How expensive and hard is it to put up a privacy fence yourself?

Question

I don't know the exact measurements of what the fenced area would be because this is just a hypothetical question. We are looking at houses in Florida and hardly any of them have backyards, they just have open space. We have 2 kids who need a fenced in yard.

I would estimate that the fenced area would be equal to what most people consider to be a good sized back yard. Any advice on how hard it would be to erect a gate by ourselves and how expensive it would be? I'm totally clueless about this stuff! Any help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

I would figure it out by placing a 4x4 upright every 8 feet. You will need heavily treated 4x4s. Depending upon the height of the fence, place enough parallel 2x4s to give support low, in the middle and close to the top. I would not recommend using the pre made sections, I would do this one board at a time. The uprights should be plumb on all four sides and you do that with a special little level that is made for putting posts in. I put my posts in at a 3 foot depth, but in sand, it might be better to put them in at a 4 foot depth. You can talk to the supply store about how to back fill them - I use small pea gravel in Georgia clay and cap that with a bit of concrete. If you want a picket fence, you can use 1x4s, treated or cedar (cypress will do but it is more expensive). The first thing you have to do is to make sure that the first upright 1x4 is perfectly plumb, which can be done with a level with a sideways bubble in it, then screwing that in with rust proof screws (or you can nail them with either galvanized nails or aluminum nails). The nails should be 2-2.5 inches long, same with the screws. Place a 1x4 next to the board that you have plumbed (that means that they are perfectly upright), put the next upright to be attached next to it, plumb it, put the nails or screws into it, and repeat that until your yard is enclosed. So all upright boards should be plumb. To determine height, measure up on the corner 4x4s the height you want them to, get a line level and and pull a cotton cord from one to the other until the line level shows level. I would suggest that you buy boards slightly longer than you want the height so that if your ground has its ups and downs, you can adjust the length to make sure that the whole fence top is level with the string. You don't need to have any other type of saw than a circular saw (skil saw), but you will need a square to make sure the cut is straight.

The only thing that can vary the cost of the fence is the width of the boards 1x4 or 1x6 (if you want them) and whether or not you need to buy boards that have a design on the top

Your fence should be at least 4 inches inside of your property line, that is that the back side of the 4x4 should be 4 inches from your property line.

If you want a privacy fence, instead of 1x4, use 1x6s and use a nail instead of a 1x4 to separate them and put them up. Still, with 1x6s, it is necessary to plumb the boards.

Tools you will need are:
1 set of post hole diggers and I suggest that you use hand diggers because if you hit a rock with a gas powered auger, you might find your self being thrown away from the machine as it stops quickly.

A post level to ensure plumb on the post

at least a four foot long standard carpenters level

cotton cord, nails or screws, a saw. You will also need either pea gravel, or whatever they tell you to back fill your post hole with, and perhaps some bags of those cements that come ready to mix. You will need a wheel barrow to mix that in.

You need a strong backbone, a lot of time, enough iced tea or soda to cool you off, and you can check with your builder's supply about other tools you need. There are books on fence and gate building that I suggest that you purchase before you start. If you screw the boards in, get a battery drill with a screwdriver bit. If you hammer nails in, you will need a hammer or, and I suggest this strongly, a nail gun. You will beat the hammer all day, the nail gun just goes pop, pop, pop, pop and the nails are in in a fraction of the time.

Get the book first. That will cover my A if you don't have all the right tools.

Answer 2

This is a hard question to answer without more informtion. If privacy is a big concern, you would probably want six foot cedar slats and they are going to cost you. Depending on the neighborhood, you might be able to get away with a six foot chain-link fence with vinyl privacy inserts, but frankly, I think it would look too tacky for a residential area. If you just want something to keep the kids contained, a four foot chain link fence would probably be the least expensive. My suggestion is that you call a Lowe's or Home Depot (whatever you have there) and ask them if they would come out and give you a materials estimate.

Answer 3

I sure would not recommend it unless you have some help that's done it before. It's definately not easy. Posthole digging is a pain and, even if it's delivered on your driveway, just lugging all that wood to the backyard is a chore in itself.
Treated or cedar, you could spend quite a bit on that fence and you want it to look good. Misaligned boards and leaning posts will bother you to no end.
As far a cost, I'd guess a diy project with treated pine could get you less than $10 per running foot. That's assuming you have access to a "box store" for your materials.

Answer 4

Fences are fairly easy to erect, usually the most difficult part is digging the holes for posts. You can rent post hole diggers - an auger with a gasoline engine, usually a two person job to hold on to it. It doesn't work real well if there are a lot of rocks, particularly large rocks.

I noticed in my local Home Depot that they had cedar fence panels preassembled for sale, they probably have gates as well. Once posts are set, just screw the panels into place. Good luck!

Answer 5

Who knows in Florida... tough to get someone to do it there I hear due to the average age being retirement age and everybody wants things done so the labour is short but...
It is an easy DIY project for sure and in my neck of the woods here, the materials are about $20 per running foot for a 7' high privacy fence.

Answer 6

i live in florida instead of a privacy fence i planted 8 foot areca palms gives great privacy and id so simple ...but a fence here depending on what you want a pre-treated wood fence will run 40-50 dollars thats for a 8 foot section 6 foot high a pvc fence only in white will run a lil more 50-60 dollars per section.. we did 80 feet of wood fence did it are selves thats with 4x4's and cement and it cost 500.00 very east to do and is fairly inexpensive depending on how many feet you will be fencing..we did areca palms because the hurricane's knock are fence down and we got tired of replacing it..