Thread: fence spacing

Originally Posted by dzcook

am putting up fences shortly was working on only a low ( 900 or so high ) front paling fence steel posts think it will be hard wood ( bearers ? or could i use cheaper treated pine ?) between posts and then the palings nailed to that what would be the spacing between fence posts, was thinking 2 mts would be the best to keep it upright and stable ? but if i can get further apart would be good ?

also how deep would i need to go if fence is 900 high is 300 or more need to be cemented in the ground?

then rest of block will be 1500 high again how deep and how far apart ?

also can anyone make any suggestions re drilling holes in steel post to attache ( bearers ) done this before when post are in ground with a electric drill but is a pain and was thinking of drilling holes before cementing them in ( much easier using the drill press ) but can see lots of problems doing so as need to make sure all posts face exactly the same way hole height etc . so any suggestions to makingthis easier would be good

did think of drilling holes then attaching a scrape piece of wood that would then give something better to line up while cement is still wet ie turn or raise as need ?

thks david

Not sure why you are putting in steel posts, as this would be a lot dearer than using treated pine posts and much more difficult to attach wooden rails. (Posts, rails and palings are the usual terms). But whether you go steel or timber posts it is important to set up a string line to give you the top line of the posts and the line of the rails. The string lines will also give you the vertical line at top and bottom when they are being set in the fresh concrete and if using steel then no problem to drill holes before hand. You only need to check one hole on each post as all the others must be in the same direction. If using square steel posts then the face of the post will be parallel with the string line as you manoevre them in the wet concrete. You will have a few minutes to do this for each post and it is important to ram down the concrete with a piece of timber to get rid of any air pockets, but dont vibrate is so that the water and powder all comes to the surface.

The depth of the hole and thus concrete will depend on the type of soil that the fence is going in. Black soil or sandy soil may need to be 500 for the lower fence and 700 for the higher fence whereas heavy non cracking clays and other tight soils can be 400 and 600 respectively.

Hi David

I think steel 'C' section posts are the way to go. Generally 125/50 in 1.6mm or 2mm thick material. I prefer 2mm. I have found that ensuring the top rail is nice and straight helps when running saw along it to trim paling. Its no problem to drill holes once posts are in ground. If you are using hardwood palings, stack them flat to dry for week or so. Run two stringlines, top and bottom,( set back width of paling plus rail) and line face of posts up with these. Use clamps to brace each post as you go to previous post, using a length of rail. I use level and plumb-bob. Centres of 2.5 at those heights will give you a pretty strong fence. All the best with it.

Cheers
redheeler.

David,

Forgot to add I use angle grinder to trim posts when rails attached. For a 900 high fence, two rails, 1500 use three rails.

redheeler

Originally Posted by dzcook

also can anyone make any suggestions re drilling holes in steel post to attache ( bearers ) done this before when post are in ground with a electric drill but is a pain and was thinking of drilling holes before cementing them in ( much easier using the drill press ) but can see lots of problems doing so as need to make sure all posts face exactly the same way hole height etc . so any suggestions to makingthis easier would be good

You can use triple grips or a similar bracket to hold the rails to the steel post. Dont worry about drilling first, just get some heavy gauge steel tek screws and screw the brackets straight on once the posts are in the ground. A good quality cordless will hande this task without flinching.

as i have said in previous threads i am a fencer.

i would use treated pine garden posts they are 100mm X 75mm.
the posts need to be in the ground 2ft. and will not need cementing

The treated pine fencing rails from bunnings ($12.95 ea) are the best they are 4.8m long so you put your posts 2.4m appart and stager the rails so there are not 2 joins on any post.(the normal spacing for fenceposts is 3m.)

if the fence is over 2m high then you need 3 rails otherwise 2 is fine.

then screw the palings on with 40mm treated pine screws (nails do not hold treated pine for some reason)

i hope this has been some help to you.

regards

Carl

Originally Posted by weisyboy

as i have said in previous threads i am a fencer.

i would use treated pine garden posts they are 100mm X 75mm.
the posts need to be in the ground 2ft. and will not need cementing

The treated pine fencing rails from bunnings ($12.95 ea) are the best they are 4.8m long so you put your posts 2.4m appart and stager the rails so there are not 2 joins on any post.(the normal spacing for fenceposts is 3m.)

if the fence is over 2m high then you need 3 rails otherwise 2 is fine.

then screw the palings on with 40mm treated pine screws (nails do not hold treated pine for some reason)

i hope this has been some help to you.

regards

Carl

Hmmm... Over here in vic the standard rail/plinth size is 5.4mtrs giving you a post spacing of 2.7mtrs, I automatically assumed that this would be the norm universally but not so, we do have a variation in design though, melbourne generally has the first rail 150mm above the plinth, wheras geelong has the plinth partially overlapping (25mm) the bottom rail, depending on the wind velocity in the area and height of fence treated pine posts come in second to redgum, the rails if skew nailed hold better in redgum posts as well, palings are shot with twisted shank nails, all nails into treated pine should be gal, here's a link with some qld info.
http://www.hyne.com.au/downloads/dih.../20_fences.pdf