installing a fence is a DIY project that almost anyone can do hi I'm Jess open heimer with home click comm and today I'm going to show you how to build a split rail fence before we begin it's important to note a few issues that are peculiar to installing fencing first if you're planning your fence near property line make sure you're on your property when you start digging your post holes speaking of digging you need to check the location of any underground utilities before you dig call eight eight eight dig safe before you start to build your fence you will need a post hole digger a carpenter's level a shovel measuring tape and posts line posts and corner posts to build your fence fence rails gravel and stakes and string layout your fence along its path to get a rough idea of where the posts go we're building a 33 foot fence our split rails are 11 feet long so we'll divide the length by 11 and that will tell us how many sections we'll have for our fence we'll need six rails to end posts and two line posts now we can dig using your shovel and your post hole digger dig out a hole that's about ten inches in diameter and about six inches deeper than you need it to be place six inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole to drain moisture away from the post place your posts in the holes and fill the soil back in around them do the ends first be sure to place them so that the holes for the rails are facing the right direction and use your level to ensure that they're square tamp down the soil firmly when you're sure your post is set it's also a good idea to mound up some soil around each post to drain away moisture to insure that the height of your post is consistent run the taut string between the tops of your end posts to guide you dig your holes for your line posts following the same procedure when all your posts are in insert the rails and your split-rail fence is complete thanks for watching for more information and to check out all the best friends for your home visit us on the web at home click calm