How many trips to the hardware store does a fence project really take? More than you think, if you skip the planning stage. You need to nail down your style, your material, your post spacing, how you are setting posts, and whether your local municipality requires a permit, all before you buy a single board. Get those decisions right upfront and the build goes smoothly. Skip them and you end up making extra runs or, worse, pulling posts and starting over.
The style you choose determines your material list, your post spacing, and how much labor is involved.
Six-foot privacy fences are the most common residential project. Boards are installed vertically, tight together or with a small gap, running the full height of the fence. They work well along property lines, around pools, and on patios. The tight board layout catches wind, which puts more stress on posts. This matters when you are deciding on post depth and concrete.
Classic picket fences are three to four feet tall with evenly spaced vertical boards. The open design creates a boundary without blocking light or air, making it ideal for front yards and garden borders. Spacing between pickets is typically two to four inches, and getting that spacing consistent across the entire run is one of the main challenges of the build.
Rail fences use horizontal rails mortised into round posts, with no pickets. They are fast to build, inexpensive, and well-suited to rural lots, slopes, and properties where you want to define a boundary without a solid barrier. They provide no real security or privacy but have a clean, low-maintenance look.
For most residential fences, the choice comes down to cedar or pressure-treated pine. Cedar is naturally rot-resistant due to oils in the wood, machines cleanly, and takes stain well. It is lighter and easier to work with than pressure-treated. It costs more per board foot but does not require special handling for cuts. Pressure-treated pine is less expensive and widely available. The chemical treatment protects against rot and insects, but freshly treated lumber contains moisture that causes boards to warp as they dry. It helps to buy it early and let it sit for a few weeks before installing. Seal cut ends of pressure-treated wood with an end-cut preservative, especially for posts. Both species last 15 to 20 years or more with basic maintenance. If budget is tight, use pressure-treated for all structural members (posts and rails) and cedar for the pickets and facing boards where appearance matters most.
Standard post spacing for most fences is eight feet on center, which works with standard eight-foot rail lengths and minimizes waste. Privacy fences in windy areas sometimes use six-foot spacing for added rigidity. Rail fences can stretch to ten feet between posts. The depth rule of thumb is one-third of the total post length in the ground, with a minimum of 24 inches. For a six-foot fence using eight-foot posts, you want at least two feet below grade. In areas with cold winters, dig below the frost line. Your local building department can tell you that depth. A post that heaves out of the ground after one winter requires a full reset.
Concrete is the most common method and gives posts a firm, stable base. Mix it dry in the hole (just add water to the hole after placing the post) or mix it separately. Either works. Taper or dome the top of the concrete collar away from the post so water sheds away rather than pooling against the wood. Gravel setting, where you pack crushed stone around the post, actually outperforms concrete in some drainage-heavy soils because it never traps water against the wood. It requires tamping in layers and takes more effort to get the post plumb, but it is a solid choice for rot-prone conditions. Avoid setting posts in soil alone; the wood will rot at the grade line within a few years.
Most fences use two or three horizontal rails per fence section. A six-foot privacy fence typically gets three rails: one near the top, one near the bottom, and one in the middle. A four-foot picket fence works fine with two rails. Rails are attached to posts with face-mount rail brackets or notched directly into the post. Brackets are faster and easier for DIY builds. When laying out pickets, start by figuring out your spacing so you end with a consistent gap on both ends of each section. Measure the total section width, subtract your picket widths, and divide the remaining space by the number of gaps. A spacer cut from scrap wood speeds up the installation and keeps every gap identical.
Many municipalities require a permit for fences over a certain height, often four feet in the front yard and six feet in the back. Requirements vary widely, so check with your local building department before you start digging. Some HOAs have their own overlay rules on top of local codes. Before you set a single post, verify the property line. A survey stake is the only reliable reference. Do not guess based on where your neighbor's fence or garden bed ends. Building even a few inches onto a neighbor's property can require a costly removal and rebuild. Call 811 (in the US) to have underground utilities marked before any digging.
