Preparing your yard for a fence installation is necessary to ensure that the process goes smoothly and efficiently. You wouldn’t’ want to keep stepping around toys, plants, and have no idea where your property line is.
Doing a bit of extra work before you begin your fence installation will save you a lot of hassle during the process. Consider some of the following tips to help get your yard ready for a fence installation.
Mark the Property Line
It seems obvious, but something that many don’t think of is marking the property line. You don’t want to put up a fence just by guessing where you think the property line is. Guessing could put you in a situation with your neighbours and force you to have to redo the whole process again.
Make sure you know exactly where your property line is. If you’re unsure, get the blueprints of your property from your local government office. Gambling on where your property line won’t help you in the long run.
Speak With Your Neighbours
If you have neighbours, let them know you’re building a fence. What you choose to install will affect the shared property line. Being courteous and including them in the process will help keep a good relationship between the two of you. Plus, you may find that they want to replace their fence and will cover some of the costs for the shared portion.
During the installation process, make sure to keep all of your supplies and tools on your property. For starters, it’s been courteous to them and their property. Also, though, it’s ensuring that there is no confusion over who owns what.
Call Your Utility Operators
The last thing you need is to start digging and end up hitting a pipe or lines in the ground. Now you’re in a lot of trouble. Speak with your utility operators first so that they can point out any pipes and lines that you need to be careful about.
Keep the Yard Clean
Here is another obvious one that many sometimes forget – clean up your yard. Working around toys and other obstacles will only make the process more difficult and time-consuming. Basically, you want to have as clean of a slate as possible before starting.
Have a Checklist of Supplies and a Plan
You don’t want to start installing a fence and have no plan in mind. Going that route, there’s a good chance of messing up or finding out later that you don’t like what you’ve done. Plan out ahead of time what you want the fence to look like.
Also, have a checklist of all the supplies you need. For starters, this ensures that you have everything there and ready at your fingertips. It also allows you to keep track of all your tools so that when it’s time to end for the day, everything is accounted for.
Lay Out Stakes
Once you know your property line and have a plane, lay stakes to help you visualize where the fence will go. Run a string between the posts to measure the distance between them for the fence installation.
