Cedar privacy fence
This is the fence most of Austin wants, and the one we build most weeks. Six feet of western red cedar in a board on board fence pattern: pickets overlapped roughly an inch and a half so that when the cedar dries and shrinks in July, you still cannot see the neighbor's grill through the gaps. A flat-butted single layer looks fine in week one and turns into a louver by the second summer.
Pickets are 5/8 in by 5-1/2 in western red cedar, kiln dried. Behind them, three 2x4 cedar rails at 6 ft height, because two rails let a 6 ft picket bow in the middle and that bow is permanent. Posts are 2-3/8 in galvanized steel on 8 ft centers, 24 inches down, with a bracket system that holds the rails off the post so wet wood is never trapped against metal.
Who it suits: a back yard that needs actual privacy, a dog that tests the bottom, and an HOA that wants cedar on the street side. Who it does not suit: anyone who wants to see through the fence to a view, or a pool enclosure, where code wants something climbing-resistant with a self-latching gate.
Two things we say no to on this fence. We don't sell pine pickets as cedar. And we don't set the posts in dry mix straight from the bag into a dry hole. The concrete gets water and a tamp, every post, and the posts cure overnight before a single rail goes on.
Typical $42–58 per linear foot installed, 6 ft height
Binding figure only in the written scope after measuring. A straight 150 ft run on flat ground sits at the low end; corners, a 20 in grade change, or tear-out and haul-off of an old fence move it up.
| Height | 6 ft standard, 8 ft on request |
|---|---|
| Pickets | Western red cedar, 5/8 × 5-1/2 in, board on board |
| Rails | 3 × 2x4 cedar at 6 ft; 4 rails at 8 ft |
| Posts | 2-3/8 in galvanized steel, 8 ft on center |
| Post depth | 24 in line, 36 in at any gate |
| Concrete | 2 × 80 lb bags per line post, mixed wet |
| Fasteners | Stainless ring-shank nails, 2 per picket per rail |
| Cap / trim | Optional 2x6 cedar cap and 1x4 trim board |
| Finish | Left to gray, or sealed after 30 days by you or us |
Cedar arrives wet. Do not seal it the week it goes up. Thirty days minimum, longer if we have had rain.
- Rail brackets. Galvanized saddle brackets bolted to the post, not screwed into the picket.
- Post caps. Pressed galvanized caps so water does not sit in the pipe.
- Rot gap. Pickets held 1 to 2 in off grade, or on a cedar rot board if you want it closed.
- Nails, not screws. Ring-shank stainless. Screws split dry cedar at the picket edge.
