Don’t just sit on the fence...

Fencing can be a rewarding pastime, whether it’s of the highly skilled sword fighting variety, or creating a sturdy barrier that provides privacy and security around your property. Here’s our guide to installing one.

Once you have a clear run to work on, it’s time to start marking out your fence. Start in one corner of your garden and mark a hole on the ground. It’s important this post goes exactly in the right place, as this will set the boundary line for the whole fence.

You now need to start digging. Use a post hole digger to start cutting away the ground in a square about 25-30cm round. Try to cut this hole neatly, as any extra dirt that comes out will have to be replaced with concrete. Dig your hole until it is 600mm deep for a 6ft fence – any shallower and your fence will blow over in strong winds.

Put the first fence post into your hole, making sure the groove in the post points down the line your fence is going to go. Level it up using a spirit level. Prop the post in place with some wood wedged into the surrounding ground, so that the post stands upright without you holding it.

Now you need to set the post in place. For this you are going to use quick-setting postcrete. Start by half filling your hole (with the post in it) with water, then cut the top of your bag of postcrete and pour all the powder in.

Use a piece of wooden baton to knock any air bubbles that might have formed in your hole, and continue filling with water until your concrete comes to within an inch of the surface.

Leave the post for 10 to 20 mins to set before continuing. Once your first post is set in place, use the same method as above to set a post at the far end of your garden. Tie a string line to one of the posts, about 30cm from the ground, and pull the string to the other post and tie it off. Make sure that the string doesn’t touch the ground as it is stretched across your garden.

Proceed to tie more string between the two fence posts, this time over the top of each post, so you have a guide for the height all the rest of your fence posts you’re putting in. Next, put one of your concrete gravel boards into the groove in your set fence post. These gravel boards are the exact length of the fence panels, and so are a good guide for spacing your fence posts out.

Mark where the other end of the gravel board lies on the ground and use this to dig the next post hole. It’s best to take the gravel board out while you’re digging.

Dig a hole using the same method as before, and put the gravel board back in place before putting in the fence post. Use a spirit level and a few bricks to prop the gravel board up to level. Accuracy is essential here, or the fence panels won’t fit.

Put your new fence post in the hole, making sure the gravel board is set in the posts groove. Use a spirit level and the string lines you put up earlier to position your post. Once your post is in position, use the postcrete as described earlier. Continue marking out, digging and installing fence posts along the length of your new fence, until you get to the far end.

Slide your final gravel board into place between the fence posts. Be careful here, as you’ll be sliding it in place from the top of your fence posts. Now you can start sliding your fence panels into place – it’s good to do this with a friend, and try not to do this on a windy day or you’ll blow away!

Once you get to the final short fence panel, mark the length in the same way as you did for its corresponding gravel board. Carefully use your claw hammer to prise off the fence battens off of the part of fence you don’t need, and nail them onto the line you have marked on your panel.

Use these new battens as a guide to saw the fence panel down to size and slot into place. Rake back any dirt and soil to the gravel board, so no light can be seen along the bottom, then tidy up, go back indoors and get warm – you have done it!