Installing a wood fence is a sequence of well-defined steps, each of which is easy on its own and only goes wrong when a later step depends on an earlier one that was rushed. This guide walks the sequence in order.
1. Plan before you dig
Work out your total run, height, material, style and gate count first, and get a full material list before buying anything. The wood fence calculator does this in one pass: posts, rails, pickets and concrete, all from your actual measurements. Confirm your property line and any local permit requirement before digging; see the property line and setback guide for what that involves.
2. Call before you dig
In the US, calling 811 (or your local utility locate service) before digging any post hole is standard practice and, in most states, legally required. It is free and typically takes a few business days to get utility lines marked. Skipping this step risks striking a buried gas, electric or water line, which is a hazard no fence plan is worth ignoring.
3. Lay out the line and mark post locations
Stretch a mason’s line between corner or end points to establish a straight reference line, then mark each post location along it at your chosen spacing. Getting this line straight and square at corners now saves rework later, since every subsequent step (post depth, rail length, picket alignment) assumes the layout is correct.
4. Dig and set posts
Dig each hole to the diameter and depth your design calls for; see the fence post depth and setting guide for how depth is determined (the one-third rule versus your local frost line, whichever is deeper). Set each post plumb, brace it temporarily, and pour concrete around it, checking plumb again before the concrete sets. The fence post concrete calculator gives you the bag count for your specific hole size.
Let concrete cure before attaching rails; most premix concrete reaches enough strength to build on within a day or two, though full cure takes longer. Check your product’s instructions rather than guessing.
5. Attach rails
Once posts are set and concrete has cured enough to work against, attach horizontal rails between posts at the height your design specifies (2 rails for a shorter fence, 3 for a mid-height privacy fence, 4 for a tall one; see how many rails does a fence need for the specific breakdown). Rails should sit level and square to the posts, since pickets attached to an unlevel rail run will look uneven along the whole span.
6. Attach pickets
Work from one end of each section, checking picket spacing periodically (not just at the start) so small errors do not compound into a visibly uneven gap by the far end. If you are building a gapped picket style rather than privacy, a spacer block cut to your target gap width keeps spacing consistent without measuring every single picket. See how many pickets for 100 feet of fence if you have not finalized your picket count yet.
7. Hang gates last
Gates go up after the rest of the fence is complete, since the opening’s final dimensions are easiest to confirm once the adjacent fence sections are actually built. See the gate hardware and framing guide for hinge and latch selection.
8. Finish and maintain
Pressure-treated pine benefits from staining or sealing periodically to look its best; cedar and redwood can be left to weather naturally or finished to preserve their original color. See the fence maintenance guide for a maintenance schedule.
Plan your own build
Start with the wood fence calculator for your exact material list, then the fence cost calculator once you have local prices to compare a DIY build against a contractor quote; see DIY vs contractor-installed fence for that comparison in more detail.