How to install fence posts
Updated: October 2026
How to install fence posts depends on which post you bought. A timber or concrete panel post goes in a dug hole. A steel U-post in this comparison is driven until the anchor plate sits in the soil. A poly post is a spike you tread in, not a post you concrete. A dug hole and a driven point can both meet a buried cable. This page is the sequence and the stop points. The [fence post comparison](/hub/fencing-and-wire/fence-post) ranks the packs. Peter F. did not run a lab test.
How to install fence posts depends on which post you bought. A timber or concrete panel post goes in a dug hole. A steel U-post in this comparison is driven until the anchor plate sits in the soil.
How to install fence posts depends on which post you bought. A timber or concrete panel post goes in a dug hole. A steel U-post in this comparison is driven until the anchor plate sits in the soil. A poly post is a spike you tread in, not a post you concrete. A dug hole and a driven point can both meet a buried cable. This page is the sequence and the stop points. The fence post comparison ranks the packs. Peter F. did not run a lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Drive-in | Post type | Wire attachment | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Rutland Rutland 84 cm poly post (10) | Galvanised nail with a single step | Poly post | Clips for polywire and 12/20 mm tape | 9.4 | about £27.99 | View offer |
 ARIFARO ARIFARO 121 cm U-post (10) | Listing says hammer in, no dig | Steel U-post | Adjustable hooks | 9.2 | about £59.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Sptchapn Sptchapn green U-post (10) | Listing says hammer or T-post driver | Steel U-post | Tabs and clips | 9.0 | about £48.75 | View offer |
On this page
Check the ground before you break it
Search for buried services before you dig or drive. “No dig” on a listing is a claim about the hole, not a claim that the ground is empty. Use LSBUD, and treat a clear map as silent on private cables. If you suspect a service, HSE’s CIS65 guidance is that you do not use mechanical tools within 0.5 m of it. A hammer on a steel post is still a point going into unknown ground.
If the search shows a service on the line, stop. The Rutland spike is shorter than a panel-post hole and can still meet a shallow cable. Height beside a road is a different stop, on fence planning permission. The 600 mm figure below is for a dug panel post, not these U-posts.
Dug posts for panels
A panel fence is a dug post. Trade guides from Wickes, Jacksons, and Mainline Timber cluster around a hole of about 450–600 mm, with gravel and concrete sloped off the timber. Jacksons also says there is no single depth. Those are recommendations for the posts those firms sell, not a statute and not the ARIFARO instruction. DIY Doctor’s one-third chart is a rule of thumb, not BS 1722, and not the maker’s 33 cm claim on the spliced U-post.
Driving a steel U-post
Kingido says no digging, a hammer, and an anchor plate. Sptchapn says a hammer or a T-post driver. The ARIFARO 121 cm listing says you hammer until the anchor plate is set, and it does not describe that length as two pieces. A rubber mallet is too light on some ground.
Drive the post the right way up, and keep the driver off the clips. A Sptchapn reviewer put one in upside down, and more than one bent the wire holders. The 215 cm post is a different sequence: set the 107 cm section, then screw on the 116.5 cm section. Dry-fit the joint before the lower section is past the point where you can turn it. If the conductor is live, do not clip it to these hooks. That choice is on poly post or steel fence post. A poly post is trodden in. It is not set in Postcrete.
When you stop
Stop if a search puts a cable on the line, or if you are inside the 0.5 m distance HSE flags for mechanical tools. Stop if the post bends, the point mushrooms, or the hole will not hold a plumb post. Stop if the job has become a gate, a drop, or a strainer for stock. Call a fencer for a boundary you do not want to argue over, a gate, or ground that breaks the post. A qualifying purchase through the amazon.co.uk links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
How deep do I dig a timber fence post?
For a timber panel post, trade guides cluster around a deep dug hole rather than a driven point. Wickes describes about 450–600 mm deep and about 300 mm wide, with gravel and Postcrete. Jacksons’ standard recommendation is 600 mm, and they say there is no single depth. Mainline Timber asks for at least 600 mm for their timber posts. Use the figure your post supplier gives you, and treat 600 mm as their recommendation, not as UK law.
Is one third of the height a rule or a law?
DIY Doctor’s one-third figure is a rule of thumb for the depth of a dug hole. It is not a statute and it is not BS 1722. It is also not the ARIFARO 215 cm bullet, which claims 33 cm in the ground for that spliced post. Use the one-third idea only when you are digging a conventional post and you have nothing tighter from the manufacturer. Label it as a rule of thumb if you are working it out on site.
Do I still check for cables if the listing says no dig?
Yes. No-dig on these listings means the seller tells you to hammer the post instead of digging a hole. It does not mean you have searched for services. Use LSBUD before you break the ground, and keep mechanical tools out of the 0.5 m zone HSE describes around a suspected service. A driven point can hit a shallow cable as surely as a spade.
What do I do with the anchor plate on a U-post?
Drive the post until the anchor plate is in the soil, which is what the Kingido and ARIFARO 121 cm listings describe. The wing is there to lock the post. It does not work if it is left above ground, and it does not work if the post is upside down. Stop and check the line before you clip the mesh. If the plate will not enter without bending the post, the ground is too hard for a simple drive.
Can I set these steel posts in Postcrete?
The listings tell you to drive them, not to concrete them. Postcrete in the Wickes sequence is for a dug timber or panel post, with the concrete sloped away from the post. You can meet stony ground where a reviewer still dug a hole, and then you are no longer following the no-dig bullet. Do not set a Rutland poly post in concrete. It is a tread-in spike for a line you may move.
When should a fencer take over?
Hand the job over if a cable search shows a service you cannot move the line around, if you are hanging a gate, if the ground is a drop, or if the fence is a stock strainer rather than a garden 10-pack. Also stop if you are beside a road or a listed building and you are not sure the height is still permitted. Those are not problems a heavier hammer solves.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources listed in the research digest. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the stored amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. A later deal price is not the stored figure.
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2, Class A — England (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Planning Portal — fences, gates and garden walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.WALES — planning permission for fences, gates and garden walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- mygov.scot — building a fence or wall at your house (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Northern Ireland GPDO 2015, Schedule, Part 3 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- LSBUD — search before you dig (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE CIS65 — avoiding danger from underground services (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- AHDB — types of electric fencing for cattle and sheep (retrieved 19 October 2026)