How to Put Up a Fence (and Fix Storm Damage)

A garden fence is a 1.8m-high sail. When a winter storm hits, the weakest part gives way: a rotten post at ground level, a panel that was never clipped in, or a post that was only 300mm in the ground. This guide starts with what to do when your fence comes down, clears up the fence myths behind most neighbour disputes, then shows you how to put up a fence that stays up. The fence planner prices the whole job at today's UK merchant prices.

Planning the whole job? Our New fence planner takes your measurements once and builds a single shopping list across every calculator you need.

1. Your fence blew down: what to do first

1. Make it safe. A loose panel will keep catching the wind and can smash greenhouses, cars and windows. If it's flapping, take it out of its slots or unscrew the clips and lay it flat, weighed down.
2. Take photos of the damage, the posts and anything it hit, before you clear up.
3. Check your insurance. Many UK home insurance policies exclude fences, gates and hedges from storm cover, or only pay out if the house was damaged too. Check the wording before you assume either way.
4. Tell your neighbour, especially if it's a shared boundary. It's easier to agree who's fixing what now than after one of you has bought panels.
5. Work out what actually failed using the table below. Often only one part needs replacing.

2. Who owns the fence? Five myths that start arguments

• Myth: "the fence on your left is yours". There's no such rule anywhere in the UK. Ownership comes from your title deeds. On the Land Registry title plan, look for "T" marks on the boundary lines: the side the T sits on usually shows who is responsible for that boundary. An "H" mark (two Ts joined) often means it's shared.
• Myth: "the good side has to face the neighbour". No law says so. It's a courtesy, and having the posts and rails on your side means you can maintain the fence without going onto their land. Double-sided panels avoid the question.
• Myth: "you have to have a fence". In most cases there's no legal duty to fence your garden, unless your deeds say so. The exceptions are things like keeping livestock in.
• Myth: "you can build as high as you like on your own land". In England, fences, walls and gates over 2m high (or over 1m next to a road used by vehicles) need planning permission. A trellis on top counts towards the height.
• Myth: "if it's on the boundary I can just replace it". If the fence is shared or belongs to your neighbour, agree it with them first. Replacing someone else's fence without asking is a fast route to a dispute, even if yours is better.

Still not sure? You can download your title plan from HM Land Registry for a small fee. The register sometimes says who must maintain each boundary.

3. Plan and price your fence

Enter your fence and the planner works out every panel, post, gravel board, clip and bag of Postcrete, then prices them at the cheapest UK merchant we've found. It uses the same maths as our fence calculator.

Assumes 1.83m-wide panels, posts 100mm wide, one more post than panels per run, posts about 600mm in the ground, 2 × 20kg bags of Postcrete per post and 4 clips per panel on timber posts. Prices are only shown for the products we track: 6ft closeboard panels, 2.4m timber posts, concrete gravel boards and Postcrete.

4. Choosing posts, panels and gravel boards

Posts: timber or concrete?

If your fence faces the prevailing wind, or this is the second time it's blown down, concrete posts and concrete gravel boards are the one-time fix. With concrete posts you need the right type for each position: intermediate posts have slots on both sides, while end and corner posts have slots on one face or two adjacent faces.

Panels

• Lap (overlap) panels: cheapest and lightest, but the thin boards split and blow out first in storms.
• Closeboard (featheredge) panels: vertical boards on a solid frame; much stronger, and the usual choice for a fence that has to last.
• Slatted, hit-and-miss or picket: gaps let the wind through, so far less force goes into the posts. Good for exposed gardens.

Gravel boards

A gravel board is a plank (timber or concrete) along the bottom of each bay, so the panel sits about 150mm clear of the soil. Rotten panel bottoms are the main reason fences fail, and a gravel board is the cheapest way to stop it. When the board rots or cracks, you replace the board, not the panel.

5. Putting up a fence, step by step

1. Check the boundary and the rules (section 2), and look for drains, pipes and cables along the line.
2. Set a string line along the fence, tight and at the finished height of the gravel boards, from end post to end post.
3. Measure a real panel. "6ft" panels vary by a few millimetres between makers. Measure one you've bought and space the holes to suit: panel width plus post width, centre to centre.
4. Dig the first hole about 300mm wide and at least 600mm deep (a quarter of the post's length). Put a little gravel in the bottom for drainage.
5. Set the first post. Stand it in the hole, check it's plumb on two faces with a post level, and brace it with battens. Pour water into the hole, about a third full, then add the Postcrete until it's full and the water is absorbed. It sets in about 5–10 minutes. Shape the top so it slopes away from the post, so rain runs off rather than sitting against the timber.
6. Fit the first gravel board and panel against the post, then dig and set the next post tight against them. Don't concrete all the posts in first: if the spacing is out by a few centimetres, the panels won't fit.
7. Fix the panel. On timber posts use four clips per panel (two each side), screwed into the post and panel frame. On concrete posts the panel simply drops into the slots.
8. Repeat bay by bay, checking the line, level and plumb every time.
9. Finish off. Fit post caps to timber posts to keep rain out of the end grain, and treat any cut ends with preservative.

6. Slopes, corners and short gaps

• Slopes: panels must stay level, so the fence steps down the slope bay by bay. Use taller posts on the downhill side, and gravel boards to fill the triangular gap under each step.
• Corners: each new straight run adds a post. With concrete posts, use a corner post with slots on two adjacent faces.
• A short final gap: cut a panel to width. Take the end battens off, cut it down, then re-fix the battens on the cut edge so the boards stay held.

7. Making it last through the next storm

• Keep soil, bark and leaves off the bottom of panels and posts. Wood in contact with damp soil rots fastest.
• Treat timber every few years with a water-based fence treatment, ideally in dry weather in late spring or summer.
• Check after every storm: tighten loose clips, re-seat panels in concrete posts and deal with any leaning post before the next gale finishes it off.
• On an exposed site, consider slatted or hit-and-miss panels, concrete posts, or a hedge, which filters wind rather than blocking it.
• Don't lean things on it. Climbing plants are fine on trellis, but heavy shrubs, sheds and stacked materials against a fence add load it wasn't designed for.

8. Fence checklist

Print this page (the planner is left out of the printout) and tick these off as you go:

• Damage photographed and insurance policy checked
• Boundary ownership checked (title plan "T" marks) and neighbour spoken to
• Height within planning limits (2m, or 1m next to a road)
• Drains, pipes and cables checked along the line
• Panels, posts, gravel boards, clips and Postcrete ordered (measure a real panel)
• String line set from end to end
• Holes at least 600mm deep and about 300mm wide, with gravel in the bottom
• Posts set one at a time, plumb on two faces, concrete sloped away
• Gravel boards in, panels clipped (4 per panel) or slotted
• Post caps fitted, cut ends treated

Planning something else in the garden? Try the decking calculator, the gravel calculator, or our guide to building a brick garden wall if you'd rather have something the wind can't move.