Wood privacy fence in Ohio and Pennsylvania

Who a wood privacy fence suits

A wood privacy fence suits a yard where the view is the problem. If people can see into the patio from the road, if the neighbor's kitchen window looks straight at your deck, or if a dog loses its mind every time a car slows down, a solid fence fixes the cause. It also gives children and pets a boundary they can see, and it hides trash cans, a trailer, a generator or a work area.

• Backyards that face a street, a parking lot or a neighbor's windows.
• Homes with dogs that bark at passersby, or small children who need a clear boundary.
• Patios, hot tubs and gardens that need a screen.
• Owners who like real wood and accept a new finish every few years.

It is not right for every yard. For a low, open edge along a sidewalk, look at picket fence. To hold a line and see through it, chain link is the plainer tool. If the animals are horses or cattle, start with farm and ranch fence instead.

Solid Rock Fencing builds wood privacy fence in Ohio and Pennsylvania from its base in Bristolville. The owner was raised Amish, and the way the company thinks about posts, gates and straight lines is built on that craftsmanship. The company is locally owned and family owned, and the owner states that the materials are high quality and premium.

Board styles and how they differ

The main difference between privacy styles is how the boards meet: tight and flat, overlapped, or alternated with small gaps. We found no university or government guide that defines board styles, so this table describes how each is built in general. It is a way to compare, not a standard.

Wind and open lots

A fence with no gaps catches wind the way a sail does, and the force ends up in the posts and where they sit in the ground. Shadowbox lets some air through. We found no neutral wind figures for residential privacy fence, so we quote none. The practical points are post size, post depth, how the rails tie to the posts and how exposed the yard is.

Height, permits and local rules

Height and permits are set by your city, village, township or homeowners association, not by one statewide rule. In Ohio the Residential Code of Ohio generally requires a building permit only for a fence over 6 feet, according to an Ohio permit guide, but the zoning rules that cap height and placement are local. Front-yard fences are often limited to about 4 feet and side and rear fences to 6 feet, though cities vary.

Bring the address, height and a sketch, and ask for the answer in writing. Our fence permits and rules page lists who to call by county.

Posts and rails decide whether the fence stays straight

The posts decide how long a privacy fence stays straight, because they carry the wind load and sit in wet ground. Wood fences rot and lean at the post long before the boards give up, and the sources agree on where: at the ground line, where moisture meets air.

Post rating and the end tag

The American Wood Protection Association rates posts that touch the ground at Use Category 4A or higher, and fence pickets above ground at 3B or higher. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory warns that lumber sold for above-ground use only holds less preservative and should not go in the soil. The AWPA also notes that treated lumber two inches thick or less may be treated for above-ground use only, so a thin board buried in dirt can rot early. The end tag should show the use category, the preservative and the retention.

Depth and frost

Frost heave pushes posts up when moisture in fine-grained soil freezes. It needs a freezing plane, soil that lets water move and a water supply. Silt and fine sand heave easily, while clean gravel generally does not. Frost depth in the Ohio and Pennsylvania documents we reviewed runs from about 30 to 42 inches, and Penn State maps show a wider spread across Pennsylvania. Your township or building office sets the number for your site. Penn State Extension, writing about horse fence, gives about 36 inches for a line post and about 48 for corner and gate posts, which is another fence type.

Concrete or tamped soil

The sources disagree. University of Wisconsin Extension says cement can trap moisture near the top of a post and speed rot. The Forest Products Laboratory advises keeping concrete at least 6 inches below the ground line. University of Tennessee reports driven posts are 1.7 times as strong as tamped posts. Concrete is widely accepted for gate and corner posts. A good installer can tell you why they chose a method for your soil and drainage.

Fasteners and wood

The Forest Products Laboratory recommends aluminum or stainless steel nails because iron nails rust and streak the boards, and the wood treatment industry recommends hot-dip galvanized or stainless fasteners for modern treated lumber. Keep boards off the ground, and leave clearance between the house and the fence where termites are a concern.

On species, the Forest Products Laboratory lists cedars, junipers, redwood, black locust, osage-orange and several oaks as having resistant heartwood, while untreated pine posts are estimated at about 3 to 6 years in the Midwest and Northeast. Penn State Extension says a pressure-treated post can last 10 to 25 years, and Kentucky Extension says 20 to 35 for properly treated and installed pine. Those are ranges from the literature, not a promise about any one fence, and no neutral source gives a lifespan for a whole privacy fence.

Gates in a privacy fence

The gate is the part you use every day, and it fails first if the post is too small. A solid-board gate is heavy, and its weight pulls on the hinge post with every swing. Frost can push a post out of the ground and the gate then tips it further, which is why a gate that drags often points to a post that has moved.

• Size the opening for what has to pass: a wheelbarrow, a mower, a trailer. We found no neutral source for a standard residential walk gate width.
• Ask what hardware goes on, since structural steel hinges and keepers keep a gate level.
• A diagonal brace or cable from the top of the gate post to the next post shares the load and helps stop sag.

The gates page covers walk gates and drive gates in more detail.

Slopes and uneven ground

A privacy fence on a slope can follow the ground or step down in level sections, and the two look different. Following the grade keeps the bottom close to the soil along the whole run. Stepping gives level tops and leaves a triangular gap under each step that gets filled in. We settle the choice on site. University of Missouri Extension notes that difficult ground adds cost, and that each corner or gate adds time and expense.

Staining, sealing and painting

Wood outdoors needs a finish, and the finish is the upkeep. The Forest Products Laboratory says unfinished wood weathers to gray and recommends a nonpigmented water repellent at construction. It prefers pigmented penetrating stains over paint, because semi-transparent stains soak in without forming a film, so they do not crack or peel. Solid Rock Fencing also paints and stains fences, which many fence companies do not offer. See fence painting and staining.

These intervals cover exterior wood in general and are not fence-specific. Purdue gives a simple test: splash water on the boards. If it beads, the finish still works.

Timing on new treated wood

Treated lumber arrives wet. A preservative maker says it is typically ready for finishing about 60 days after installation, depending on sun, temperature and weather, and suggests a water drop test: if drops soak in readily, the wood is dry enough. The Forest Products Laboratory says paint blisters when wood is above 20 percent moisture, and end grain absorbs water faster than the face, so finishes fail there first.

Maintenance through the year

A privacy fence needs a look each spring and fall and a finish on a schedule set by the product. The sources give no month-by-month plan, so this is general good practice.

Neighbors and property lines

The fence belongs on your side of a line you have confirmed. Ohio's partition fence law, Revised Code chapter 971, does not apply to lots inside municipal corporations or to adjoining properties laid out into lots, so a typical in-town lot falls outside it. Pennsylvania's fence law is described as applying to improved, occupied farm and ranch land. Neither tells you where your line is.

• Find the corner pins and compare them with your deed and recorded plat.
• A licensed professional surveyor can set or confirm monuments.
• Tell the neighbor early, and check your deed for easements that limit where a fence can sit.

See fence laws in Ohio and Pennsylvania for the statutes in more depth.

How a privacy fence job goes

A job runs from a phone call to a walk-through of the finished fence, and the steps are the same in every yard.

1. Call and describe the yardTell us where the fence goes, how tall and where gates should be. Call (440) 241-4312.
2. FREE estimate on siteWe walk the line, look at slope, trees and soil, and talk through style, gates and finish.
3. Confirm the line and the rulesYou confirm the property line and check height limits, permits and HOA rules.
4. Locate utilitiesThe digging crew calls 811 first: at least two working days ahead in Ohio, three business days in Pennsylvania. See call 811.
5. Set posts and gate postsCorners, ends and gate posts go in first, then line posts.
6. Hang rails, boards and gatesRails and boards go on, gates are hung, and we walk the fence with you.
7. FinishStain or paint goes on once the wood is ready for it.

Solid Rock Fencing offers a 10 year workmanship warranty with written terms in the estimate. It covers defects in workmanship, not weather, impact, animals or normal wood aging.

Mistakes to avoid

Most privacy fence mistakes are made before the first post goes in.

• Choosing a height before checking the front-yard limit or HOA rules.
• Guessing the property line instead of confirming it.
• Setting above-ground rated posts in the soil.
• Using iron nails that rust and run down the boards.
• Letting mulch or soil pile against the bottom boards.
• Finishing treated wood while it is wet, or waiting until the boards are gray and dry.
• Hanging a heavy gate on a post sized for the fence line.

Questions we hear