JAX

When I was first starting my General Contracting business, I did so much fencing that it's not even funny in the least. Absolutely use concrete in the holes, without a doubt. But you have to do it right. Ad a few inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole to allow for drainage of water. Then, make sure your concrete comes up past the grade of the dirt and slope it away from the post on all sides. If you don't do this then dirt sits on top of the posts and retains water. Those who said they have seen posts rot in concrete I can almost guarantee the post rotted right where it met the concrete and not below grade. Also, most rental yards have 2 sizes of augers, an 8 inch and a 12 inch (both 4' in length). Unless you are using galvanized chain link type posts (The best way to go in my opinion) then you will need to rent the 12" auger. Drill at least 2' and just accept that it will take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 bags of 90lb concrete. Run a string line at the top & bottom of your posts, and set them dry (pour the dry concrete in the holes and adjust your posts to the lines). Once all your posts are set and plum (the dry concrete will hold them in place) then just come along with the hose or buckets of water and add it to the post holes. The 3 rail fence is a good idea for strength. Run the bottom and middle rail on edge, and then cut the top of the posts about a foot below the top of the fence pickets. Cap the posts with the last rail. Use 16' 2x4s for the top rails. This will help to keep the top of the posts in line and prevent them (to an extent) from warping out of the strsight line you initially set them in. If you are installing the pickets with a nail gun, get galvanized ring shank 6 penny minimum. The 8 penny nails will shoot through the bottom & middle rail just so you know. If the pickets you put up are still wet from the mill, run them tight to each other. As they dry, the wood will shrink and you'll get about a 3/32" gap between the pickets. HTH

Iron Mike

Here we call JULIE instead of Miss Utility. TREX is the Bomb for Decks. I would never have another deck out of anything but Trex. We love ours. That said I would not build a fence out of it.
I wouldn't butt your fence boards. If you want privacy use the shadow overlap. Or whatever you call it. Every other board is on the inside. You can overlap them enough that you will actually have more privacy and they are not subjected to near as high a wind load. They also look nice on the outside and the inside. Every privacy fence I've built was done that way. It works out the best and only takes a little more material. If you want more privacy than that gives, then you better use brick. LOL. Remember that if you butt all the boards on the outside they will have gaps you can look through. Just my .03 (adjusted for inflation).

03qclb5spd

Yeah, that's a must I forgot to mention.

As for butting the boards, it isn't necessarily a no-no. If that's how you want to build your fence then have at it. If you don't want a gap, allow them some time to dry before you put them up. But that could promote warping or cupping before some of them go up.

Luvnacumns

If your fencing is dry don't but them but odds are they aren't. I butted mine gave them a week and there was about a 3/8 gap in them.. Then I oiled them..

Luvnacumns

Another vote for TREX for decking we just did a 3000 sq foot deck out of it with the hidden screw system!! Top notch!!! But spendy!!!!

JAX

If you butt your boards after they dry, next time the rainy season comes and your fence boards start cracking due to moisture causing them to grow, that's when I laugh at people who don't follow the advice of professionals.

On another note, the vinyl fencing that I have put up usually cost 2 to 3 times the material price of a redwood fence. If put up correctly, it'll last forever. That's the benefit, zero maintenance. Plus, horses won't eat it either. That's a big + in my neck of the woods.

displacedtexan

New thought...

My dad (not a carpenter, but he does good at what he does) puts his posts 7' apart, to help keep them from sagging. (He has built several fences at houses we have had.) He built one 9 years ago, I drove by the house a few months ago, still straight and plumb, without sagging. The material cost increase is slight.

Dodgezilla

Wouldn't putting them 7' apart promote waste since you now have to buy 8' long boards and cut them down. It seems like making them longer would make them to sag even more?

A few of you have mentioned Redwood. Where are you buying this? All I see at Lowes or Home Depot is regular old treated wood....

cmnspwr

Mike, if you need help getting this project done, let me know. I'll see how my weekend schedule will be.

phloop

Another thing about the locates, you will usually not get a depth of the utilityline from the company. I am one of those guys that will come out and locate lines on your property. I work for the city of Hood River and one of my job dutys is doing the locates. We do not give depths of our lines, you need to find the lines yourself by hand digging. And I will only locate to either the meter box for water or the property line for the sanitary sewer. Other company's will locate to their service connection's, which are usually at the house.

Remember also, it takes up to 48 hours to get your area located. And you need to keep the marks that are put down updated/fresh yourself, which means you are not to call for relocates if the marks go away.

Dodgezilla

Thanks Dan. I'll see what happens. I really don't like to start a project like this when I'm really unsure of my abilities to do it right. I've seen too many "Projects" done "half fast" and they really look bad. I don't want mine to be like that.
I appreciate all the input fellas....

03qclb5spd

I would just do the 8 foot. 7 feet isn't that much shorter. If you were going from say, 10 foot down to 7 then I could see it helping.

JAX

8ft represents the center to center dimension. So basically, from the inside of post 1 to inside of post 2 should be around 7' 8 1/2". If put up properly, the fence rails shouldn't sag. That 8 1/2" isn't going to make a lick of difference.

displacedtexan

He buys 14' 2x4s so no waste, and when I build fence (I'm a trim guy, but money talks) I go 8' spacing. I don't think having them closer really helps that much but it can't hurt, and some people (myself included) tend to overkill, even when there is not really a compelling reason...

berner

Some great advice so far.

I just put up 80' of fence last weekend. I always use pea gravel and a 5' steel scaling bar to set the posts. They end up pretty solid if you dump in about 6" of gravel, a bit of water and tamp it good, and repeat. A bit of clay mixed in helps. Put a bit of gravel in the hole first and tamp it down with the post.

8' spacing on the posts is fine if you use two 2x4's set vertical for rails. If you're putting a 2x4 on top of your posts, go 7'-10" max on the first posts from the corner or an 8' 2x4 will be too short after you cut a 45 for the corner.

I space my pickets with a nail. If you put the end ones on and run a string tight across the top, you'll get a nice even fence slope. Same with the posts. Do the end ones first. Run a string tight down one side and then use a level on the side of the posts to position them straight and plumb. Mark the end ones for height, move the string up to your mark, and mark the rest. Cut them on the mark and you end up with a nice even topline for the posts.

I lay off the beer until I'm done setting the posts and using power tools. I find I get a straighter fence and still have all my fingers after the job is done.

Forgot to add: Stain everything with at least one coat before you put it up.