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Weaverville NC

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Hibu Websites • April 14, 2020
In recent weeks, many of you have come to appreciate the wisdom of the above proverb. The Buncombe County "Stay at Home" order means everyone is spending much more time at home...in view and earshot of the neighbors, who are also home. 

Thankfully, out of sight means out of mind.

Even if you love the folks next door, sometimes you can get too much of a good thing. Instead of allowing your friendship to suffer, you can create your own visual and aural buffer between you and the folks next door by building a picket privacy fence. There are many other benefits to privacy fences, too.
Privacy fences
  • add value to a home
  • contain pets
  • increase your yard and home's security
  • look awesome!
Tools Needed:
  • tape measure
  • gas powered post hole auger* or mini skid steer loader* with auger attachment*
  • shovel
  • drill
  • nail gun* and air compressor*
  • post level and square
  • line level
  • laser level*
  • miter saw*
  • circular saw*
  • table saw*
* Don't have this tool in your toolbox? Rent it from our toolbox!
Materials needed:
  • masons line
  • 4″ wood screws for rails
  • 2″ screws or nails for attaching pickets
  • 4×  4 x 10' or 8' pressure treated posts
  • 2 × 4 x 8' rails ( 2 for each section )
  • 1 × 6 x 6' foot flat top pickets ( roughly 16 per section using 8 foot sections )

Basic Instructions for straight fence

Step 1. Check with your homeowners' association and municipal authority to see if there are covenants or rules you'll need to follow. 



Step 2. Call 811 at least 3 days prior to any digging to have utility locators mark your publicly managed underground lines for FREE.

Step 3.  Build the framework for your fence.
  1. Mark the location of post holes at 8' intervals.
  2. Using 2 man auger or skid steer with auger bit, dig 4' deep post holes at marked locations
  3. Drop a fence post into a hole and loosely backfill the hole with dirt. 
  4. Plumb the post using a post level and, when perfectly plumb, tamp the backfilled dirt down around it in the hole, adding more if necessary, to secure the post in plumb.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each post.
  6. Mark each post at 12" from the top and 60" from the top.
  7. Using 2 wood screws per stringer end (4 per stringer,) connect posts with 8' stringers at the 12" and 60" marks. Stringers should extend from the half way point on one post to the halfway point on the next.
Step 4: Attach the pickets.
  1. Using a nail gun and exterior wood nails, attach 16 pickets per 8' section.
  2. Space pickets evenly across and 2" from the ground.
  3. Use 4 nails or screws per picket, 2 per stringer––upper and lower.

Don't just take our word for it.

Now you know the basics of building a straight picket fence. Before you take the project on, search "how to build a picket fence" on Google and YouTube. There are countless good tutorials online. Arm yourself with information, and remember: you can do it! 
We can help.
In recent weeks, many of you have come to appreciate the wisdom of the above proverb. The Buncombe County "Stay at Home" order means everyone is spending much more time at home...in view and earshot of the neighbors, who are also home. 

Thankfully, out of sight means out of mind.

Even if you love the folks next door, sometimes you can get too much of a good thing. Instead of allowing your friendship to suffer, you can create your own visual and aural buffer between you and the folks next door by building a picket privacy fence. There are many other benefits to privacy fences, too.
Privacy fences
  • add value to a home
  • contain pets
  • increase your yard and home's security
  • look awesome!
Tools Needed:
  • tape measure
  • gas powered post hole auger* or mini skid steer loader* with auger attachment*
  • shovel
  • drill
  • nail gun* and air compressor*
  • post level and square
  • line level
  • laser level*
  • miter saw*
  • circular saw*
  • table saw*
* Don't have this tool in your toolbox? Rent it from our toolbox!
Materials needed:
  • masons line
  • 4″ wood screws for rails
  • 2″ screws or nails for attaching pickets
  • 4×  4 x 10' or 8' pressure treated posts
  • 2 × 4 x 8' rails ( 2 for each section )
  • 1 × 6 x 6' foot flat top pickets ( roughly 16 per section using 8 foot sections )

Basic Instructions for straight fence

Step 1. Check with your homeowners' association and municipal authority to see if there are covenants or rules you'll need to follow. 



Step 2. Call 811 at least 3 days prior to any digging to have utility locators mark your publicly managed underground lines for FREE.
Step 3. Build the framework for your fence.
  1. Mark the location of post holes at 8' intervals.
  2. Using 2 man auger or skid steer with auger bit, dig 4' deep post holes at marked locations
  3. Drop a fence post into a hole and loosely backfill the hole with dirt. 
  4. Plumb the post using a post level and, when perfectly plumb, tamp the backfilled dirt down around it in the hole, adding more if necessary, to secure the post in plumb.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each post.
  6. Mark each post at 12" from the top and 60" from the top.
  7. Using 2 wood screws per stringer end (4 per stringer,) connect posts with 8' stringers at the 12" and 60" marks. Stringers should extend from the half way point on one post to the halfway point on the next.
Step 4: Attach the pickets.
  1. Using a nail gun and exterior wood nails, attach 16 pickets per 8' section.
  2. Space pickets evenly across and 2" from the ground.
  3. Use 4 nails or screws per picket, 2 per stringer––upper and lower.

Don't just take our word for it.

Now you know the basics of building a straight picket fence. Before you take the project on, search "how to build a picket fence" on Google and YouTube. There are countless good tutorials online. Arm yourself with information, and remember: you can do it! 
We can help.
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