[StuckInFL]

In doing some research on putting up a fence I came across this forum and thus gained a good deal of general knowledge from the various posts. As I have never built a fence before, I am not completely sure of the best way to do this. If anyone sees anything wrong with what I'm planning, please let me know.

First, a little background. I decided to build a 6' wood privacy fence on both sides of my house. The fence will run from the middle sides of the house out to the property line, and then back to the rear property line. As I have fairly limited time and don't want to spend a small fortune hiring a contractor, I will be DIYing it using pre-built board-on-board 6' x 8' panels from Lowes. I've ordered the panels, 4" x 4" x 10" PT posts (I get the impression wood posts aren't terribly popular here....too late now though), bags of rock, many bags of Quikrete, and stainless steel screws.

My plan is to start at the house and dig post holes between 36" and 42" deep (the deeper ones on the corners) every 8ft. I'll be modifying this spacing in two areas where there will be gates. I'll then drop a bag of rock into each hole, then place the 10' post into the hole and brace it. I'll then mix the Quikrete, place in hole, adjust so it is level and 8' OC between posts, then slope concrete away from post.

After the concrete sets, I'll cut tops of posts (45 degree angle) to uniform height....like 5 1/2' above grade (anyone know if a standard circular saw will do the job here?). I'll then place the panels against the posts and screw each one down.

One question I have is this: Is it better to have the concrete slightly above grade, thus the post in hole would have rock on bottom, then post surrounded by dirt for a foot, then the concrete......or is it okay to do rock then post surrounded by concrete, then dirt on top? I want to sink my posts pretty deep but don't want to have to throw 6 bags of concrete in each hole just to make it to the top.

Next question is this: Is there an easy way to ensure accurate spacing between posts? As I'll be screwing the panels onto the posts, I'll need the edge of each panel centered on the posts which seems like it may be tough to get the posts that perfectly spaced.

Finally, I read some instructions for building a fence with these panels where the author said to attach the fence panels to the posts before setting the posts in concrete, i.e. assemle the fence first and then lift up into place, brace, then pour concrete into the post holes. This seems a little nutty and not terribly practical, but maybe someone has heard of this?

Thanks for any advice!