Step-By-Step: How To Fence A Corner Lot

I, a proud fence owner, was talking with my neighbor one day about how he wished he could have a fence like mine in his front yard, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to since his home was on a corner lot. I had never thought that fencing a corner lot was any different than any other lot, but oh boy was I wrong.

This is how you fence specifially a corner lot:

Find your local codes – tricky but critical
Plan your build – there is a lot more than you think
Purchase needed tools or materials – rent or buy?
Set your posts – from digging to plum
Attach your strings – This should be the easy part

Thats the quick down low, but we are going to go a little more in depth into every step as well as how to find the legal stuff like local codes. Don’t get discouraged just because it seems like a lot, by the end of this little journey you could have a beautiful fence that provides privacy and comfort to your home.

Local Law And Codes

This can be the tricky part, but if you know what you are looking for than it won’t be very hard. The important things to make sure you find out about your local area are the county/city laws regarding fence height, how opaque your fence is, post hole size, and proximity to the road or other individuals property. Since I have not lived in every county and I don’t have the time to find every counties codes regarding fences I will give you some examples that I know well.

Fences do not always require a permit, but if you want to know if your fence build requires a permit than check out the article we wrote.

Fence Height

The height of your fence will differ from front to back, proximity to the road as well as what the neighboring properties are. Lets talk about each of these on their own. It may seem to be getting a little complicated and boring already, don’t worry we are gonna get through this with only one nap in the middle.

Fence heights are generally regulated to 6 ft in the backyard, however the front yard can be 3-4ft depending on how opaque your fence is and its proximity to the road or sidewalk. If you want a more in depth explanation of how tall a fence can be check out the article we wrote.

Back Fence

The height of your back fence is generally regulated to 6 ft tall. Does this mean that there are no locations out there with fences taller than that? No, while some counties allow fences up to 7ft, others are unlikely to even regulate and much less check on it.

Now don’t go out and start measuring your neighbors fences because they may have bought the property with the fence already installed and if no one has ever complained about it and it posses no hazard to people than the city or county is unlikely to force them to take it down.

Lastly, if you have large buildings next to your home such as a school, you may be allowed to have a fence height of up to 10 ft tall. This is specifically so that you can retain your privacy even when there are hundreds of little ones running around your house. Not every jurisdiction will allow this so that is why it is critical you determine if yours does.

Front Fence

The height of your front fence can be quite a different story. It depends on its proximity to the street, where along the street it is located, what the visibility is like along the road or turn and if you have the ability to see through portions of your fence. This is more than likely where you would get yourself in trouble as you get so much traffic that you want that privacy but there is so many more regulations on it.

To give an example of fencing regulations you can look here(I looked up my own). I just typed in “fence regulations (insert your county and state)”. As you can see it is pretty hard to find where everything is, but if you can press CTRL F (or command F for the mac users) than you can find sections 206(c)(2) and 206(e) are where most of the regulations are found. Everything from how opaque the fence is allowed to be, the materials used, to the distance or set back from the right of way(the sidewalk in most cases), and there is even a catch all.

“Freestanding wall shall not obstruct the visibility at street intersections”.
Camden County Unified Development Code

It is critical that you don’t waste your money and do something without knowing the laws behind it. Also, normally the professionals in your area will know their stuff but not always so you need to do the research yourself. The contractors won’t loose money or be forced to take their fence down, but you will.

This Might Save You!

The concept is called substantial compliance and can be defined in legal jargon in this link. If you want to hear in in layman’s terms though then read on. If you made every effort to be in compliance with the rues and your structure poses no risk to anyones health or safety than you are good to go, and if that annoying neighbor starts to cause a ruckus, the authorities will more than likely see that there is no harm and you have had the fence for quite some time. No one likes pests, even more so the authorities, because they have to deal with them on a daily basis.

Also, on the research side make sure you check out other regulations such as what material you are required to mount your posts in, how deep you have to dig your post holes, how far an unshared fence must be from the property line, etc. A little more time sitting at the computer doing the research will save you in the long run.

Planning Your Build

Now that you have all of the requirements down and you are looking to get started we need to figure out what you need and how much of it you need. What may actually help is having a conversation with your neighbors as they will likely have very big opinions on where the fence needs to go. If you thought you were going to put your fence on the property line then think again. Normally the only time this is allowed is if it is a joint boundary fence, but there are some drawbacks with that. Just have the discussion so that both of you have an understanding before you spend all your money to get the supplies.

There are some good fence planning tools out there but they all seem to not show you the materials list and then want you to put in a quote. What you can do is search for a fence planner and request the quote. Either in the instructions or after they have contacted you, ask for a price breakdown of the cost of labor vs materials. This will give you a good idea of what you want and how much it will cost for the materials alone. This won’t be the entire cost as you will likely need to purchase tools or rent them, but it will be close as sometimes you can get reduced material prices if your thrifty.

If all else fails and you can’t seem to find anything good out there than read on as it may be a little lengthy and we will go through some of the pros and cons of exactly what you want in the next section.

Timing your build can be difficult because it can take a weekend depending on the experience and help or it will take a month to get everything settled into place because your only working on the weekends. What you need s 48 hours of no rain. The reason this is key is because it gives you time to dig the holes for your posts and get them setting in concrete so that you can attached your strings later. If it starts to drizzle after you pour your concrete all you can do is pray that it stops.

Lastly you will likely be having your supplies delivered to you, unless you have the truck and trailer of my dreams(or a very tiny home). It is important to also plan this with the rain and your build time as wet wood will shrink when it dries and can cause a look that you really weren’t going for. It is best to plan every thing to line up to arrive the day before your build so you can wake up ready to get everything set. Now lets get to the tools and materials.

Now that you have a date in mind for when you want too accomplish this task call 811 about 1-2 weeks out. This gives utility companies plenty of time to go out and mark where their lines are so there are no more hidden costs popping out of the ground because you are digging them up. If your planning on doing this within the week than call them right away as in most areas the only requirement is 48 hours prior.

Tools And Materials

Tools

This list can be a matter of preference or different depending on your materials used. Some of these are staples however and are not just required but may be already found in your shed. Lastly I will also give some options for tool rentals to make the process that much easier. Bottom line, dont sacrifice your back for saving a few extra dollars.

Circular saw or hand saw – Many people already own a circular saw especially if this is not your first building job. If you don’t want to take the time or risk making an ugly cut with a hand saw than you can purchase a decent circular saw for the ballpark of $80-$100.

Wheelbarrow or bucket – Again you can do it all with a $10 bucket, but it is much easier to move everything around and stir larger amounts of concrete with a wheelbarrow.

Nail gun/hammer or screw driver – I definitely prefer to use screws for my projects as it makes replacing the components easier for future maintenance, but using nails for the rails and pickets and screws to attach them to the posts can reduce the amount of labor as nails are easier and faster to install.

Auger, post hole digger or shovel – You can rent an auger for about $80 a day($250 purchase at least), buy a $30 post hole digger, or go at it with the shovel in your shed. Your choice, but it’s your back that will be dealing with it later.

Shovel – You will also need a shovel for other things as well like mixing concrete pouring it, and various other tasks.

Tape measure and speed square – Measure distances and 90 degree cuts.

String and stakes(batter boards) – Easily helps you align your posts.

Level – Critical in making your posts plum.

Materials

Now this list may change slightly depending on your fence materials or desires but this liaison based off of a standard wooden fence.

Fence posts – 4x4x8 are most popular for wooden fences however sizes vary for different materials.

Scrap 2x4s – This will be important for using about 2 2ft long 2x4s to hold your fence posts up while they set in the concrete.

Pickets and Rails(these may come already attached or not) – The rails will likely be 1x2x8s or 2x4x8s.

Concrete(see below for a guide to how much you will need) – The type of concrete differs depending on your budget, but many use quickcrete and have no issues.

For the best concrete for your fence, check out our article here where we show you the easiest to use.https://backyardoverhaul.com/best-concrete-for-metal-fence-posts/

Nails or screws – There is a quite an argument on the different schools of thought out there for this as screws hold true for longer but take more labor and may be more inconsistent, but nails are much faster and will blend with the wood a bit better. It may just come down to your preference.

Bolts(Optional) – You certainly do not have to purchase these, however some install bolts into the portion of their post that sits in the concrete to enhance the side to side strength of the post.

Lets Get Building

Digging Your Post Holes

This is another part that largely depends on the regulations in your area. Often times it can differ based in the size of your post, for example a 4×4 requires a smaller hole than a 6×6 would and so on. The key is that you county may regulate this as well as the type of material you use to set the post into the ground. For the sake of explanation we will use an 9″ diameter hole for a 4×4 post.

Since you have already called 811 and the utilities have marked up your yard you are ready to start. Get your string line also called a batter board(the two stakes and string) to make a straight line from the beginning or your fence to the first corner. Attach the rope to one stake and punch it into the ground. Attach the rope to the second stake and place it at your first corner.

Measure out the distance of the Pickets and rails(wall pieces of the fence) taking into a count the slope of your lawn(only take into a count the slope of your lawn if your fence will be sloped, if not than it needs to be the straight line distance from one vertical post to the next at the same height). Now you know that none of your holes run into any other lines, or you have a little extra planning to do.

This means that using your augers to dig up those holes will be quick work. Now if this is one of the areas you decided to just get a post hole digger or use a shovel than it may take a little longer but just make sure your are measuring 4.5″ inches out from the center. You don’t want the post to be centered 4.5″ inches from where you originally wanted it.

The depth of your hole will also differ with your county regulations but if you cannot find a regulation then go big with 22 to 24″ deep for a 6 ft high post as this will provide sufficient post in the concrete as well as 6ft above the ground. For a 4 ft front yard post that is a bit of overkill so somewhere between 12 to 16″ will be more than enough. Now that your have all of the holes dug it is time to move on to setting the posts.

Posts

Now it’s time to get those posts set into the ground. This could make or break the project so if you are careful at any time than now is it. Get your posts and some scrap 2x4s. Your going to put your post into the hole and use your 2x4s to stabilize it vertically. Once you eyed it then your going to want to grab your level and make sure it is plum on two connecting sides. Plum means that it is perpendicular to the ground. Sometimes the ground can be wavy so take the average of that and make all of the posts perpendicular to it. Mainly, the posts need to be perpendicular to each other.

Quick Tip – screwing large bolts into the posts on one side within the area of the concrete will add a bit of extra stability against that side to side motion and can be a game changer if you or your neighbors have experienced broken fence posts before.

Alright, you have a bunch of posts sticking out of the ground only held by 2x4s. That would look like a terrible fence so lets set them in some concrete. Estimating concrete for your depth, and post hole diameter can be hard…so I did the calculations for you as you can see below in my how much concrete do you need chart. If you have an awkward size than you may need to look up some stuff on your own, but this will fit most cases.

Depth	6″ diameter	9″ diameter	12″diameter
12″	1	2	2
14″	1	2	3
16″	1	2	3
18″	1	2	3
20″	1	2	4
22″	1	2	4
24″	1	3	4
26″	2	3	5
28″	2	3	5
30″	2	3	5
32″	2	3	5
34″	2	3	6
36″	2	4	6

A guide to how much concrete you need for each post

Use your hose to spray down the holes just to the point hat they are damp. This will inhibit the ground from soaking up the water in the concrete and making the outer layer of the concrete less stable. Mix a wheelbarrow full at a time. You can use a trash 2×4 or anything else you have laying around. Don’t rush it as those holes aren’t going anywhere. Poor it into just about ground level and move onto the next one. It may be prudent to wipe off excess higher up on the post as when it dries it will be as hard as…well…concrete.

Now I would say it is time to wait, but there aint no rest for the wicked. Depending on your brand of concrete it can dry in as little as 24 hours(quickcrete) or may require several days to set so if you are doing both your front and backyard it may be a good idea to do the process up until now for one and then while the concrete is setting, go back and do the process on the other. By the time you are completely finished with the second you concrete will be set and you will be ready for the next step.

Attaching The Pickets And Rails

Your Posts are set and plum and you just removed the 2x4s. Get your nail gun or screw driver and get it done! Your almost there so keep going. A little advice if you are doing this all on your own – if you are making the fence flush with a slope then it is fine to allow the fence to rest on the ground, but if you want your fence to have that level bubble smack dap in the center than you will need a couple scrap blocks of wood. I will explain below.

As you are setting up your fence posts and measuring the level placing a scrap block of wood under one end will provide the needed support to make it level. If it becomes too high because of the block use a hammer to knock the wood slightly into the ground to move it a little bit at a time. Ground is a lot easier to compress than wood. This will help you hold the string up as you attach it to the post.

Depending on the product you bought you may have slots to fit the rails into or they may sit flush to the posts. If it is the first, then a screw passing through the post and the string on the top and bottom inserts will be enough. The later requires more as the weight of the string will be help more by the screws. If in doubt, add another screw in there as it won’t hurt anything, but only help make the connection stronger.

Lastly you should need to use your circular saw or hand saw to cut the tops of the posts to a uniform size above the top of the pickets. This makes it more professional and visually appealing. By the time you are done You will have a beautiful fence that anyone would want.

Fence Alternatives

Now you say that a fence that is 4 ft tall by must be 50% see through does not quite meet the standards you are going for and neither does a 3 ft fence that is 25% see through. Lets look at a couple different alternatives that may give a couple better option.

Landscape – adding bushes, shrubs or trees may add a nice touch and give you a more comfortable feeling and the desired privacy.
Smaller Perimeter Fence – By bringing your fence in little more it will allow you to make a taller one.
Retaining walls – Its not that my fence is too tall my ground is just 1 to 3 ft higher than the surrounding ground and my fence is the required height. This may be a round about way of getting a little bit of a taller fence, but make sure that you are keeping the safety of those drivers and pedestrians in mind. Don’t sacrifice anyones safety for anything.

These are just a few ideas to spark you brain storming. Your creative and I think you can come up with something beautiful if you don’t decide to make a fence of your own. Get out there and build something…or overhaul it.

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