Making Fence-Building Worry-Free | Real Estate Beaufort SC at ...

Attract home buy?ers by build?ing a fence. These instruc?tions will get you going.

^{Cour?tesy of Bet?ter Homes and Gar?dens?}

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Intro?duc?tion

A fence is often a won?der?ful way to attract atten?tion to your home when you are get?ting it ready for sale. Its ele?ments of secu?rity, beauty, and func?tion?al?ity can help your home stand out to the other for-sale home that doesn?t have the bound?ary wrap?ping the yard.

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With one week?end and care?ful plan?ning, you can fence in your yard and these steps will help you do just that.

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Besides a rented post?hole dig?ger, you?ll need only a cir?cu?lar saw and ordi?nary car?pen?try tools.

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Designs vary widely, but just about all fences con?sist of the same basic ele?ments: a series of posts sunk into the ground and con?nected by rails at the top, bot?tom, and usu?ally in the mid?dle as well; and fenc?ing boards or pan?els that are nailed to the rails to give the fence its char?ac?ter. Pri?vacy fences usu?ally require 4 x 4 posts. Rail and fenc?ing lum?ber can be almost any size. Lum?ber yards sell pre?fab sec?tions of fence in many styles, but cus?tom design and con?struc?tion usu?ally yield a better-looking fence.

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Check Codes

Before you start to dig, dig into your community?s build?ing and zon?ing codes. You must under?stand what mate?ri?als you can and can?t use, height require?ments and the dis?tance that you can build in rela?tion to your prop?erty line and the street.

Now it?s time to focus on your design. Deter?mine what your yard needs most. Do you want pri?vacy? Secu?rity? Visual appeal? You can choose from tall, pri?vacy fences or four-foot struc?tures that offer a bound?ary, but not pri?vacy. While fence designs may vary, the frame?work is the same. You?ll be deal?ing with series of posts sunk into the ground and con?nected by rails-top, bot?tom, and usu?ally in the mid?dle as well; and fenc?ing boards or pan?els that are nailed to the rails to give the fence its character.

You will need to stake out your loca?tion, tak?ing into account the slope of your yard and how your fence will need to be adjusted to accom?mo?date level changes. Plot post spac?ing to allow for the most effi?cient use of lum?ber.? Six? or seven-foot spans usu?ally work well; never set privacy-fence posts more than 8 feet apart.

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Mate?ri?als

When you order lum?ber, spec?ify construction-heart red?wood or cedar or ground-contact, pressure-treated wood for all posts and bot?tom rails; upper rails and fenc?ing can be less expen?sive grades of rot-resistant lum?ber. To min?i?mize rust, buy hot-dip gal?va?nized nails and fit?tings. If you want to paint or stain your fence, apply the fin?ish to posts, rails, and fenc?ing before you nail up the fenc?ing. Besides sav?ing time, you?ll get bet?ter cov?er?age.

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Instruc?tions

1. Set the posts. Lay out the site, dig holes, and set posts, start?ing with the end posts. (For basic infor?ma?tion on installing posts, see our Home Improve?ment Ency?clo?pe?dia.) Check each post for plumb by hold?ing a level to two adja?cent faces; nail braces to hold posts upright. Check, too, that posts are aligned by tying string from end post to end post.

2. As you shovel con?crete into the holes, have a helper tamp the con?crete to remove bub?bles. Round off the con?crete so water will drain away from the posts. After the con?crete cures, cut posts to a uni?form height, if nec?es?sary. Shape tops of posts so they?ll shed water.

3. Add rails. Attach the rails to the posts. We used gal?va?nized rail clips. A line level and com?bi?na?tion square assure that each rail is level and square with the posts.

4. Fin?ish. Mea?sure care?fully and use a square to mark loca?tions on the rails for each fenc?ing board. Wood scraps squeezed between boards main?tain uni?form spac?ing. Have a helper align boards ? in this case flush with the bot?tom ? while you nail them to the rails.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 at 6:38 am and is filed under BHG Live. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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