pour in fresh concrete, but only when your post is in exactly the spot you want it to be in – trying to reposition it afterward is a very difficult job.

Leave the concrete to harden before you start to add the fencing to the posts so that you don’t accidentally nudge the posts out of position.