Wood Fence - Wood Privacy Fence Information

Wood has been used for fencing for centuries all around the world and is the most common material used for fencing today. Although wood fencing has a limited life and requires maintenance, it is often chosen over other materials, like vinyl and aluminum, because it is readily available at a relatively low cost. Wood fence panels have a classic look and feel that can't be replaced with other types of fencing materials.

Wood Fence Advantages

• Cost effective, Cheap, Relatively inexpensive.
• Provides full privacy if needed.
• Light and easy to install or take off.
• Can be painted with any color paint allowing more style.
• Wood is more versatile; it can be given any shape and is available in any size.
• Wood is biodegradable and environmentally friendly.

Wood Fence Disadvantages

• It has a limited life, usually between 10 to 15 yrs depending on the maintenance and wood.
• Decomposing wood is vulnerable to fungus and dry rot.
• Needs painting and maintenance on regular basis.
• When wood dries it fades, cracks and warps.
• Drying wood contracts, sags, and deforms.
• Usually there is no warranty on wooden fence.
• Highest maintenance compared to other fence types.
• Vulnerable to termites and other insects.

Common Types of Lumber Used for Wood Fence

• Pine Fence Panels - Pressure treated for subterranean termites - besides having pressure treated pine, it is good to coat the lumber with water repellant stain to prolong the life of wood.
• Spruce Fence Panels - Untreated spruce picket fences and cross rails are commonly used in prefabricated 4 x 8 or 8 x 6 ft picket and stockade-fence sections that you'll typically see at your local hardware store. These are then installed between pressure-treated fence posts.
• Cypress Fence Panels - Natural chemical Cypretine - Red Cypress is an all-natural aromatic wood that is grown in the swamps of Florida. Noted for its color consistency, density, hardness and relative lack of knots, cypress is a superior wood.
• Cedar and Red Wood Fence Panels - This is the best wood for home fencing. It is not only beautiful but also offers more durability and a longer life. Usually higher in demand, making it more expensive.

The best and most elegant woods for fencing come from evergreen softwood which contains resins that naturally repel molds, termites and other boring insects. The best known is California redwood; the heartwood of this tree will last for 25 years or more without treatment. Redwood is often in high demand compared to other wood types because of its use in products such as siding, decks, and railings. Redwood is expensive but will tend to deteriorate in regions outside of California.

Types of Wood Fence Styles

• Board on Board - This is a privacy type wood fence. In this type of fence, a third picket is placed on top of every two picket nailed together, creating a full privacy and giving extra strength to the fence. Of course this means more wood, so the fence will be more expensive.
• Stockade - This is also a privacy wood fence; here the pickets are cramped together flat on rails and nailed tight against each other. But since wood bends and warps over time, you are most likely to have small gaps in between pickets. So you can say that over time, it become semi-privacy fence.
• Shadowbox - In this type of wood fence, pickets are placed behind and in front of each other, creating an almost full privacy fence. There are small gaps in between the front and back pickets.
• Post and Rail - This type of fence is most common in farms and other agricultural facilities. They do not have any pickets, only strong rails running along on posts. Commonly 2, 3 or 4 rails.
• Picket Fence - this is the most common type of wood fence. Before any of the fancy styles or designs of fencing were thought about, wooden picket fences existed. There are mainly two types of picket fences - classical being the most common one.
• Classical Picket Fence - Generally 6 ft x 8 ft wide panels, with two rails, several pickets spaced out evenly and the top tip of each picket shaped pointy instead of flat.
• Contemporary Picket Fence - Same size panels as the classical, 6 ft x 8 ft with two rails and several pickets. The only difference is that the top rail runs across the top line of the pickets, which are flat instead of pointy. So the top rail nails at the end of each picket and acts like a handrail.

Components of Wood Fence

Pickets - Pickets are generally rough cut and come in variety of width and depth. Most commonly available pickets are sized as follows. But if you have a specific need, you can have your sawmill cut you any size pickets you want. Also the tips of pickets are shaped differently. You have dog-eared picket, flat tip picket, pointed picket, gothic tip pickets and French gothic tipped pickets.

• 1/2" x 4"
• 1/2" x 6"
• 1" x 4"
• 1" x 6"

Rails - Rails got to be little thicker than the pickets. Generally rails are placed on the outside/ back of the fence. For extra strength you can run rails diagonally on a segment besides running the basic horizontal rail. Rails are available in two common sizes.

• 2" x 3"
• 2" x 4"

Posts - The posts of your wood fence are one of the most important components. It faces the greatest danger of decomposition since it resides within the ground. In most cases, posts will begin to rot first and begin to fall. There is an old fashioned technique of avoiding the posts from rotting, which still works pretty well. The bottom of the posts is charred black on an open fire and then stuck in the ground with rock salt. This prevents the wood in the ground from rotting or at least makes the posts last longer. Most fence posts are a standard size of 4ft x 4ft x 8ft. If you have a fence taller than the standard 6ft, then you will need taller posts to go with it. In most cases one-third of the posts resides underground while two-thirds is above.

Fasteners - Since you are dealing with wood, best way to fasten the wood is nail and wood staples. Other important hardware you will need to choose is your hinges, that is if you got a gate on your fence line. There are varieties of metal hinges to choose from for wooden gates. They come in all different sizes and metal types. If you get yourself stainless steel ones, you save yourself the problem of rust. So here is a small list of parts you will need to get your fence together.

• Nails
• Ring-shank nails
• Staples
• Drop rods
• Hinges
• Latch and lock
• Level

Wood Fence Tips

• While there's no way to eliminate the weathering of wood, it's relatively easy to minimize the effects:
• Use three back rails (6' fence), two back rails (4', 5' fence), or 4 back rails (8' fence) for more hold-down points.
• Use only hot-dipped galvanized, or stainless steel fasteners with a ring or spiral shank to minimize warp and rust stains.
• Treat the surfaces of fence boards with a water-repellant solution to reduce the rate that moisture is absorbed and released. This solution should also have a good UV inhibitor if you don't want the fence to gray.
• Follow a regular maintenance program of cleaning and refinishing every few years with a "clear" or "toner" water repellant containing UV inhibitors. This will revitalize a dingy appearance caused by dirt, mildew or graying. It's like washing and waxing your car. Opinions differ on how necessary it is to perform regular maintenance, but most agree your fence will look much better for the effort.

Wood Treatment Options

Always try and get Pressure Treated wood to build your wood fence, if you can. This will add life to the lumber, generally by twice its normal age. Apart from PT wood, if you live in hot and humid place like FL, then it is also good to paint the wood with water repellant and some good weatherproof paint. It will increase the longevity of your fence.

You can choose from different grades of treated wood to match your goals for strength and appearance. Treatment does not affect the lumber grade; it simply makes the wood last longer. For this reason, domestic and import Pine is a popular choice. With pine we can specify the proper grade and it readily accepts treatment.

Even though pressure-treated wood is protected from termites and fungal decay, it is still a porous, natural material. Wood swells when it absorbs moisture and shrinks when it dries out. The drying process creates stresses in the wood, which contributes to cracking and warping. The sun's ultra-violet (UV) rays cause the wood to turn gray. Pressure-treated wood is subject to these effects, just like other lumber.