How "easy" can it be to build a fence?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We just got a quote for our Virginia House for a fence for the back yard. The backyard isn't too big....half our lot size which makes the fenced area about a tenth of an acre.

The quote was $3200. Eek!

Fence is 4 foot tall picket fence. All neighbors have a gap between boards so
it will probably be like that unless we find out we can build it like a privacy fence. Posts would be cemented in.

How difficult would that be as a diy project?

I would really like a fenced yard for the kids to play...but I just can't believe the price and it is out of our price range for now.

 

[kimblebee]

Does that include materials? If it does, that sounds about right. Cementing the posts does take a bit more work as well. It isn't 'hard' to build a fence but it can be time consuming because there is a lot of measuring and cutting boards to fit. If your ground slopes or dips at all you have to make sure the fence stays even at the top. Sometimes it's only a matter of inches but it can make a huge difference. I'm not sure if chain link is cheaper, but that may be an option for you.

 

[golfgal]

Honestly, that is a pretty good quote. If you want to build it yourself you would have to dig the holes-renting a post hole digger or doing it by hand-good luck. Then you have to make sure everything is square and level, attach the panels to the posts and assemble. The supplies and permits are going to come to half of that cost or so, factor in TIME and you have a pretty good quote. How handy are you or your DH? Oh, I forgot about the medical bill that come with digging the post holes. My DH helped my Dad dig some post holes a few summers ago and ended up cracking a rib--don't ask .

 

[Feralpeg]

If you do decide to do it yourself, make sure to get the utility companies to mark power lines and gas lines. A friend of mine decided to put in his own fence. He rented a power posthole digger. He knicked a power line repeatedly. How he kept from being electrocuted, I'll never know. In the end, the power company billed him 26k because they had to dig up and replace some main line. Fortunately, his homeowner insurance took care of most of it. Lesson learned.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Permits? Yikes! We don't have that at our soon to be old home. Not sure why.

Okay does the quote still sound okay if they aren't fencing the whole yard. I believe at least one neighbor has a fence.

We do have a post hole digger. And of course utilities are underground, so we'd have to get that marked.

The price just seems so high.

 

[kirstenb1]

I think that's a great price for a fenced yard. You can do it yourself, but it's a labor-intensive project. I did a tiny Williamsburg type fence to tie our house and detached garage/courtyard area together. Just hand-digging 4 postholes---I thought I'd die. For a project like yours, you'd rent a proper auger. Are you guys handy with leveling, etc?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh, I haven't a clue of our skill set. Most of our skills are interiors of our old home. I'm just trying to guage how much I should pressure the hubby to consider it ourselves or wait a while. Based on the input, it seems I shouldn't even mention googling instructions to him.

Time to save some pennies.

 

[kbeverina]

If you are hooking up with the fence next door, you'll want to talk to the neighbors before you start to build. Around here, you have to get your neighbor's approval (or build your own fence side-by-side) and you'll generally want to offer something monetary. Usually it's half the cost to build that side, but if theirs was built long ago or not by them, you can probably work something out. Personally, I would say no problem and not accept anything, but it's pretty common here to offer and you definitely have to ask permission.

If you have an HOA, you'll also want to get permission from them before you start to build. At our last home, we had tight restrictions--from how to cement the posts to the color caps we had to have.

The price does seem fair for this area, though.

 

[Buckalew11]

I don't have a clue. DH always does all our fencing. He put up a privacy fence across the back at our old house on an acre lot--he needed an elbow replaced before he even started the project! I know it did not cost near that much $$.

Good luck.

 

[trip]

At one of the homes we owned, we saved some money by having the fence company only set the posts in cement and we nailed the rest of the fence boards ourselves.

 

[Gigi22]

Years ago our neighbour and DH replaced about 12 feet of shared fence, splitting the costs. The fence is about 4 ft. tall, and is not picket. As I recall it took the two of them a day to do, with some fixing up and staining later. We were lucky that our neighbour knew how to build a fence and was able to teach DH.