If you have the know how and the desire, building your own fence can be a rewarding and fiscally responsible decision. The first thing you need to do is mesaure off the distance where your fence is going to go. If you’re building a chain link fence plan on about 10 feet between the posts and for cedar it’s standard to do an 8 foot span between posts. After you’ve calculated your linear footage, tally up the number of 2×4’s, fence boards (commonly 1x4x6’s) and posts that you’re going to need.

After you have an accurate count of materials, it’s time to order. As a homeowner you will most likely be getting your materials from a big box store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. The posts you get from a big box store typically measure 3.5 x 3.5 inches which is smaller than the oversized 4.125 x 4.125 inch posts that fence builders commonly use. You will also find it hard to get high quality 1 x 4 x 6 fence boards at the bigger box stores, but if you pick and choose the right materials you can usually find what you need.

The next step is to set your posts. The easiest method for lining up your posts is to set a string along the line you’re looking to build. It’s important that you know where your property line is so you don’t overbuild. In Part 2, we’ll talk about building your fence.