Constructing a Feather Edge Fence
Feather edge fencing is a popular, strong and attractive alternative to standard fence panels. With the right materials you can construct great looking close board fencing that will last you for years. The advantage of Feather Edge fencing is that it can be custom designed to suit any contours of your garden boundary. It is also more durable and stronger than using standard panels. Another advantage is that Feather Edge components are pressure treated thus helping to extend the life of your fence. Feather edge fencing is constructed using various timber components such as feather edge boards, notched posts, gravel boards, arris rails, along with counter and capping rails to finish. All AWBS Feather edge components are produced from wood that is FSC certified, meaning it is sourced from well managed forests in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewards Council.
Materials and Tools Checklist
Please note this is purely a guide. We would strongly recommend you employ a reputable landscape contractor to construct your fence. We would always recommend you thoroughly research the techniques prior to taking on your project yourself. Your safety and the safety of others should always be a priority.
Feather edge fencing is generally constructed in three metre bays, however shorter lengths can be constructed by simply cutting the final bay to the required overall length. To construct one 3m bay the following components are needed:
Materials per 3m Bay
- 2 x (8ft 5”x4”) V Notch Post
- 30 x (1.65m x 125mm) Feather Boards
- 3 x (3m) Arris Rails
- 1 x (3m x 150mm) Gravel Board
- 1 x (3m) Counter Rail (optional)
- 1 x (3m) Capping Rail (optional)
- 1 x small bag of 50mm Nails
- 1 x small bag of 75mm Nails
- 2 x 25kg Bags of Postfix
The Feather Edge boards themselves make up the close boards of the fencing. Once the Gravel Board is nailed or screwed to both V-notch posts, they are placed side on, slightly overlapped, and nailed or screwed to the three Arris rails that run horozontally across the bay, with each of the three Arris rails fitting into the specially cut notches on the V-Notch posts at either end. The counter rail is then nailed to a special cut out on top of the posts, to which a capping rail is attached to finish the
bay off.
Getting Started
Posts
Starting at one end, dig a hole for the first post 300x300x600mm deep. Stand the post in the hole and hold it in position, checking that it is straight with a spirit level. Fill the hole with one bag of Hanson Fast Set Post Fix, which is available at AWBS, and simply hold the post in position for 5-10 minutes, depending on the ambient conditions. You can use wooden struts around the edges to hold the post in place. Once your post fix has set you can fill in the remaining hole with soil or aggregate to improve appearance.
Use an arris rail as a guide to establish where the middle of the opposite post should go and dig a hole as before, making sure that it is aligned with the string line.
Fitting Arris Rails
When placed firmly into the V notch on the post, the arris rail will be flush to the outer edge of the first post and will reach as far as the centre of the next post to allow the arris rail of the next bay to also fit into the notch. After adding your second post, fix your three top, middle, and bottom arris rails into the V-notches with 75mm nails. Continue steps 1 and 2 along the desired length of your fence.
Attach Gravel Board
This gives you the position of the top of your gravel board. If you are adding a capping rail, don’t forget to add on the depth of the counter rail which sits under the capping rail in the notch. Once you have marked the level on each posts you can simply nail or screw your Gravel Boards to your posts. Remember to attach your boards to the centre of your posts, allowing space to attach the next one. Repeat this for each of your 3 metre bays.
Fitting Feather Edge Boards
Use 50mm galvanised nails attach each slat to your top, middle and bottom arris rails, and remember to only use 3 nails per slat, top, middle and bottom. Do not nail two pales together. Make sure you allow an overlap of 25mm for each board to the next one, and each nail needs to be fitted within 20mm of the left hand edge of your slat, which will ensure the nail head is concealed by the following overlapped board. This overlap also enables the expansion within the timber during the winter months, which is why it's important to make sure you don't nail the boards themselves to one another. Continue to attach your feather edge boards along the length of your bay, taking care to keep them straight and ensuring the same amount of overlap is applied to each one. You should have approximately 30 boards per 3 metre bay. (10 per metre)
Counter rail and Capping rail
The v-notch posts feature a cut out section at the top in which to fit a counter rail. To this counter rail a capping rail, or weather strip, is attached. This is a peaked, 3 metre length of wood which ensures water runs off from the top of your fence and doesn't run down the length of your featheredge slats. The perfect way to finish off your fence!