I've never installed chain link before. I need an approximate 130 foot run or so (I did an approximate measurement because I'm doing it in 50 foot section anyway at varying times). I've got an old rusty fence of an odd design that has various bushes/trees that have grown up into the fence itself in various spots and have increasing pulled the fence over and downwards. So now my dog has discovered that she can hop up there and use the width of the spaces in the fence like steps to put her paw inside of. It isn't chain link. I don't know what it would even be called...probably something they made in the 70's. So basically I've cut down most of the bushes/small trees on my side of the fence and there are a few that are still 'part' of the fence, but they're on the neighbor's side. I'm just going to clip the fence as close to those trees as possible and remove the old fence as I go, when I start putting up the fence fabric.
There is an issue: an existing section of 4 foot chain link fence is already towards the front part of the back yard. I need this new fence to start along that fence next to the main corner post of it. The problem is that there are a lot of trees/bushes grown into the old fence and since some of them are on the neighbor's side, I'm going to have to avoid a few of them and push the fence back 5-6 inches on our side of the property. I'm trying to line it up with the old fence and avoid the trees like 5 feet away, basically. I don't want it to look crooked or crazy, essentially. At the same time, I know that it will be angled and not a perfectly straight fence run (to avoid the small trees/bushes that I can't cut because they're on the neighbor's side).
I'm using 5 foot fence and I have 7 foot line posts and 7 foot terminal/main posts. So far I've bought 50 feet of fence. I couldn't get the top rails yet because the local Home Depot only has 20-foot posts that won't fit in the car. I don't have top rail sleeves or rail ends yet. A lot of the home improvement stores are out of stuff and my local one has a pretty small fencing department for for such a huge store. I don't even have quite enough fence ties yet because they're frequently out of them. I can tell that I'm going to probably need at least a whole case of those fence ties. I have the loop caps for the top of the line posts, tension bars, brace bands, tension bands, carriage bolts and main post caps for the 50 foot section that I already have.
I've seen that I need to make sure that I always buy the right size for each item because they have different sizes, even down to the brace bands, tension bars, etc.
Questions:
I'm in Georgia in the Southeastern USA. We've got red clay dirt. I was going to dig these post holes with a manual post hole digger that I bought, but that's just way too much work. I'm going to rent one for $80 for a day from Home Depot and go ahead and dig all of those in the same day with it. That's just way too many to dig by hand.
I've read online from various sources that the posts should theoretically be 1/3 of their height into the ground. Also, apparently the line posts and main/terminal posts should be a different height from one another. Is there a guide somewhere that I can use to keep up with this stuff? Line posts have to be x inches below the top of the fence fabric and top of fence fabric should be x inches above line posts, from what I've read. Main posts are apparently supposed to be a little higher than the line posts by x inches. How the heck do people keep track of all of that?
How much concrete do I need for each post? I'm basically trying to figure out how deep each hole should be. I've read that I should put x inches of gravel into the bottom of the hole first and set the post upright, then pour the concrete around the post. I've got quick drying concrete with like a 45 or 60 minute dry time, I don't remember which. I got 5 50 pound bags of concrete and 3 50 pound bags of gravel for the time being. So how much gravel and concrete goes in the hole each post? Does the main posts get more than the line posts? Just trying to get a feel for how deep/wide each hole should be for each of the posts.
I'm going to have to find a fence puller. I'm planning on using stakes to mark all of the holes that I need to drill so that I can do it all at once with the rental auger. There are no concerns of any pipes or wires running in that area. The photos are the front looking towards the back and the back looking towards the front. I need to run that entire length. As you can see, there are vines everywhere, little bushes in the way (been cutting away at those), etc. I know that this is an enormous undertaking for a newbie and will be a lot of work. However, I don't want to pay the $2,000-$3,000+ to have someone install it. I can cut things and do what I need to do as I go instead of having someone complaining to me about how x tree/bush is in the way at the fence line and will need to be removed. So, I determined to do it myself and remove what's left as I go.
Another big concern is...how do I keep the fence posts at the right height so that all of them are the same height and line up while also being straight vertically? I do have a level. Do people brace them with something? What method is usually used for that?
I'm going to have to find a diagram to see what goes where when it comes to the tension bar, brace bar, brace band, etc.
Any advice?
There is an issue: an existing section of 4 foot chain link fence is already towards the front part of the back yard. I need this new fence to start along that fence next to the main corner post of it. The problem is that there are a lot of trees/bushes grown into the old fence and since some of them are on the neighbor's side, I'm going to have to avoid a few of them and push the fence back 5-6 inches on our side of the property. I'm trying to line it up with the old fence and avoid the trees like 5 feet away, basically. I don't want it to look crooked or crazy, essentially. At the same time, I know that it will be angled and not a perfectly straight fence run (to avoid the small trees/bushes that I can't cut because they're on the neighbor's side).
I'm using 5 foot fence and I have 7 foot line posts and 7 foot terminal/main posts. So far I've bought 50 feet of fence. I couldn't get the top rails yet because the local Home Depot only has 20-foot posts that won't fit in the car. I don't have top rail sleeves or rail ends yet. A lot of the home improvement stores are out of stuff and my local one has a pretty small fencing department for for such a huge store. I don't even have quite enough fence ties yet because they're frequently out of them. I can tell that I'm going to probably need at least a whole case of those fence ties. I have the loop caps for the top of the line posts, tension bars, brace bands, tension bands, carriage bolts and main post caps for the 50 foot section that I already have.
I've seen that I need to make sure that I always buy the right size for each item because they have different sizes, even down to the brace bands, tension bars, etc.
Questions:
I'm in Georgia in the Southeastern USA. We've got red clay dirt. I was going to dig these post holes with a manual post hole digger that I bought, but that's just way too much work. I'm going to rent one for $80 for a day from Home Depot and go ahead and dig all of those in the same day with it. That's just way too many to dig by hand.
I've read online from various sources that the posts should theoretically be 1/3 of their height into the ground. Also, apparently the line posts and main/terminal posts should be a different height from one another. Is there a guide somewhere that I can use to keep up with this stuff? Line posts have to be x inches below the top of the fence fabric and top of fence fabric should be x inches above line posts, from what I've read. Main posts are apparently supposed to be a little higher than the line posts by x inches. How the heck do people keep track of all of that?
How much concrete do I need for each post? I'm basically trying to figure out how deep each hole should be. I've read that I should put x inches of gravel into the bottom of the hole first and set the post upright, then pour the concrete around the post. I've got quick drying concrete with like a 45 or 60 minute dry time, I don't remember which. I got 5 50 pound bags of concrete and 3 50 pound bags of gravel for the time being. So how much gravel and concrete goes in the hole each post? Does the main posts get more than the line posts? Just trying to get a feel for how deep/wide each hole should be for each of the posts.
I'm going to have to find a fence puller. I'm planning on using stakes to mark all of the holes that I need to drill so that I can do it all at once with the rental auger. There are no concerns of any pipes or wires running in that area. The photos are the front looking towards the back and the back looking towards the front. I need to run that entire length. As you can see, there are vines everywhere, little bushes in the way (been cutting away at those), etc. I know that this is an enormous undertaking for a newbie and will be a lot of work. However, I don't want to pay the $2,000-$3,000+ to have someone install it. I can cut things and do what I need to do as I go instead of having someone complaining to me about how x tree/bush is in the way at the fence line and will need to be removed. So, I determined to do it myself and remove what's left as I go.
Another big concern is...how do I keep the fence posts at the right height so that all of them are the same height and line up while also being straight vertically? I do have a level. Do people brace them with something? What method is usually used for that?
I'm going to have to find a diagram to see what goes where when it comes to the tension bar, brace bar, brace band, etc.
Any advice?
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