- Use a post-hole digger to dig two-foot holes, and set six-foot posts into them. Pack the dirt tightly, using a level to make sure the post is straight. Run a string along all the posts at the height you want them off the ground (42 inches or so is standard) and use a circular saw to cut them all at that height. If you're installing your own gate, dig the two post holes for the posts of the gate as before, but pack them with dry cement power instead of dirt, then wet and mix it right in the hole. (More strength is necessary for gate posts because of the movement of the gate.)
- You have a choice on how to erect the pickets: You can either buy them individually and nail them yourself to two 1x3 cross pieces to build eight-foot sections of fence to hang on the posts, or you can buy pre-nailed sections in which the pickets are already nailed to the cross pieces. There's no rational reason not to use the pre-nailed sections, but you're such a purist that you simply must nail on your own pickets, set the cross pieces one foot down from the tops of the pickets and six inches up from the bottom, and use galvanized nails that won't rust. Set the panels at the same distance off the ground on each post, even if the ground is at different levels along the line, so the fence follows the contours of the land. For gates, use a partial section and reinforce it with a diagonal board between the cross pieces.
- Paint the fence first with a coat of sealing primer that will protect the wood from moisture. Once it's thoroughly dry, apply two coats of a semi- or high-gloss exterior latex paint. You can brush it on, but a paint sprayer will be easier and more effective at getting all the corners and lines between the pieces of the wood. White is, obviously, the classic choice.
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