Choosing the right material and correct Fence Post Spacing is as important as selecting the proper fence style. Although selecting ideal spacing for the post can significantly reduce the cost of fencing. It is essential to have an appropriate combination of brace and line posts are a necessary component for a fence’s durability and longevity. Once, you have selected the right material and post type, it time to decide the spacing. So, How far apart should Fence Posts Be?
Fence Post Spacing
What Is Fence?
A fence is an enclosed boundary structure, typically constructed outdoors. These are built by inserting post-in-ground and are connected by boards, wire, rails, or netting. It completely differs from the wall boundary, which is a solid structure. Whereas, fences do not have the solid structure you see inside view through the fencing wall.
What Is Fence Post?
A fence post or fencing post is a vertical element made of various materials like wood, concrete, steel, iron etc. which uphold the fence in position on the ground surface.
Reasons for Fencing
1. Safety
One of the essential reasons for installing a fence is to protect people and animals. If there are dogs, cats, or even horses, a fence can keep them restricted up in your yard, so that they don’t run off, injure themselves, or get lost.
2. Security
The fence is also to stop any unknown person from entering your property. Think about thief they can trespassing on your land, teenagers unknowingly traipsing through your garden, or deer roaming through and munching on your apple trees, a fence is a great way to ward off uninvited guests.
3. Establish Boundaries
Fences are also useful to establish the boundaries of your property. Many times, lots of people trespass on land accidentally, not realising that they’re upsetting the owner. The owner of the property might get angry and frustrated that their neighbours aren’t respecting the line that separates their properties so if there is the fence which will create a clear idea about boundaries, hard-and-fast boundary.
4. Privacy
Many homeowners want some distance from outside space to inside space. They want to cut off their personal space and keep privacy in their yard or pool so that they can relax and feel free to be themselves. If you’re worried about that your neighbours are spying on you, a privacy fence might be the perfect solution.
Fence Types
Different types of fence based on material use as follow,
- Aluminum
- Wood
- PVC
- Wrought Iron
- Vinyl
- Chain Link
- Electric
- Bamboo Farm
What Is Fence Post Spacing?
It is the distance between two fence posts. For effective and strong fencing a correct fence post spacing is essential. Otherwise, the fencing may get fall or damages quickly by small force applied to it.
How Far Apart Should Fence Posts Be?
Fence posts are mostly spaced 8 to 12 ft apart. These are a general thumb rule for spacing fence posts; it does not include other scenarios. Depending on types of fence posts selected the spacing of the posts can be decrease or increase.
or example, if you have selected tensile steel fence posts, then the spacing of fence posts can be around every 15 to 20 feet for field fence styles, and for high tensile barbed and smooth wire, it is maybe 20-30 feet.
See the following table which will help you to find Fence Post Spacing.
| FENCE TYPE | FT. APART |
| 1. Field Fence | 8 – 12 |
| 2. Barbed Wire | 8 – 12 |
| 3. Deer & Orchard | 15 – 20 |
| 4. Deer & Wildlife | 15 – 20 |
| 5. HT Barbed Wire | 20 – 30 |
| 6. HT Smooth Wire | 20 – 30 |
| 7. Keep-safe V-Mesh Horse Fence | 8 – 12 |
| 8. Non-Climb Horse Fence | 8 – 12 |
| 8. Sheep & Goat | 8 – 12 |
| 9. Welded Wire | 8 – 12 |
| 10. Yard, Garden & Kennel | 8 – 12 |
Let’s take the example of square 20 acres of grassland. This grassland requires an exactly half a mile of fence. Then, How far apart should Fence Posts Be located in the ground?
So, if we follow the above thumb rule, then fence post can be spaced apart 8 to 12 ft. For a durable and robust fence, it should have five steel T-post to one wooden post.
So, if you are using post spacing around 8 feet apart will require 330 posts. In the second case if you are using 12-foot spacing, then it requires 220 posts. There is a difference of 110 posts between two spacing selected that is significant while looking toward the cost of materials and labours.
The closely spaced fence posts provide additional strength and safety. They also reduce future maintenance, as there are more points of contact for the fence to brace itself against impact. In sort, larger spacing saves the cost of material and labour but reduce the strength and safety.
For temporary structure, the larger spacing of fence post is the best solution.
T Post Fence Spacing
The fence is used for various purposes such as setting a boundary and keeping animals in or out, to make your place private so no one can enter into it. Their cost varies depending upon the material, size of their post, and most importantly the fence post spacing. The spacing of the post directly affects the cost of the fence. As fence post spacing decreases numbers of fence posts increase.
One of the most effective and affordable fences is the “T Post Fence”. In this, T Posts are established and fixed into ground using concrete foundation and wire mesh or wire stretched between them. Correct T Post Fence Spacing is required to achieve effective fencing at an affordable cost.
The Recommended T post Fence Spacing is 8 – 12 feet.
How to Calculate T Post Height?
T post length can be easily calculated by added post length below ground which is a minimum of 3-1/2 plus the height of fence post above ground (4 feet) and extra 6″. This will give you the minimum height of post required to establish a T post fence.
Lets take one example,
We want to establish 4 ft fence around boundary.
Total height of fence = depth of fence in ground (3-1/2) + Height of top wire (4 feet) + 6 inches extra
= 3-1/2+ 4 + (6″/12)
= 8 feet
So, we need at least 8 feet height of post to build T post fence.
High Tensile Field Fence Post Spacing
Spacing of fence post for high tensile field give below,
| Type of Fence | Post Spacing |
| Field Fence (High Tensile) | up to 16.5′ |
| Field Fence (Low Carbon) | 8′ |
| Non-Climb Horse Fence (High Tensile) Non-Climb Sheep and Goat Fence (High Tensile) | 8-12′ |
| Barbed Wire (Low Carbon) | 12-15′ |
| Fixed Knot (High Tensile) | up to 30′ |
| Fixed Knot (High Tensile) | up to 30′ |
| Non-Climb Horse Fence (Low Carbon) | 8′ |
| Smooth Wire (High Tensile) | up to 30′ w/ battens |
Conclusion
So, If you are finding the answer to the question of how far apart should fence posts Be? Then answer is 8 to 12 ft apart is minimum and general spacing requirement. You can select this spacing for any types of fence work. But, remember that fence posts spacing can be increased when we use high strength posts like concrete and steel. For this types of fence material, you can select 12 to 15 ft fence posts spacing as thumb rule says.
FAQs: Fence Post Spacing
What Is Fence?
A fence is an enclosed boundary structure, typically constructed outdoors. These are built by inserting post-in-ground and are connected by boards, wire, rails, or netting. It completely differs from the wall boundary, which is a solid structure.
What Is Fence Post?
A fence post or fencing post is a vertical element made of various materials like wood, concrete, steel, iron etc. which uphold the fence in position on the ground surface.
Reasons for Fencing
1. Safety: One of the essential reasons for installing a fence is to protect people and animals.
2. Security: The fence is also to stop any unknown person from entering your property.
3. Establish Boundaries: Fences are also useful to establish the boundaries of your property.
4. Privacy: Many homeowners want some distance from outside space to inside space. The fence is a perfect solution for that purpose.