As Devon garden design and landscaping experts, we always recommend professional fence installation, as it’s the best way to ensure your fence fulfils your requirements, looks fantastic and is built to last. Our experienced installers have the necessary knowledge, skills, equipment and materials to avoid the mistakes that often derail DIY fencing installation, such as trimming panels too small. When DIY projects go wrong, homeowners can end up with unattractive fences that fail and may even prompt legal disputes, as we’ll explain in this article comparing professional and DIY fence installation.
Fencing is ‘an integral part of your overall garden design,’ remarks home improvement retailer Homebase. Your new fence will have several crucial jobs: it’ll need to highlight your property’s boundaries, deter burglars and trespassers, provide privacy, prevent children and pets from wandering off, offer protection against harsh weather and noise, and boost your garden’s aesthetic appeal. However, it can only succeed if it’s installed correctly.
Because ready-made fence panels/posts are widely available, many people mistakenly assume that putting up fencing must be easy. In reality, getting fence installation right requires considerable expertise, effort and precision, especially here in South Devon, where the landscape often features uneven terrain and many homes have sloping gardens.
Choose professional fencing installation and you can expect that your finished fence will perform its role well and be secure, structurally sound, impressive and low-maintenance, increasing your enjoyment of your garden. By contrast, DIY fencing projects can be a minefield – when they go wrong, time, energy and money are wasted.
What Putting Up a Fence Involves
When putting up fencing, you should start with careful planning and design. You need to decide what the fence’s primary aim will be (for example, to screen off your garden from your neighbours’ view). Then consider what fence height, style and materials are most suitable in relation to that aim before sourcing attractive, durable, weatherproof fencing supplies. For instance, chic timber or composite closeboard panels that are several feet high boost homeowners’ privacy.
There’s certainly a lot to think about – but thankfully, we’ll manage this whole process while collaborating closely with you as part of our professional Devon garden fencing installation service. You won’t need to worry about the practicalities of fence-building or dealing with subcontractors either, as we perform all installations ourselves.
Installing fencing typically involves clearing the area, digging post holes, inserting the posts and securing them with concrete before attaching panels, protective gravel boards and post caps, and fitting gates. A fence must be perfectly level so it’s not crooked and unstable, which means ‘a meticulous degree of accuracy’ is required, emphasises Homebuilding & Renovating magazine. Only professional fence installers can really be relied on to achieve this.
DIY Fence Installation – Potential Pitfalls
Common DIY fencing mistakes include:
Planning and Design
- Not consulting your property’s title deeds or measuring your garden accurately to ensure the fence won’t encroach on neighbours’ boundaries and create legal issues.
- Not checking whether the fence requires planning permission – by law, you must obtain this before installing fencing over two metres tall.
- Cutting corners with materials – for example, cheap wooden fencing is prone to rotting and splintering.
Preparing the Ground
- Not checking for buried cables/pipes with a CAT detector.
- Making post holes too small/shallow – they should be three times the size of posts and extend two feet down.
- Not spacing holes equally.
Fence Posts
- Installing short posts – they must be taller than panels so they can be sunk deep into the ground for stability.
- Not securing posts with enough concrete – it should reach just above ground level.
- Not ensuring posts are level.
Fence Panels
- Trying to move panels by yourself – they’re too cumbersome.
- Cutting a panel too small if it needs altering to fit the available space.
- Not using exterior-grade screws when attaching panels to posts.
- Not ensuring panels are level.
Benefits of Professional Fence Installation
- Our professional fence installation service takes Devon homeowners from concept to completion, so you don’t need to worry about anything.
- We can create a more ambitious, impressive fencing system than you’d feel comfortable attempting yourself (for example, integrating fencing with pergolas).
- We fully comply with fencing law, thereby avoiding issues.
- We take pride in installing bespoke, flawless fencing across Devon, as you can see from our gallery.We use premium timber and composite materials and work to the highest standards.
Professional fencing installation is a smart investment – you won’t have to struggle to complete a DIY installation or fix potentially costly DIY mistakes.
For first-class Devon garden fencing installation, call Jacksons Landscape Designs in Newton Abbot today on 01626 332533.