DIY: Welded Fences

Welded or woven-wire mesh on a wood frame makes a lightweight, inexpensive, easy-to-build fence that's well suited for enclosing play areas or defining garden space. When you extend the posts, this welded fence becomes a trellis for climbing vines. Before you dig, make sure you know what's running through or along your fence line, whether it's a water, telephone, gas or a television cable line -- it's a good idea to call each utility company or the 811 service to make sure so they can flag where you can't dig.

Specifications

Welded wire comes in a variety of gauges and mesh sizes, typically in 35-, 48- and 72-inch widths, in 25-, 50- or 100-foot rolls. Regardless of what you plan to enclose, choose the heaviest-gauge wire available because thin wire easily bends and folds and is prone to rust. Most wood and wire fences have a 2-inch-by-2-inch or a 2-inch-by-4-inch galvanized or vinyl-coated grid. Vinyl-coated wire is available in white or dark green. The darker color blends well into your landscape, making the fence nearly invisible, when using it to support vines.

Installation

A welded-wire fence, attached to a wood post-and-rail framework, is one of the easiest fences to build, and it can be attractive when used as a trellis for growing climbing plants, flowers and fruit. As with most fences, the most difficult part of building and installing it is digging the post holes and setting the posts. A typical welded-wire fence is usually about 48 inches high and calls for posts every 8 to 10 feet. Installation requires a hammer, shovel, drill, pliers, 1/4-inch U-staples, 2-inch screws, wire fencing, pressure-treated 1-inch-by-6-inch skirt board and posts.

Tips

Two rails will more than support a welded-wire fence as long as it's no more than 48 inches high, but you will need a mid-rail for additional stability on higher fences. You can improve the utilitarian look of the fence by adding an angled cap rail that sheds water and covers the wire tips, which will also make it safer. You can also add a pressure-treated skirt board along the bottom of the fence that will keep critters, pets and small children from crawling under the fence. You can back-fill against this board with top soil or gravel.

Design Suggestion

One way to save time and eliminate a lot of cutting, and that includes your hands, is to design the fence so a full width of wire fits between the ground and the top rail. This eliminates a lot of cutting and trimming, while allowing you to use the top of the wire to align the top rail so it doesn't sag between the posts.