Hi!
Does anyone have any experience building fences on rocky, sloped terrain? We’re moving The Sanctuary and have found a beautiful property with no neighbours, but the rocky slopes present a problem when it comes to erecting fencing.
We don’t mind the materials, though we prefer wood, and we would like that the fence can be seen through, so not solid.
Any suggestions or advice?
I will talk to Rich Matheson in Tainan. He’s built his property on a slope.
Yeah,I have installed fence at rocky, sloped terrain last year at my property but for that I have hired professionals as it was not possible for me to do it manually.To see it click here.
This thread just slid off the board. Have you found a solution yet?
I have no experience with wooden fences of the backyard variety - I have installed wire stock fences and vineyard trellises into rocky slopes before. I would at least consider contacting professionals because this might be very strenuous (if not especially skilled) physical work. By far the hardest part will be digging or boring the fence post holes. The worst-case scenario would be doing this by hand with a long crowbar into hard, pure rock. Some kind of machinery will make this far easier and faster although in your case - on forested slopes - it sounds like access for wheeled machinery might be a problem. You might be able to hire a hand operated borer, or jackhammer if there is a lot of rock.
The size of your task will be largely determined by the length of the fence and the spacing of the posts (in other words, the number of holes you need to dig) and the prevalence of rock. Is the site just rock? I mean, is there any soil at all? Is it solid rock, or merely rock mixed in with earth? Or Is it soil for the first 10cm and then solid rock after that? Can you ‘get lucky’ and dig a hole without hitting any rock at all?
Obviously, deeper is better with fence posts. For stock we would normally go down two feet as a minimum, often three. With ‘only’ dogs to contain, and the posts concreted in, you might be able to get away with putting them less than 2 feet down, I’m really not sure. Usually a dog would dig under a fence, or slip through it, rather than push it over, right?
I’ve only ever built strained wire fences, in which you have large diameter (20cm+) ‘strainer’ posts on the corners or ends, supported with struts, and smaller diameter (approx 10cm) posts every 5-10 meters or so, and metal stakes in between the posts. Something like this:
In this style of fencing the weight of the fence - which is only wire - is negligible and you can get away with fewer post holes because you don’t need to support anything. And you don’t need to ‘make’ the fence itself because you just buy the wire.
Very much appreciate the detailed and very helpful reply, antarcticbeech!
We’ve put the fence-building on hold for now while searching for other possible locations. I will refer back to your post though. Thank you!