Installing a Privacy Fence

27 Nov 2017

When my wife and I were looking for our current house, we knew we wanted a privacy fence in the backyard. Our favorite (and only) dog, Izzy, is dog-reactive. Izzy is a sweetheart, but she barks, yelps, shrieks, and basically goes completely crazy when she sees other dogs. So, our thought process went, if we had a beautiful privacy fence in our new backyard, we could avoid awkwardly running away and hiding behind cars when we inevitably encounter our canine neighbors while taking Izzy for walks. We quickly realized most houses didn’t have the fenced-in backyard we wanted. No problem, I thought, I’ll install a fence. It took about six months and some long weekends of hard work, but now we have an attractive and functional privacy fence enclosing our backyard.

I can be a perfectionist at times and I’ll admit I got a bit obsessive about this project. I spent countless hours debating between wooden and metal posts. I studied many fence designs and materials, considering dozens of trade-offs. I’ve documented what I learned along the way and why each design choice and decision was the best option for my fence project. I hope its helpful for your project!

Privacy fence design

A privacy fence was a must for our needs, but even knowing that, there are still several design options to consider. First, there are three main styles for privacy fence pickets: traditional pickets, board-on-board, and tongue-and-groove.

Traditional pickets are the least expensive option. They cost a few dollars each, come in a variety of widths, lengths, and thicknesses, and they are available almost everywhere. Traditional pickets are also the easiest of the three to install. The disadvantage of traditional pickets is that there’s a small gap between the pickets. Board-on-board is considered the high-end option. The benefit of board-on-board fences is that they offer complete privacy with no gaps between pickets. Expect to pay about 30% more for materials since more pickets are needed. Installation is also a bit more cumbersome. Tongue-and-groove offers the same complete privacy of board-on-board construction with fewer pickets. Each tongue-and-groove pickets will cost a bit more. I decided to use traditional pickets for the simplicity. If was going to do it again, I would probably go with board-on-board for the aesthetics.

The type of wood for the fence pickets is one of the most important design decisions. The two most common choices are pressure treated pine and western red cedar. Pressure treated pine is economical, looks great, and will last 10-15 years (20-25 with periodic staining). Cedar looks even better (especially knot-free cedar), has a wonderful aroma, lasts about 5 years longer than pressure treated pine, and will naturally weather to an attractive silver patina. Cedar is not cheap though. The price I was quoted for cedar was about twice the cost of pressure treated pine. One of my primary concerns was resistance to insects (my house has had termites in the past). The chemicals used in pressure treating pine and the natural resins in cedar are both deterrents to insects. However, over time, both will eventually become a tasty buffet for termites. Since termites live in the ground, the best defense is a small gap between the wood and the soil and be sure to destroy termite tubes. I decided on pressure treated pine, mostly for the cost savings compare with cedar. You might be better off with cedar if you’re worried about the chemicals in the pressure treated wood or if you’ve got the money to spend on clear (knot-free) cedar (it’s gorgeous). Beware of ‘fake’ cedar pickets on the market—usually pine finished to look like cedar.

There are some other more exotic types of wood options. Cyprus is a good option for those in the southeast where it is readily available. Cyprus is harder than pine and cedar so it makes for a robust fence. It’s also insect and rot resistant. White oak is a little more expensive than pine. White oak is popular in colder climates and for animals since it’s strong and doesn’t taste as good as pine. Redwood is an expensive option that looks great and will last a very long time. Choose redwood for the aesthetics and longevity. Ipe is a tropical hardwood that is very resistant to rot. Ipe is expensive and difficult to work with (requires pre-drilling). I couldn’t find any good options for Cyprus, Oak, Redwood, or Ipe pickets at my local lumberyards, so I didn’t consider it for my fence. The choice of the type of wood came down to availability, cost, and longevity for me.

The posts are the most important part of the fence. If there’s one part to spend a bit extra time or money on, it’s the posts. The most common choice for fence posts are pressure treated 4 x 4s. Pressure treated posts (rated for below grade applications) are widely available and relatively cheap. However, they will probably be the limiting factor that determines the lifetime of the fence. Most people set the posts in concrete, which works well initially. Concrete is porous though, and as water travels through the concrete, it is absorbed into the wood, accelerating rot. It’s a bit counter intuitive, but a 4 x 4 post will last longer if it’s just simply packed in place with dirt instead of set in concrete. No matter the installation procedure, 4 x 4s are not likely to outlast the rest of the fence. If you have to use 4 x 4 posts, coat the subterranean portions of the posts with roofing tar to keep the moisture and insects away. This is what the utility company does for telephone polls.

The best alternative to wooden 4 x 4 posts are galvanized steel posts. Galvanized steel posts effectively last forever (50+ years). The round posts commonly used for chain link fences can be used for privacy fences with the proper mounting hardware. In my opinion, plain round galvanized steel posts compromise the aesthetic of the fence. Some people add post boxes, putting a facade up to hide the metal posts. Alternatively, hat-shaped steel posts are available from Master Halco. The postmaster combines the longevity of a galvanized steel post with the aesthetics of a traditional post. Postmasters cost a bit more and are only available at Master Halco distributors. However, I think they are worth the extra effort.

The final design choice for fencing materials is fasteners. Here the main decision is screws vs. nails. If you have a nail gun and a compressor, nails will save a lot of time. Use stainless-steel ring-shank nails. The stainless steel won’t rust or bleed onto the wood. In case you’re wondering about alloys, 316 is preferred over 304 for corrosion resistance (check out strongtie’s guide). If you don’t have a nail gun, then use screws. Again stainless steel is best, but it’s very expensive for screws. Other good options are Silicon bronze or copper. If your fence will be near a marine environment where corrosion is a major concern, don’t compromise on faster materials. The chemicals and resins in woods that make them resistant to rot and insects tend to accelerate corrosion of steel fasteners. As fasteners deteriorate, they often stain the pickets with bleeding marks. So plain steel or zinc plated fasteners are not a good choice. Hot dip or mechanically galvanized are the next best option. A comparable level of corrosion protection is available from a variety of coatings. I chose to use a coated screw designed for use with pressure treated lumber. If you choose screws, use a torx style head and save yourself from dozens of stripped screw heads. I installed more than 2500 torx screws in my fence and not a single one stripped.

Knowing what materials you want to use is half the design. The other half is the layout. Most people choose to install fences near the property line. Be sure to include a buffer of at least 3 inches between the fence and the actual property line so that the fence is firmly located on your property. Keep in mind that it’s important to maintain two or more paths of egress from an enclosed backyard in case of emergency. In my case, this meant I needed two gates. If you (or the utility company) will need to get a vehicle through the fence, you’ll want to account for this in planning your gates. I opted to make one gate with an eleven-foot-wide opening, which is large enough to fit a commercial truck through.

Tools

You’ll need the tools below to install a fence. You might be surprised to see a manual post hole digger on the list. Even if you have access to a power post hole digger or plan to rent one, the manual post hole digger will come in handy for cleaning up the post holes (skip ahead to digging the holes).

• Post hole digger
• Digging bar
• Circular saw
• Level
• Tape measure
• Swanson speed square
• Wheelbarrow
• 5 gallon bucket
• Digging shovel
• Corded drills (two drills helps if you are going to predrill holes)
• Extension cord
• Plumb bob
• Chainsaw (I needed this to clear small trees; yes it’s electric; yes it’s actually an amazing chainsaw)

Installation

This section covers my fence installation from start to finish.

Preparing the land & removing trees

I don’t have any good pictures of how my backyard looked before I started clearing it, but let’s just say it was closer to a jungle than a suburban backyard. The first order of business was clearing the massively overgrown weeds, unwanted trees, and brush. One very satisfying weekend with my chainsaw did the trick. The picture below shows the back property line which previously had a row of trees. I’ve notionally marked the location of the fence with twine. The fence in the background was installed by our neighbor a few years previously (so my fence includes two sides of the property line and two sections next to the house for about 230 linear feet).

The next steep was to grind the stumps and roots. Fortunately for me, the trees along the future fence line had shallow root structures. I considered renting a stump grinder and grinding the stumps myself, but I decided to have a contractor do it to save time. The contractor ran over our outdoor table with his truck and asked if it was OK to do the work after dark. Next time I’ll grind the stumps myself.

Layout

With the area for the fence prepared, the next step was actually laying out the location of the post holes. I used twine to mark the fence line and placed stakes (big nails from home depot) to mark the center of each post hole. Try to get the post hole centers to about ±1 inch. You can live with ±3 inches, but it’s best to be a bit more accurate. Everyone will tell you keep the fence post spacing to 8 feet (or less). One section of my fence passed close to a very large pine, giving me no choice but to use a 10-foot post spacing. 1 year later the fence is still holding up strong, so I would say if you need to use a wider spacing than 8 feet in one or two select locations, don’t worry too much about it. Just remember to order a few longer 2 x 4s!

Digging post holes

I dug my 27 post holes by hand using a digging bar and a manual post hole digger. I tried two different power augers. The first was a joke. Don’t bother trying a one man auger even if your backyard is perfect loose dirt. The second worked somewhat well in my clay laden, compacted ground, but it wasn’t any faster than digging by hand since it got bogged down by roots more than 1/4 inch in diameter. In retrospect manually digging the holes was partly a reaction to frustration with the local rental stores. If I was going to do it again, I would rent a tow behind hydraulic post hole digger.

With a little practice I was able to dig a 10 inch diameter hole to a depth of 30 inches in less than an hour (in 90 degree heat). The trick is to use a digging bar. I was unfamiliar with digging bars before this project. A digging bar is just a heavy steel rod with a sharp end. By using the digging bar to loosen up the soil, removing the soil with the post hole digger becomes relatively easy.

Tapering the hole so that it is wider at the bottom than the top helps add stability. I dug my hole as shown below with a 10 inch diameter opening at the top and 12 inch diameter at the bottom. The bottom 4 inches were filled with gravel and tamped. That leaves 24 inches for concrete and a couple inches for fill dirt and/or grass.

I needed to place one post where there was an existing concrete side walk. I rented a core drill. Whoa. These cut through concrete like butter. It took about 15 minutes to drill a perfect 6-inch-diameter-hole for the post.

Installing the posts

To install the posts, start by locating them in the center of the hole. I used a taught string to check the height. If the post stands too tall, it can always be trimmed later. Use a level to check for plumb in two directions and then setup some temporary braces to hold the post in place while pouring the concrete. A helper is almost necessary for this installing the posts. Pour the concrete and use a putty knife to smooth and taper the concrete at the top so water runs away from the post. After the concrete cures for at least 24 hours, trim the posts to height.

Installing the stringers

The next step is to install the horizontal rails (stringers). I used pressure treated 2 x 4s place at the top, near the bottom, and about mid height. The stringers are there to attach the pickets to. More importantly, they hold the pickets in place. Inexpensive fences will use 2 x 3 (or smaller) stringers, which will allow the pickets to warp more easily. Another common mistake is to place the top and bottom stringers too far from the top and bottom of the pickets leaving too much of the picket unsupported, which also leads to warping.

Here’s the back of the property line with the stringers along the top of the fence. It’s starting to look like a fence!

Picketing

Now attach the pickets! This is when it really becomes a functional fence. The image below shows my setup for attaching the pickets (picketing?). I used a poor quality picket as a spacer on the bottom and then marked the height and cut the picket to height. I then placed the picket on the stringers, checked for plumb, and clamped it in place at the top and bottom with quick clamps. Finally, I pre-drilled and screwed the picket in place with 2 screws in each stringer. Two drills makes the pre-drilling practical. You probably don’t need to pre-drill, but I went to the effort to prevent splitting.

Making progress!

Really looking like a fence now!

Despite cutting and screwing each picket individually, it actually goes pretty quickly. I put up all the pickets shown below (about 70 ft) in one day.

Top cap

I included a decorative top cap on the fence to give it a high-end look. These types of features are great because they are typically reserved for very expensive custom fences, but they don’t take all that much extra time to add when building the fence yourself. I used a simple design with a 2 x 6 placed on the top of the fence and a 1 x 4 trim piece below.

The final result came out looking great!

Summary

This was a monumental project for me. It took about one third of my weekends for six months. It was a lot of hard work, but the end result was well worth the effort. We also added a garden along the back fence. The new fence and garden have transformed our backyard into a wonderful oasis for myself, my wife, and Izzy! Here are a few more pictures.