The key to successfully building a fence, whether it’s on a slope or not, is preparation. If you set yourself a plan and you’re able to stick to it you should save time and put up a fence that will stand the test of time.
Building a Fence – Where to Start
The best place to start is by double checking you’re entitled to put the fence where you are planning. Dig out your title deeds and identify precisely where your boundaries are.
There is nothing worse that getting to work on the fence and finding you are a foot into your next door neighbours garden (probably the one you don’t like too!)
Building a Fence – Time to Tool Up
Make sure you have the right tools and materials before a spade touches the ground. You are going to need the following,
Tools
- String
- Stakes and braces. You’ll need 2 per post to hold it in place while you cement them in and obviously a couple of stakes to map out your straight line.
- A spade and a post hole digger.
- A wheel barrow
- A spirit level
- A saw
- A can of spray paint
- Pencil (vital)
- A hammer – or if you are very lucky a nail gun
Materials
- Posts – best to have flat ended. Personal taste if they are round or square.
- Panels – depends on the style you are looking for – see our page for different styles.
- Post cement (Postcrete or similar and probably 1/2 a 20kg bag per post)
- Stones or a brick to go underneath the post
- Nails
Building a Fence – Defining your lines
So now you’ve defined your parameters and you have all the materials and tools you need, it’s time to plan out your fence. Obviously building on a slope adds some complications. You want to achieve an even spread of posts with very little space at the bottom of your fence and a tidy rising gradient as the fence climbs the slope.
Establishing a straight line is not always easy, there are very few straight lines in a garden – except when I’m cutting a lawn that is!
Hammer in a stake where your fence will start and one where it will end and tie your string between the two (make sure its tight). From here use your can of spray to outline the holes you’re planning to dig for your post. Best practice is normally around twice the width of the post.
100mm post – 300mm hole
The width the posts are apart really depends on the panels you have and how you plan to fix them to your posts. These can range from 1500mm – 2400mm. Remember you do have to fix them to the post somehow so don’t measure from the edge of a post measure if you plan to fix the panels to the front of your posts.
Building a Fence – The Post
The hole
Getting the right depth for your posts is essential. That troublesome neighbour will be even less amused if your new fence blows over into his garden.
Obviously your post heights will vary but a good rule of thumb is at least a quarter of your post should be below the ground.
For a 2400mm post, 600mm should be below the surface.
So put your back into it and dig down using you post hole digger or the humble spade if that’s all you have at your disposal.
Drop in a small layer of stones and and sit your post on a brick. This is far easier done if you have flat ended posts of course. This is to stop your wooden posts coming into contact with the moisture coming up through the ground. If they start to get wet from the bottom up it will weaken the posts, no matter what concrete they are held in.
Getting them level
Building your fence on a slope means you have to work extra hard to make sure the posts are level which is where the stakes and braces come in handy.
Hammer in two stakes either side of your post and attach a wooden brace to each. There is always a bit of give with these braces. So once you have attached your first brace to the post use your spirit level to make sure it is straight before you fix it in place with your second.
Repeat this with all your posts as you move up the hill. It goes without saying that the hole must be the same depth and width and your posts must be straight.
Top Tip – It can help to have a stake the height of the hill attached to one at the top of the hill. Stretch a string between these and it will give you a straight line to use for your spirit level.
Securing the post
Now to add your fixing agent. We normally use Postcrete. Simply fill your hole to around two thirds full and then add your Postcrete. That should set in around 10 minutes, if not quicker and secure your post in place. Once the Postcrete is set add some of the excess soil you took out of the hole back over to finish.
You should now have a gradually ascending straight line of posts making their way up your rise. Now time to fill in the gaps.
Building a Fence – The Boards
As we mentioned, you can either fix your boards to the front or in between your posts. The easier option and in our opinion the tidiest is to fix onto the front of your posts.
Use your tape to measure a quarter of the height of the post from the top and bottom and mark all the posts all the way up your hill. This is where you affix your backing rails. (Again remember you need to add two rails per post so don’t nail the first covering the whole post)
To make sure your posts are at the right height going up the slope mark the top of your first panel on your post. Now do the same with the last post. Run another string line the length of the fence and mark where the string crosses your post. This will give you a consistent position for every board on the rise up the hill.
Keep adding your boards all the way up your rails until you have finished. Once they are on, if needed, take the tops off the posts at an angle so the rain drains off and you have your fence on an slope.
Conclusion
There are obviously lots of permutations that could factor into this when you are trying this on your own fence and other elements that can factor in but it provides a basic outline and some tops tips for you to have a go a putting up your own fence.
If you would like us to come and have a look just get in touch either through our website or by giving us a call.