Wooden Fences- Post Spacing

Setting the fence posts is an important step in fence construction. After all, it is the foundation of the fence. Just like a house, if you have a weak foundation, the structure on top will be weak as well. The same holds true for fences. Once a post is set in the ground, it takes alot of work to pull it out. Take the time to lay out the placement of the posts carefully. Here are some tips on spacing posts.

The first thing you want to do is locate underground utilities. This takes a call to the NC One Call Center. They will come out and mark the underground utilities free of charge. Once the utilities have been located, You will need a few things. Get some grade stakes and mason sting from your local home improvement store. It will also be helpful to get a can of marking spray paint (the kind that sprays upside down). You will also need a level, a hammer or mallet, post hole diggers or an auger, cement, a wheel barrow, and a shovel.

The first step is to find the property lines. It is best to find the iron pipe in the ground set by a survey company. If the fence is going to be close to the property line, tie one end of the mason’s string to the property marker. stretch the string to the other property marker. Pull the string tight and make sure it is not hung up on shrubs or grass. This will show you your property line. You will want to construct your fence so nothing below ground or above ground is off your property. Next, Drive a grade stake in the ground with a hammer or mallet at the locations of your corner and end posts. Run the mason’s string from grade stake to grade stake, making one continuous line.  Once you are done, the mason’s line will show you the layout of your fence.  Now its time to determine post spacing.

Post spacing is the distance between fence posts, commonly measured from center to center. It is our recommendation not to place fence posts more than 8′ apart on center. To make the fence have a uniform appearance, heres a trick. Measure one run of the fence, from corner post to corner post. Try to find a number between 7 and 8 (yes, it will be decimals!) that goes into the measurement equally. That will be your post spacing. Here is an example. Lets say the back run of your fence is 115′ long. You want to find a number that is between 7 and 8 that goes into 115 as equally as possible. In this case 7.65 goes into 115 15.03 times. Pretty even! If you set your posts 7.65′ apart on center, you will have even post spacing throughout the run. If you took this same measurement and set your posts 8′ apart, the last section of fencing would be about 2 1/2′ long. This could look awkward! Starting at the corner post, make a mark with spray paint on the ground every 7.65′. All of the sections will then be even. Repeat this for all the fence runs. Don’t worry if the measurements are different. Some may be 7.8′ and others may be 7.3′ apart. Once the fence is finished, you will never see the difference!

The next step is to dig holes and set the posts! Please check back soon to read this blog as well!

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions, comments, or a blog you would like to see written. You can always contact me directly through our website: www.CarolinaCustomFence.com