There are many reasons why you might not want to wait until spring to install your fence. Perhaps you bought the house in January and you’re ready to enjoy your privacy, for example. Perhaps you want to give your kids a chance to play in the snow safely.
Whatever your reasons you’ll be glad to know that you can install a fence in winter. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy job.
Without the proper tools, installing a fence in winter can be back breaking work. You could even get hurt while making the attempt because the frozen ground can be very difficult to work with.
You’d need to begin by testing the earth to see whether or not the frost is too difficult to dig through. The best way to test this is by using a single stake. Observe how deeply you can get the stake into the ground.
If you can’t get the stake into the ground it’s usually best to wait for the frost to disappear entirely. You also need a dry environment to work in, which means you’ll want to get it done before the slush season, or you’ll want to wait until the spring.
If you are dead set on installing a fence in the winter time, it’s usually smarter to call in a professional fence contractor. Fence contractors have specialized equipment to help with this task.
What kind of specialized equipment? We use a jack hammer to dig the 4″ – 8″ that we’d have to dig in order to reach the unfrozen soil beneath the frost.
We may also have to place a special additive in the concrete for the footings. This keeps the concrete from freezing up and allows us to finish the task.
No matter how determined you are to install a fence in the winter, there is a point where it simply can’t be done. If the temperature falls below 25 degrees, we don’t install fences. At those colder temperatures, it makes the tasks virtually impossible. That is why we don’t install too many fences in January and February. The Wisconsin winters are just too brutal during those months.
If you’d like a free estimate on having a fence installed during the winter time you are always welcome to call us at (262) 251-6766. We’ll be happy to come out and talk to you about sparing your back from the dangers of a winter installation:)
