DIY fencing

BB1984

Hello,

I need a section of new fencing in my garden - it's a total length of about 26 feet, and it's on a concrete base.

I'm a reasonably competent DIY-er, but have never tried this before - is it doable as a DIY job? I have a week off work coming up and am debating giving it a go.

Also, I've heard that the ready made panels can be a bit rubbish, and seeing as the fence faces straight onto the road, I need it to be fairly strong. With that in mind, I'm tending towards self-made feather-edged fence rather than using panels - also it gives me more flexibility, which is handy as I'll have a couple of corners to negotiate.

Last question - where's the best place to buy supplies from?

All thoughts/comments/advice gratefully received!

BB

PS. In response to some questions from other MSE-ers, please also see my post #6 regarding using panels.

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Your correct. This job is actually easy to do but just time consuming. If I was you I would buy the panel in. Definitely do not go for the cheap and cheerful panels which cost around £10-£20. These are rubbish and the feather-edge board is soooooo thin. It really depends on how much you want to fork out. £35 quid and up for the panels are usually good.

Do you have to put any posts up? If not, this will be a really quick job to do.

As for ordering... Do you have a local beers shop <not alcohol shop> i.e. http://www.beersltd.co.uk/

Really cheap and recently one was built within our area. Open for trade and public.

deanos

You can get good panels for £20 we got some from the builders merchants for £19+VAT on special offer, these are close board pannels and have thick wood pieces in them not flimsy wood and very well made

Have a look round the merchants before you buy to see the quality as some of them were rubbish and more expensive

Ebe_Scrooge

Seconded ! Not difficult, just time consuming. If you pay someone to do it for you, it's the labour that's the expensive part, you'll save loads doing it yourself.

The most important bit is taking the time to get the posts absolutely true. Take your time over this and the rest is a doddle. If you do opt for ready-made panels then the spacing is important as well - again, not difficult, just take your time.

Not sure of your particular situation, but if you've got the chance I'm a big fan of slotted concrete posts. Having attempted many fences in my time, I love these. They're a right fiddle to put in - got to be perfectly upright, and the spacing has to be damn near spot-on. They're very heavy as well, so you'll need a helper. But once you've got them sorted, the panels will just slot in. The posts will last forever, so if a panel does ever break, just slide it out and slide a new one in - they're all standard widths.

I know you said you're thinking of avoiding panels - there's pros and cons to both methods. But if it's facing a road, and there's a likelihood of local kids damaging it, then the concrete post + panels option has a lot going for it - the posts will never break, and replacing a broken panel is a 5 minute job and pretty cheap.

deanos

Yeah we fitted concrete posts + gravel boards, its hard work but well worth the effort, what we did to space them out it fit first post, then slot in gravel board to mark where next post should go

BB1984

hmmm. Thanks for all the replies so far. Food for thought!

The reason I was thinking of not going for the panels is because I think I'll end up with odd bits.... Right I've checked the measurements, and I've got 13' along the road, then 15' at a right angle to that. Now seeing as standard panels are typically 6', surely I'll end up having a 1' bit and a 3' bit, and 4 whole panels?

Second query - I do like the concrete posts, but I'll need to set them onto a concrete driveway. Not a problem - I can break it out easily enough and concrete the posts in. Except - one of the posts needs to go right over the top of my water main, which I know for a fact is only 600mm below ground level. I know I can buy a bracket that bolts into the ground, but I think they're only for timber posts...

I'm coming round to the panels idea, but I need your help!

BB

ps Teddyrukspin - I'm nowhere near a Beers, but there are a few different timber yards around here, so I'll look around.

BB1984

A shameless bump, I'm afraid - hope someone can help with my "to panel or not to panel" query...
Thanks,
BB

markie1980

In my opinion "not to panel" everytime.
The main differance in cost is the labour, the materials don't work out alot differant. I would say closeboard you are looking at about £275 and panels would be about £225. including posts, cap, concrete, gravel boards and panels/arris rails+boards etc.
With closebord fencing, you can follow the contours of the ground, space the posts where you want them have equal sized bays and it 10 times stronger.
Also I would definatly concrete the posts in.

Probably didn't want that opinion as it the hardest work of all your options!