How to Install a Fence Panel: Step-by-Step Guide

Before you start

• Check the boundary. Look at your property deeds and speak to your neighbour before replacing a shared fence.
• Check for services. Find out where pipes and cables run before you dig.
• Work out quantities. Use our how many fence panels guide to count panels, posts, gravel boards and post mix.
• Get a helper. Concrete posts and framed panels are a two-person lift.

Tools you'll need

• Spade and post hole digger (or a long-handled shovel)
• Spirit level — ideally a long one
• Tape measure, string line and pegs
• Bucket and water for the post mix
• Rubber mallet
• Timber battens to brace posts while they set
• Gloves, safety boots and eye protection
• For timber posts: drill, screws or fence clips

Materials

• Fence panels
• Slotted concrete posts — intermediate, end and corner as needed — or timber posts
• Gravel boards, one per panel
• Post mix — roughly two 20kg bags per post

Step-by-step installation

1. Mark out the line. Knock in a peg at each end of the fence and stretch a string line between them at ground level. This is the line the face of your posts will follow.
2. Dig the first hole. Start at one end. Dig a hole about three times the width of the post and deep enough for roughly a quarter of the post's length — around 600–750mm for a 6ft fence on 9ft posts.
3. Set the first post. Stand the post in the hole, check it's against the string line, and use the spirit level on two adjacent faces to get it perfectly upright. Check the height too: the top of the panel plus gravel board should sit just below the top of the post.
4. Add post mix. Pour water into the hole and add post mix, following the instructions on the bag. Keep checking the post is level as you go. Brace it with timber battens while it sets.
5. Dig the second hole. Measure along the line for the width of one panel — about 1.83m for a standard 6ft panel. The easiest way to get this right is to dry-fit: stand the gravel board and panel against the first post and mark where the next post needs to go.
6. Fit the gravel board and panel. With concrete posts, slide the gravel board down the slot of the first post, then lower the panel on top. Stand the second post in its hole and bring it in tight so the gravel board and panel sit in its slot too.
7. Level and set the second post. Check it's upright and on the string line, check the panel is level along its top, then add post mix as before.
8. Repeat along the run. Work your way along one bay at a time: hole, gravel board, panel, post, level, post mix.
9. Finish the top of each hole. Slope the top of the post mix slightly away from the post so rainwater runs off, then backfill with soil once it has set.

Using timber posts instead

The process is similar, but panels are fixed to the face of the posts rather than sliding into slots. Most people set all the posts first using a spacer cut to the panel width, then fix the panels with screws or fence clips. Fit timber or concrete gravel boards along the bottom to keep the panels off the ground. Read our concrete vs timber posts guide to help choose.

Dealing with a slope

Fence panels should always be level, so on a slope you step the fence rather than tilting it. Each panel sits a little lower than the one before, and the gravel board fills the gap underneath. On steeper slopes you may need longer posts at the low end of each step.

Common mistakes

• Setting all concrete posts first and finding the panels don't fit the gaps.
• Not checking the post is upright on two faces.
• Holes too shallow for the height of fence.
• Letting the panel sit directly on the soil without a gravel board.
• Rushing on before the post mix has hardened.

Ready to order?

You can order everything in one go and have it delivered, or collect from our yard in Wednesbury. Our fence bay packages bundle a panel, post and gravel board together — see them on the homepage. Delivery details are on our delivery page.