As a homeowner, you deserve a pristine yard – whether it sits in front of your home or behind. A solid fence will keep a lot of predators and vermin from invading your property. Or it can be used to help keep dogs or childrend in the yard. But before you start placing fencing material, you must know how to measure the yard for fence installation.
If you don’t get your yard dimensions right, the whole project is going to be difficult. So you must know how to measure yard for fence installation.
Steps To Take When Marking And Measuring Your Yard
Naturally, you must plan your fencing project before heading off to buy supplies. You don’t want to buy too little equipment or even overshoot your fencing budget. So, once you know where you can and cannot build, proceed with the measurements.
1. Measure The Perimeter Of Your Property
First off, measure your property’s perimeter. The perimeter is the total length of your yard’s border. The figure you get will inform you of the full length of fencing material needed on your property.
If you plan to use fencing panels, which are the simplest fencing solution, start by finding out how many pieces you’ll need. Then, divide the perimeter of your property by the average length of your preferred panels. Since most fencing solutions measure 6-8 feet long, you’ll easily be able to see how many boards are needed.
2. Stake Each Corner In The Yard
Mark all the corners of your yard. You are going to join the fencing pieces at these points at 90°. The corner posts are an essential building block for your fence.
3. Determine The Line Posts
While the corner posts act as a foundation for your property’s barricade, the line posts do the heavy lifting. All fencing panels go against the line posts, so the spacing should mirror the panels’ measurements.
To get the best fit, you may have to slice up panels with a bit of overhang. A slight kink in your fence is all the raccoons need to breach the barricade and wreak havoc on your trash cans and lawn grass.
4. Mark End Posts
Another critical element to a foolproof fence is the end post. These elements mark the end of your enclosure. Usually, you’ll have two end posts at either end of the property – at the gate, your home, and next to a tree.
After marking where each type of post and fence panel should go, you’re now ready to install them. Again, remember to use visible markers if it takes a couple of days to start working.
Things To Note Before Measuring Your Yard For Fence
Building a fence looks like a straightforward affair. You only need corner posts, line posts, and fencing panels. However, you’re better off knowing how to measure your yard for fence panels so that your installation goes through seamlessly.
Consider these factors before kick-starting your next security project:
- Property Limits
You probably know that you don’t own the entire neighborhood. So when you’re planning to put up a solid barricade, you have to consider how far your property expands. In addition, you wouldn’t want to conflict with your neighbors for infringing on their personal space.
One way to know your limits is to check your plat. You can view all the proposed social amenities plus available properties on the allotment. It is a must-have for potential property developers because you’ll quickly know how far you can drive your corner posts.
- Utility Lines
The ground on which you live has several utility lines. These include gas, power, and water pipes that deliver all the comforts of a home. While digging, you’ll have to avoid these lines. Damaging any pipe will set you back thousands of dollars worth of municipal penalties.
As you seek to avoid electricity and water pipes, you’ll need to compensate for the diversions. Therefore, you are going to need more equipment. While planning, note the placement of utility lines and factor them into your budget.
- Obstructing Objects
Utility features aren’t the only thing that can increase your fencing costs. An ideal landscape for construction is relatively flat with a gradual slope.
Nevertheless, the world is never perfect — so you might encounter contours on your property. Since you cannot avoid these features, work out the added cost of fencing around slopes, rocky outcrops, and ditches on your property.
What Is The Upside To Planning Your Fence Installation?
All competent homeowners conduct proper prior planning whenever they’re constructing. This way, you’ll save precious time and money with adequate research before the actual groundwork kicks off.
- You Should Know How Much Material You Need For Your Fence
A significant reason for extensive planning procedures is to ascertain how much you’re going to spend. Building an all-encompassing fence is no cheap business. If you don’t know how many panels and posts you need, you are likely to overshoot your budget.
If you don’t overspend, you’ll quickly need a restock. Consider the fuel costs going to and from Home Depot. Also, you’ll get a better discount if you buy all the items in bulk.
- Avoid Conflict With Neighbors
Neighbors are part of any American community. If you want a healthy relationship with your fellow residents, you must display a bit of fence etiquette. Most importantly, it would be best if you keep your business within your plot of land.
Overstepping your jurisdiction is a costly mistake, so take the time to check out your yard limits. If you cannot, hire a contractor to confirm where your property starts and ends, so you’ll have a seamless operation.
- Avoid Tampering With Utility Lines
Another expensive blunder some homeowners fall for is digging while disregarding sunken utility lines. Since you aren’t living on an island (we assume), you will also need these utility features in your home.
While planning your fence installation, you’ll find out where the water, electricity, and gas pipes cross in your yard. So before you drop the digger, mark these points and find out how you’re going to avoid damaging vital services.
- Quick Installation
A solid action plan allows you to kick start your project and complete it as quickly as possible. Once you know exactly how many panels you need, the number of varying posts, and their position, the installation will be a breeze.
Once you drop everything on-site, you can correctly insert every item into your yard. But if you skip the measuring stage, get ready to head back to the store to replenish posts or fencing material.
How To Measure Yard For Fence – The Takeaway
Before building an infallible fence around your property, understand how to measure yard for fence fitting. Estimating your yard dimensions is quite a straightforward process that most homeowners skip because they are eager to block out their neighbors.
Remember, your neighbors aren’t your enemies. Instead, the real threat to your yard is a pack of hungry raccoons and skunks hell-bent on overturning your beautiful lawn looking for grubs. To keep them out, you need a well-fitted fence. And the only way to guarantee this leak-proof course of action is to measure out every inch of your property. As always, DIY fencing projects are fulfilling. But if you aren’t willing to sit through the endless assessments to compute your yard’s spatial figures, you’re better off hiring a contractor.
