# Garden fence advice



## Steven (23 Mar 2011)

I at the beginning of putting plans/costs together to fit a fence down one side of the garden with vertical boards. As this is the first fence I would hope someone could confirm or advise my numbers.

The fence will be a fraction over 12m, I have a supply of 100x100mm (9footers) posts to use. My local supplier has gave me a quote for rails and slats.

The slats are 150mm x 1.8m, he has suggested 60 boards. Unless I am wrong this would give a 50mm gap between boards, is this a bit much? I was also considering ripping some boards into two or even three and having a pattern of one large, one small board. Any comments on that idea?

What distance between posts, I was planning on using 3 rails so I could increase the distance between post, which raises the question what distance should the centres between post be. I would like to keep the number of posts to a minimum (bad back issues) but still stable.

And last, any suggestions on driving the posts. Am I right in thinking they should go down about 3feet, I was thinking of packing with some gravel for drainage top up with post mix and coveing the last inch or two with top soil to hide it all.

Thanks for any all advice in advance.


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## beech1948 (23 Mar 2011)

I have a fence with vertical planks. Gap between fence posts is 10ft with 3 rails on each segment. Gap between planks is about 3" but there are planks on both sides of the fence ( hope thats clear) so that it is private. Top of fence is covered by a rain shield of a piece about 3"x2" with the top bevelled.

regards
Alan


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## Mcluma (23 Mar 2011)

I have done some fencing

Featheredge boards 150 by 1800 need a 20mm overlap so you only move on about 130 for 12 meter you need
1200 : 13 + 92 or 93 boards (beter with 92)

rails if you go for the 3 meter rails then you need for 12 meter fencing 5 posts (a post on either end) en 4*3 = 12 rails

Also you need 4 gravel boards

I normally make my fence 1800 plus the gravel board of 150 1950 high, but need to understand that part of the gravel board goes into the ground, so that makes your fence really smooth looking as you can take all the bumps out of the ground

Place your first post and your last post, put a string in between and place the other 3 posts, then attach the rails

I always attache the rails to the front of the posts in a continues string, so when you attach the featheredge it is one long smooth fence not stopped by posts

put the gravelboards a bit forward of the post by an inch or two backing, so you can put your featheredge boards on top of the gravelboards

Make sure your posts are at least 60 to 70 cm in the ground and best in concrete

have fun


Chris

PS If you want to see some examples, do a search here for McLuma fencing


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## gwr (23 Mar 2011)

Can i just add that if you use concrete for the posts make sure the bottom 2 inches or so are into gravel and not encased in the concrete to allow any water to escape


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## dickm (23 Mar 2011)

Don't know what sort of soil the OP is on, but if the fence is less than 2m high, I would doubt whether putting 3 feet (sorry about mixed units) into the ground would be necessary, especially if concreted in. Up here, on 3" of sandy soil over broken rock, it would be bl***y impossible! My anti-deer fencing which is just over 2m high only goes down about 600mm and is rock solid. 

Mentioning driving fence posts, does anyone else share my inability to use one of those tubular fence-post drivers that seem so popular? To me, an old-fashioned beetle/fencing maul is so-o-o-o much easier, even if it does involve standing on a trailer or other convenient stand to get high enough.


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## Steven (24 Mar 2011)

Thanks for the responses, Can I clear up some details.

The vertical boards are not feather edge but 150x19mmx1.8m square edge, 60 boards would give a 50mm gap.

As for the post the soil is heavy almost like clay, I was planning to dig a hole about 600m now some gravel in the bottom. I was planning on using post mix. Chatting to my dad last night he gave me the "you do not want to do it that way" speech. He wants to dig the hole drop the post in and jam with old bricks before back filling with the soil. I do not say this would not work but how reliable would this be?


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## marcros (24 Mar 2011)

Steven":jkwf2aix said:


> As for the post the soil is heavy almost like clay, I was planning to dig a hole about 600m now some gravel in the bottom.



At that depth, the fence is going to be very stable. Could I suggest that a couple of feet would be good enough, and save a lot of digging?


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## Mcluma (24 Mar 2011)

So you want to have little gaps inbetween the boards??

In the old days yes ruble was good, or just soil and water them in

Now, i would only put them in concrete


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## gc (24 Mar 2011)

I would and did concrete our posts in and only went down about 1 1/2 to 2 feet with 6 feet above ground and there pretty solid at that. I put posts every 6 feet (roughly) and used 12 foot rails top/middle/bottom so no cutting required. Then put slats with a gap of approx 40mm, slats were put on both sides for added security and privacy.

Wouldn't fancy digging 3 foot holes for the post, was bad enough going to 1 1/2 - 2 feet.


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## beech1948 (24 Mar 2011)

I've done this in clay down to 900mm but I used a hole digger I've forgotten the name a large screw structure about 9-10 inch diameter. We hired it. Hard work in clay but doable.
Al


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## Mcluma (24 Mar 2011)

The OP only has to make 5 holes, so that will be a dodle, use a good pole digger. That fence should be up in a day.

dig the poles and by lunch they should all be concreted in


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## Esox Lucius (28 Mar 2011)

The screw hole machine is an AUGER.

I hand dug all my posts when i built my picket fence. Did just over 60 Meters and it took me 2 days. 

I believe if you concrete the posts in you will make it a harder job on the day you have to remove and replace rotten posts. 

I placed mine into the soil against a flat bank on one side of the posts and filled in with soil. What i did to help compact the soil was use one of my son's old knackered cricket bats and that worked a treat to ram the soil. Also with using one side of the hole as a bank i had a good solid side for a start and it only takes a few minutes to fill and move on to the next one.

Have fun


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## Stoday (28 Mar 2011)

Here's a nice drawing and specification for palisade fences to BS 1722 part 5 — Click to download the pdfs.

Drawings
Notes
.


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## Steven (28 Mar 2011)

Thanks for all the information, I hope to start in the next few weeks. It looks if there is no reason to cement in, and in one way it does make it easier to replace a post at a later date if required. Especially after I was asked to help remove a rotten post over the week end, we gave up in the end. There must have been 2 barrow loads in the hole.

The rails I will be getting are 3.6m so I will be putting in every 1.8m, so plenty of support.


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## cambournepete (28 Mar 2011)

A chap I helped replace a few fence posts recently uses a dry mix (4/1) concrete mix. I wouldn't worry about any effort required replacing later - the post should last a good 10-15 years if done properly.


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