Fences for Home and Garden: A Complete Guide to Selecting and Installing Wood, Masonry, Metal, and Living Fences

by Jeff Beneke, Melanie Powell (Illustrator)

Overview

Home-improvement expert Jeff Beneke shows homeowners how to select and build the right fence to meet their needs. Includes step-by-step illustrated instructions for building wood, masonry, metal, and living fences that last.

This complete guide shows homeowners how to select and build fences that provide privacy and security, mark boundaries, hide unpleasant views, keep animals in or out, beautify a yard, and provide protection from the elements. Because different fences serve different purposes—a bright white picket fence might add curb appeal but won’t do much to secure your property from animals or people—it's important to think through the design process before the first hole is dug. Author Jeff Beneke walks readers through this planning process—High or low? Open or closed? Gated or no? Building with wood, metal, brick, concrete, or shrubbery? What type of fasteners? After the design and materials have been chosen, Beneke guides readers through the building process with illustrated step-by-step instructions. Also included is information on how to repair fences and gates that have been damaged by the ravages of time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635869163
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	02/04/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.88(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

Jeff Beneke is a building editor and writer and was a home improvement expert for The Spruce and a former editor of Fine Homebuilding Books. He has written more than a dozen home-improvement books, including How to Build a Fence, and published articles and reviews for a wide range of publications, including Popular Mechanics. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.   

Table of Contents

Introduction

1: Fencing, Then and Now
History, Fence Law, Fencing with a Purpose, Materials, Before You Start Digging
2: Design and Layout
Exterior Design, Field Research, Choosing a Style, Open or Closed?, To Gate or Not, Designing with Contrasts, Height and Sight, Scale and Proportion, Mixing Materials, Preparing a Plan, Finalizing the Plan, Plumb and Level
3: Wood Fences
From Rails to Pickets, Choosing the Wood, Fasteners for All Seasons, Setting Posts, Attaching Rails, Post Top Details, The Picket Fence, Vertical Board Fences, Louvered Fences, Basketweave Fences, Lattice Fences, Prefab Panels, Vinyl Fences, Rustic Fences, Choosing a Finish
4: Masonry Fences
Building with Stone, Building with Brick, Building with Concrete Block
5: Metal Fences
Ornamental Metal Fences, Chain-Link Fences, Mesh Fencing, Barbed Wire, Electric Fences
6: Living Fences
Hedges, Grasses, Bamboo, Fencing with Berms
7: Gates
Design Decisions, Hardware, Building the Gate, Gateless Gateposts
8: Repairing Fences and Gates
Refinishing a Wood Fence, Removing Mildew, Tightening Loose Fasteners, Correcting Footing Failures, Mending Decayed Posts, Replacing Decayed Posts, Repointing Mortar, Repairing Gates
Acknowledgments
Index