Building a Fence, Part Two: Tools

I promised two blogs ago that I would tell you how to build a fence, should you be as cheap as I and not wish to hire people to do this for you.

The first thing that you will need to do is gather your tools. The two most important things that you will need is a power drill and circular saw:



You should purchase a cordless drill and saw. But, it is important to make sure that they have the power that you will need to cut through 4x4 treated lumber and your fence panels. Sometimes, cordless tools just do not have the power that you need. So you will want to make sure that you purchase 18 volt tools. It's pretty easy to find that information, since it will be on the battery:


You should also purchase at least two batteries, and a charger. Three batteries and two chargers would be better, but let's not get crazy!

When you purchase your saw, you also want to make sure that it is a 6 inch saw. Often cordless circular saws are smaller, even 4 inch. The reason that you need a 6 inch saw is because you are going to be cutting through 4 inch lumber. 6 inches is the diameter of the blade. Which means, that you can only make a cut 3 inches deep. Actually, slightly less than 3 inches, since the nut that holds the blade into the saw takes some depth away. By the same logic, a blade 4 inches in diameter would make a cut under two inches deep. Once again showing off my mad math skillz, you can circle that post all day, but if you can't cut more than 2 inches deep, you'll never be able to trim the length of your 4x4 posts.

You also want a saw that you can change the angle of the cut on. Now, on a table saw you do this by actually tilting the blade. On a hand-held saw, however, you do this by tilting the plate:


You will also need a rigid tape measure that has locking capability, and is longer than then length of your panels (8 feet). I was lucky in that I was following the line of my old fence, so I simply used the old fence posts as a guide for keeping the new fence straight.


If you are building a completely new fence as opposed to to following the line of an old fence, you will also want to make sure you find your local "Call Before You Dig" company and have them come locate your gas line and also electrical and communication lines if they are buried. If you are building a new fence you will also need to get a permit from your city, and they should have the contact information for your local service providers. You will also need to get a long measuring tape and surveyors flags to lay out your fence line.

You will also need a post hole digger, since there are some places (near the house, for example) where you won't be able to use the gasoline auger. If you look, the post holer is also marked with measurements so you can estimate your depth:


You will also want to have a lopper, so that you can cut tree roots that you come in contact with:


A measuring stick is also handy, to measure the depth of your augured holes. It is also handy to have a t-square to mark off the posts for cutting to length. This is a drywall square, but fits the bill nicely:


You will also need a level. A three-foot level is important. Longer levels are more accurate.


The level can be used both vertically:


And horizontally:


You will also need a shovel and potentially a pick axe, depending on the soil you are working in. You should also have ready access to water, and either a hose long enough to reach the furthest point of your fence line or a five gallon bucket.

You should also determine how you want to get rid of your old fence, whether you want to actually dig out the old posts, or if you want to cut them off and leave the concrete in the ground. If you dig them out, you really will need that pick axe. If you cut them off, you will need a saws-all, or reciprocating saw, as noted in the previous blog.

You will also need to make arrangements to get rid of your old fence and posts, generally the garbage company gets pissy when you put that out on the curb. You can contact your garbage service to see if they offer large pick-ups, or you can search for a service that will take care of it for you. In St. Louis, there is a company called "Anything Goes" that will haul off the materials for a reasonable price. That is who I used.

Stay tuned....someday soon I'll even tell you how to start building the fence....

Good Fences, Good Neigbors

I am a firm believer in the "Good fences make good neighbors" tenet, as well as it's sub-precept "If I have a really big fence with a lock on it, maybe my neighbors won't be able to steal my stuff."

Some of you may be familiar with my run-ins with my neighbors; you can find a taste of the crazy here, here, and here if you should be so inclined.

Needless to say, I recognized very soon after moving in that the 3-foot tall chain link fence was just NOT going to cut it and what I needed was an 8-foot tall poured concrete barrier, preferably with pieces of broken glass set into the top of it. But since the city would not grant a the permit request for the concrete wall, 10-foot deep moat, or tower from which I could pour boiling oil on intruders, I settled for a 6-foot wooden stockade fence instead. See, even Spaz likes it:
A giant wooden fence is an awesome thing to have, but it is also RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE to have someone come in and install it. I have a HUGE back yard and to have a landscaping company come and install a fence would have cost me nearly $10,000.00. Now, it's not that it is not worth it. If I had ten grand laying around, I would consider spending it on some undocumented laborers.

But, I don't have that kind of money stuffed into the mattress. Beyond that, whenever considering a huge renovation or improvement project, it is always important to consider what you are willing to put into your house and potentially not get back.

Consider this...

I purchased a home in a "potentially reviving" neighborhood. In other words, it's not revived yet. And there is no guarantee that it will.

I paid $107,00.00 for a 2200 square foot, 3 bedroom home that needed A LOT of work. Recent appraisals put it's value at $175,000.00. That leaves me about $70,000.00 of repair and improvements that I could potentially make my money back on. But do you just break even? I don't know about you, but the word "profit" is mighty appealing.

If you want to eventually sell and come out ahead ahead, you need to keep a gap between that "how much I COULD spend" and "how much I have spent."

I also took into consideration how much I did spend to purchase the house. At a cost of $10,000.00 to fence my yard, I was looking at potentially spending 10% of the purchase price on my house on fencing the yard. And I just could not justify that kind of expenditure.

So, I began to research just what it would cost if I did it myself. What I found was I could do it myself for about 1/3 of that cost, if I was willing to find my own labor. Fortunately, my younger brother still does what I tell him to, and my brother and I were able to install, over the course of 3 spring weekends, a fairly professional looking stockade fence.

In this blog I will break down what you need to do it and what the potential costs are. In future blogs, I will outline just how my brother and I did it.

The materials you will need are:

Pre-made fence panels. I used 8x6 ash "dog ear" panels.
Treated 4x4 posts. I also used posts with carved decorative tops for the gate posts.
Quickrete, a type of fast-setting concrete that you can use dry to anchor the posts. You will need about 2/3 a bag for each post.
Hinges and latches for your gates. I Installed two gates, one in front and one in back.
Deck screws, three-inch long screws to anchor the fence panels to the posts.

Total cost: $2400.00

You will also need a variety of tools, many of which can be rented:

The tools I purchased or already had were:
Manual post hole digger (bought)
3ft long level (already had)
measuring tape (already had)
Reciprocating saw (also called a "Saws-All") (bought)
Cordless drill, for driving in screws (bought)
Cordless circular saw (bought)
Electric chainsaw (already had)
A lopper (already had)
Gasoline powered auger (rented)
Wooden sawhorses (borrowed from Dad)

The gasoline auger is what made the entire process possible. This made it possible to dig the post-holes in 15 minutes each as opposed to an hour each.


The total cost of the rental was $50.00 each weekend, for a total of three weekends. I purchased the reciprocating saw, cordless drill, and circular saw as a set for $300.00 and have certainly used them often since then, so it was a smart purchase. The chainsaw and lopper were used to cut roots that the auger did not cut through. The measuring tape was to ensure that the holes were each two feet deep and 8 feet apart. The level was used to ensure that the posts were being planted straight and the panels level. It is important to get a 3 foot or longer level, since the shorter levels are not as accurate and are really only for things like hanging pictures. I also paid my brother $500.00 for helping me.

The final price tag: $3500.00.

Now, I was a liberal arts major and didn't take math in college, but I am fairly positive that $3500.00 < $10,000.00 and pretty close to 1/3 of $10,000. In fact, if my calculator is to be trusted, it is 35% of the original estimate.

If you are willing to get really dirty, really tired, really achy shoulders, are mechanically inclined enough to start a lawnmower, and don't squeal and act like a ninny when presented with power tools, you can put up a fence. Stay tuned, and I'll tell you exactly how in the next few blogs....