There's a moment at the start of every fence where everything is decided.
It's not when the posts go in. Not when the rails are fixed. It's when the string line gets set.
That thin line — pulled tight, running from one end of the boundary to the other — that's the truth of the job. Everything else just follows it.
And it's also the part most people don't realise.
The property line doesn't sit on your fence.
It sits between it.
Right down the middle of the posts.
So when we set up, we're not building on the line — we're building around it. Splitting it. Each side technically sharing what that fence sits on.
But visually, it can feel very different.
Because once the fence goes up, no one sees the centre of the posts. They see the face — the palings. The “good side.” And if you flip that, if you change which side the palings sit on, it can look like the boundary has shifted.
Like one side's gained something.
Nothing's actually moved. The string line is exactly where it was set. The posts haven't changed.
But perception has.
And that's exactly why I like to explain this to clients before we start.
Because once you understand where the line actually is — not where it looks like it is — everything becomes clearer. There's no confusion about why it's being set the way it is, or why one side might look different to the other.
It takes the emotion out of it.
You're not guessing. You're not going off appearances.
You're working off the line.
And when everyone's on the same page from the start, the job runs the way it should.
Straight, honest, and exactly where it's meant to be.