To summarize what I learned while building my fence:
1. If you have an HOA, you probably need to get your fence design approved first.
2. Check with your city/county to make sure you're adhering to all local rules.
3. Call miss utility to have your underground utilities marked.
4. Get your corners marked and pull string between them to mark your lines. If you have an irregular shaped lot, get your actual lines marked by the surveyor.
5. Plan where you'll dig your holes. They don't need to be exactly 8' apart and it's okay to have slightly different lengths between each hole. You want to avoid digging within 2 feet (at least around here) of any marked utility.
6. Rent some type of digging tool. The one you needs depends on your soil. If you have softer soil, you may be okay with a 1 man or 2 man digger. If you have harder soil, you might need a skid steer or even a tractor.
7. Dig your holes. Depending on the frost line and local rules, you need to dig at least 2' deep. In areas with a deeper frost line, you'll want to go further down.
8. Call around to local lumberyards to get a better price than the big national chains. You want pressure treated everything, unless you're into cedar pickets. You need:
- 4"x4" posts. I'd recommend 6"x6" posts on the corners and around your gates, but they aren't necessary. If you want a 6' tall fence, get 8' long posts if your holes are 2' deep.
- 2"x4"x8' rails. You may need some 10' boards if you go a little long on a section or two, or you build a wider drive gate. Plan for 3 rails - one at the very top, one a few inches from the bottom, and one in the middle.
- Pickets. I used 1"x6" boards.
- Concrete. I used an average of 60lbs per hole. You may want to rent a concrete mixer as well. It doesn't seem that bad, but mixing concrete by hand for a few hours can be pretty tiring.
- Nails. Use 3" exterior nails to attach the rails to the posts. Use 2" exterior nails to attach the pickets to the rails. Get the ribbed nails for better pull out resistance. Using an air nailer will save your shoulder/arm, save you a lot of time, and put less stress on your posts during construction.
- Gate hardware. You need some big sturdy hinges, lag screws, and latch hardware. If you build a drive gate, you'll probably want some barrel bolts and a pin that goes into the ground.
- Post caps. Depending on your fence design, you may not need these. A lot of people like gothic posts. It's cheaper to get regular posts and buy the screw on gothic tops. Or just get the cheap $2 plastic caps.
9. Set your posts and wait for the concrete to dry. The way you set them is probably the biggest difference between fence builders. Some dry pack the concrete. Some pre-mix it and fill halfway with concrete and then the rest with dirt. Some pre-mix and fill it full with concrete. Some use gravel instead of concrete. Some use a few inches of gravel and then concrete. I just used about half concrete and half dirt.
10. Hang your rails. Measure and cut to length. You can hang them on the inside of the post, toenail them between the posts, or hang them on the outside of the posts. I chose the outside for simplicity. Toenails tend to pull out, especially as the boards shrink/warp. If you have a non-level yard, you may need to pick where to "transition" between flat/level rails and running up/running down.
11. Put up the pickets/fence boards. I kept it simple with 1"x6" boards side-by-side. You can get very fancy here or keep it simple.
12. Build your gate(s). You basically build it like a regular section of fence, just on the inside of the posts with the rails screwed into the posts temporarily. Attach your hinges to the posts and the rails. Add cross supports from the high side away from the hinge to the low side near the hinge. Attach the pickets and unscrew the rails. Install latch hardware.
13. Finish work. For me, this was cutting off posts to a uniform height, cutting off the boards to a slightly lower height, adding some fascia boards to the top edges, and installing post caps. You may be cutting a swoop, installing lattice, etc.
14. Give your fence a couple of years to weather before you stain it. All of my boards aren't uniform in color and I still have the "#2 board made in the USA blah blah" stamps on all of them. Giving them a couple years to fade to equal shades and I'll probably powerwash the stamps off.
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