DIY guideDeck and fence
Walk the fence line and check the posts
Push each post, look and probe at the soil line for rot, and catch a leaning post before the fence goes down.
- 20 min to 1 hr
- 7 steps
- Every step animated
7 steps
Tap a step to watch it again.
Walk the fence from end to end and look along its top. A dip or a lean shows which posts to check first.
Push the top of each post firmly, one way and then the other. A sound post barely moves; one that rocks is loose or rotting below.
Pull back the grass and soil at the post's foot and look for dark, soft or crumbling wood.
Dig by hand, only a little way down: buried lines can run along a fence.Push a screwdriver into the wood right at the ground. If it sinks in easily, the post is rotting.
Look where the rails meet the posts, and at the gate's hinges. Drive in loose screws and replace rusted ones.
Pull soil, mulch and grass back from the posts, and turn the sprinklers so they don't soak them.
A post that rocks, leans or is soft at the ground needs replacing. Ask Handyman for a fence pro.
What you need
- A screwdriver
- Work gloves
- A garden trowel
- Exterior screws and a drill, for loose rails
Call a pro if
- A post rocks, leans or is soft at the ground
- A section of fence leans after wind or a storm
- The gate sags and won't latch
Handyman says: Leave it be. I'll find a fence pro.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
More outside and the yard guides
See all 72
Rather have
a pro do it?