Dallas fence repair company owner Sean Eubanks, President of of Texas State Fence Co. offers advice to home owners installing their own fences.
Are you considering building and designing your own fence for your yard?
You may want to do a little homework to do before you get your hammer out. The first thing to do is to check with your city zoning and building codes and Home Owners Association. The last thing you want to do is put all that hard work and expense into a fence only to find out it violates your home owner association requirements.
If you have not already researched where the utility lines are located contact your local utility department to find out where the lines are laid. And do not forget it is always a good idea to visit with your neighbors and touch base with them before you start your project. They might want to be forewarned of construction noise and might have opinions as to the style of fence, especially if their house directly faces the fence.
- You will need to figure out the number of posts, panels and gates for your fence. Take measurements along your fence line, but if you have the survey from when you purchased the home that would be a good tool to verify your measurements. Remember, always measure six inches in from the property line to avoid building on your neighbor’s property.
- Select the posts panels and gates first. The measurements of those items will come into play when deciding how much material you will need.
- Ideally, you should use as many full panels as possible. Inevitably, you will need to cut some panels down to size but try and avoid this as it will influence the overall design of your project. Try to place partial panels in corners, ends and places with lower visibility.
- Be sure to carefully mark your property boundaries. Place the center of the fence post six inches from your property line. This will ensure that you build within your property line.
- Before digging your post holes make sure you measure your panels and gates. Once you have the holes the best order for placing the posts is:
a. End/corner posts, then
b. Gate posts, then
c. Line posts. - Purchase a heavy twine or string and tie it tightly between each post. This gives you a nice visual outline before placing your panels and gates.
Dallas fence repair company owner Sean Eubanks started his company, Texas State Fence Co., to provide quality outdoor fencing and landscape hard structures to clients in North Texas. Texas State Fence Co. provides all types of fencing along with automatic sliding gates, swing gates, security fencing, outdoor kitchens and enclosures, patio covers, arbors, and gazebos. Sean also provides maintenance and repair of fences that have been damaged by weather and wind. For more information please contact Sean Eubanks at 972-898-1307 for visit his website.

We live in a part of the United States that is blessed with fair weather most of the year. True it gets a little hot during July and August but that is balanced most years by winters that are mild enough to get outside and enjoy your yard, and golfing and other out door activities, most of the winter.
A lot of us grew up with no fences separating our yards or perhaps just small picket fence property dividers. Today builders are trying to fit more houses onto smaller lots, fences and privacy fences have almost become a necessity. Instead of Tom Sawyer’s white washed picket fences we are seeing the popular board-on-board and stockade styles with cedar wood or cedar stain. Wooden posts are decreasing in popularity only to be replaced by steel posts. Fence owners are finding the steel posts to be a stronger choice over time especially in regard to withstanding termites and high winds.