If you're building a home on a new plot of land, then you'll eventually have to mark the external boundaries of the garden with fencing. While you can simply choose a fence material and style you like and put up fences that meet your needs, there are times when it pays to put a little more thought into this construction job.

For example, there are some advantages to installing concrete sleepers at the base of your fencing to create plinths. Here, the sleepers stand at ground level and the fence panels sit on top of them. What are the benefits of doing this?

Get a Strong Fence Foundation

You don't have to use concrete sleepers as fence plinths. Some people use wood or metal bars for this purpose. However, concrete does give you added strength.

Concrete plinths stand up to the job much better than some other materials. Concrete won't warp or degrade as wood might. It won't be affected by damp conditions in the ground or by attacks from pests, like termites or borers.

Plus, you can buy sleepers that have reinforced steel bars inside them. This gives the sleeper extra internal strength, which is useful if your fences are heavy or big.

Make Your Fencing Last Longer

If your fencing goes down to ground level, then environmental conditions may ultimately affect its materials. For example, wood fencing may get damp and wet whenever the ground is wet. It may rot and even turn mouldy if this happens a lot.

Even metal fencing can suffer here. As a fence gets older, its protective coatings may wear away. If the metal is exposed to wet ground, then the fence is more likely to rust.

If you use concrete sleepers to create plinths, then your fence panels never need to touch the ground. They're more likely to stay in good shape for longer if they sit higher up.

Get a Neater Look

While new fences can enhance a garden, they don't always look as neat and tidy as you might like. You might end up with gaps at the bottom of the fencing. These gaps don't make a garden completely private; they are good access points for neighbourhood cats and even small dogs.

If you run sleepers as plinths along the base of the fencing, then you lose these gaps. The fences look much neater, and you keep unwanted visitors out of your garden.

For advice on which concrete sleepers to use for this job, contact local building supplies merchants.