Exterior House Fence cost with installation process

Exterior House Fence Cost with Installation Process

Last Updated: 2021-10-15By

If you own a home or any other property you may already have a fence.  For those of us who do not have fence or thinking of putting one up, we want to explain the process of installation for house fence cost.

Fence may be a security purposes or simply distancing yourself with some privacy from neighbor. Also there are interior fences or fences within your property lot that are used for separation of area.

If you are very handy and have your ways with tools, you should be able to put a fence up by yourself. For others that do not have time or any intent doing the job with their own hands, we wrote this article in order to prepare and know the process and costs of fences.

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Selecting Type of Fence

First is first and you need to figure out what type of fence you require and which materials to build it from. We wrote an article already with 8 types of fences to select from with explanation of purposes they serve and costs associated.

There are tons of different brands and materials that can work for you in setting up new fence. It can be as simple as regular pressure treated wood that you can purchase from almost any lumber store to complicated metal wire fences that can be ordered from specialized suppliers.

Marking / Outlining Project

Set up the boundaries and where you want the fence to be placed. Keep in mind that some specific types of fence come in sections, therefore your overall distance may be changed to fit exact number of sections.

For example you want to put exterior house fence along 45 feet of your property and fence has 8 feet long sections. In this situation you would either do 5 sections by 8 feet to make it 40 feet long or extend it with 6th section to make 48 feet.

Regardless of the footage, before any construction mark on the ground where you need the fence and it will help calculate materials required.

Purchasing Materials for the Job

This step only makes sense if you are doing the fence by yourself. If you hire contractors the materials should be purchased and delivered by the company. They would be able to get better price directly from supplier because they purchase it on regular bases. Also regular contractors usually get free delivery.

Some stores provide material count and even design draft for free only for you to purchase materials from them. Ask for this service in local Rona or Home Depot stores.

If the material is on special order, get extra pieces just in case you miscalculated and there won’t be enough to finish right away.

One more trick we recommend is asking contractors for their discounts when purchasing materials or just asking where you can buy it on discounts. Usually companies will not have any problem just sharing this information.

Digging or Excavation for Posts

Digging and Excavation for fence posts

Preparing structural foundation posts for new fence.

The actual work of building exterior house fence starts with digging or excavating for posts. Usually you are looking to dig 4 foot deep whole every 8 or 10 feet for concrete to be poured. This step is very time consuming and heavy labor if done by hand.

So remember that you have already outlined where the fence is going to be build, not the posts have to be exactly on the dot for placement. Contractors charge on average $100 per post. We suggest leaving this part for professionals that do post digging every day.

Foundation – Posts – Secure

The fence structure will be held on so called posts. Regardless of type of fence it will be residing on something solid, in most situations on concrete foundation.

You always want to avoid actual post touching soil. The proper way to set up fence post is to pour concrete down the whole you dug out and when it gets solid to bolt or anchor fence post on top.

Of course you want to wait a day until concrete gets hard and post is placed on it. Make sure that concrete does not get too high or you will have to cut it accordingly. House fence cost starts with purchased materials and digging holes for foundation

Installation of New Outdoor Fence for House

Now that the posts are set up we will connect everything else together. Wood fences would have vertical or horizontal planks which are normally 1 inch in thickness and 6 inches in width. The material must be pressure treated for withstanding all sorts of weather.

Wooden fence is fastened together by screws and attached to posts. If fence plans are horizontal, you would connect them with 2 vertical pieces of wood, and if the fence is vertical vice versa.

Glass or metal fence can come as one piece panels just connecting at each post.  It can be fastened or have specific connection system, depending on manufacturer.

Gate or Entrance Door

Some fences have the entry point with a gate installed. The gates are made with same wood put together. Make the opening in the fence and make the door separately before installation. The gate is smaller than actual opening to allow for the swing and closing mechanism.

Attach hinges to one side of the gate and to the opening for installation of door. The gate for wooden outdoor fence is not complicated, but other materials will require a lot of custom work.

The easiest way is to simply purchase the gate. Hardware stores should have wooden doors for your fence and other material fence manufacturer usually provides options for the gate too.

House Fence Cost Finishing Details

Finishing details for exterior fence at home or office

Stained wood fence that was just built.

There are many interesting ways to finish newly installed fence. The simplest way to enhance the fence is to add caps on each post.

To differentiate the style from your neighbors you can stain or paint it. There are many colors and shades you can select, but do not forget to use exterior paint material.

Metal and concrete fences can have tons of in-depth lines and ornaments. You can do literally anything to design these exterior fences.

Glass fence is very hard to enhance with who idea of it being see-through. What we have seen popular is adding shade to glass and adding chrome edges.

Costs to Build Exterior House Fence

The main question is how much is house fence cost and it obviously depends on tons of factors.

First thing you will be figuring out is to hire contractor or do the fence by yourself. If you have not done this before, we suggest hiring professional to have the final product come out better looking but in some cases cheaper as well.

The other factor is material and it matter quite a bit. The cheapest exterior house fence is pressure treated wood and you can get it done for $30 – $50 per linear foot. Concrete and glass fences are much more expensive and can cost you as much as $150 – $300 per liner foot.

Conclusion

To find out what type of exterior house fence you need for your place you can read more articles on our website or do additional research somewhere else.

Different material will have house fence cost types that can differ by a lot. If you require more information on materials, contact our team by email and we can help you figure out best scenario for your specific purpose and budget.

Also we can provide helpful information on trusted contractors in your region that build fences.

Stay tuned and subscribe for more information to On Point Remodeling with fresh articles posted almost every day.

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Each building has some sort of driveway or at least should have. The main reason is for vehicles to come closer without need to walk all the way. Some homes are residential with small driveway for their car to come in and park before garage or front entrance, and others can be large commercial buildings with loading docks, delivery entrances and casual parking entrances. On Point Remodeling was asked for suggestions on residential driveway for new home construction, and we decided to write detailed article for all our readers. Using this guide you can select the material for your driveway and see what works for your budget. Here are the materials for driveway we will be discussing in our guide:
  • Asphalt
  • Concrete
  • Paver Stone
  • Crushed stone
  • Brick
  • Seashell
  • Gravel
To find good contractor for your driveway, you can either ask our team by email or try to find someone local that worked with neighbors or nearby buildings.

Installation process of any material surface on your driveway

a) Demolition and Excavation – Before anything is done, your contractor will get heavy machinery and scratch off old layer of driveway. They need to go down at least 5-6 inches to insure proper layering before your final layer of material is installed. b) Material Purchase and Delivery – At this point your contract is signed and you already know how the surface will look. Contracting company purchases necessary materials and delivers them to site. Double check if material is correct and not damaged. c) Preparation of Sublevel – Whatever you place as final material, it cannot just be installed directly on top soil. Gravel is the first choice of material that goes down at this stage. Other preferred material is screen sand that can go on top of gravel and works better with stone and bricks. d) Compaction of Ground – To prevent your driveway from moving and changing shapes, all the layers from bottom up have to be properly compacted. Do not leave any spot untouched while doing this or you can get small holes and cracks in driveway after installation. E) Final Installation – This is when all the magic happens. After all preparations and dirty work the final installation is made literally within hours and you can enjoy new driveway. Stone and brick is set up by hand, while other materials require some sort of machinery with manual labor to even out surface.

1. Asphalt

Probably the most used material for road top surfaces as well as driveways is asphalt. This is a mix of gravel and sand that is mixed in and combined by asphalt cement with crude oil. Pros of Asphalt Driveway
  • Very popular and easy to find materials/contractor
  • Completed in 1 day and you can drive on it after
  • Patches and small holes can be fixed fast
Cons of Asphalt Driveway
  • Easy to damage and cracks appear in few years
  • Almost everyone else has same surface
  • Oily surface and chemicals used in mix
Prepared for asphalt driveway will cost you around $5 per square foot to finish. The contractors that take care of entire process from taking out old driveway surface, install subsurface and compact the ground with new asphalt on top, will charge on average $5500 per regular size driveway at single home property.

2. Concrete

What we call concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, aggregate as well as sand with gravel. Suggested thickness of concrete for driveway is 6 inches. The mixture needs to cure without being touched or driven on top for several days. Pros of Concrete Driveway
  • Durable material for large weights
  • Long lifespan if installed properly
  • Winter and summer friendly
Cons of Concrete Driveway
  • Has marks and stains over time
  • Hard to repair without replacement
  • Super hard to DIY
To hire contractors for concrete driveway it will cost around $7-$9 per square foot. This will include site preparation with gravel spread and new concrete installation. They will order full truck of concrete (or several for larger driveways) to pour inside forming. Smoothening and curing is required after installation.

3. Paver Stone

The most luxurious material that you can use to create driveway path with is paver stone. It is made out of natural stone with uneven rough shapes that have different line patterns. Paver stones are very heavy and are perfect for weights on top of them. Almost every city in Europe has roads and walks made out of stone that were installed centuries ago. Pros of Paver Stone Driveway
  • Creative designs can be done
  • Personal looks, can match the house
  • Can replace single stone in minutes
Cons of Paver Stone Driveway
  • Weeds growing through
  • Stone can move over time
  • Most expensive material
There is wide selection of stone that can be purchased for your driveway. On average we recommend settling with $17-$20 per square foot for stone with installation included. Working with this material is very intense labor and we recommend hiring professionals that do this type of work every day.

4. Crushed Stone

Our readers sometimes mistake crushed stone with gravel, but this is not the same material. Crushed stone material is achieved when machine is mechanically crushing larger pieces of unused stone for this specific purpose. It is larger than gravel and can have smooth finish. Crushed stone can also have a mix of colors, which is much pleasant to eyes than gravel. Pros of Crushed Stone Driveway
  • Low maintenance required
  • Fits rural area style
  • Can be reused for other purposes
Cons of Crushed Stone Driveway
  • Gets very hot during summer
  • Can be messy after many drives
  • Hard to remove snow and ice
Buying crushed stone and installing it on your driveway is as easy as it gets. Similar to other rough materials discussed in this post, only small tools like shovels, dolly and buckets are required to spread it on the road. The cost of crushed stone driveway is between $4 and $6 per square foot from professional local contractors that can finish the job in several days.

5. Brick

The same brick we see being used in wall construction can be installed as top driveway surface. Brick is manufactured by compressing clay with plastic mass. It is heated to extreme temperature and dried up to become as solid as you know it. Pros of Brick Driveway
  • Variety of selections in shapes and shades
  • Bricks are recyclable
  • Slip resistant with rough top part
Cons of Brick Driveway
  • Needs regular maintenance
  • Change color over time
  • Old fashion looking
Installing brick on driveway costs $10 per square foot, which is not too far from masonry brick laying as part of the wall. To save money you can use or purchase old brick, that was part of a wall before. Do not mix these two jobs and contact landscaping professionals instead of masonry contractors that work with bricks.

6. Seashell

This material is popular on the coast line where shells can be found near the water. Construction companies use seashells to add in other materials as well as spread them on driveway in rough condition, without adding anything else. It usually comes in white or pearl color and darkens within year because of mixing with sand and dirt. Pros of Seashell Driveway
  • Environmentally friendly
  • Has natural drainage
  • Creates worm vibe of beach house
Cons of Seashell Driveway
  • Break and crack under light weight
  • Sharp and very hard to walk on
  • Gets stuck in shoes and tires
To deliver and spread seashells on driveways costs below $4, which is only slightly more expensive than rough gravel. As you go further from coast line, cost of material increases due to delivery. This material is elegant and very soft. We recommend adding edge lines with darker color landscape material to create visual path.

7. Gravel

This material is used in other construction mixes and underlayment systems. It’s literally fragments and small crushed stones that are put on top of soil. It is easily spread out by hands and anyone can do it. Pros of Gravel Driveway
  • Cheapest of them all
  • Easy DIY Job
  • Can install another material on top
Cons of Gravel Driveway
  • Needs to be graded very often
  • Will mix with dirt and leaves
  • Washes up with heavy rains
It is rough material and can be purchased in bulk (by metric tons or cubic meters). The cost of driveway with gravel should not exceed $3 per square foot, but you can save tons of money by purchasing materials and doings installation by yourself. You do not require specific tools or heavy equipment for the job and delivery of gravel can be arranged directly to your project.

Conclusion

To properly finish any and all of these driveways requires skills and experience. There is no way you can complete any of these projects without heavy equipment and tools that regular home owner’s just store in their garages. Most of those who will read this post will prefer to install asphalt driveway, because of its popularity and low costs. We want to encourage home owners to go for personal preference and what matches your house, rather than getting the most affordable and popular items. Driveway jobs have to be completed fast; otherwise you will need to park elsewhere while the project is running. To not overpay, ask us for quotation sample on material you prefer in specific region where the work need to be done and our team can provide some numbers.

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