Welcome back to a new week! We had a glorious few days off, celebrating my mom’s ‘big’ birthday, and enjoying the newfound privacy in our backyard! Thanks to enough sunny days, they completed our new horizontal fence, and we could not be more thrilled with it!
I honestly had no idea I could be this excited about a fence…but that’s because I didn’t realize how completely transforming the right fence design could be to a backyard! We grew more excited with every stage, and there was actual clapping when they were done.
I was a little worried the neighbors might think it was too untraditional (we live in the suburbs), but everyone has come by to admire it. Seriously, who knew a fence could be so exciting?!
I was at work during most of the building, but I did snap a few progress pics to give you an idea of how it was constructed. We used 1×6-inch cedar boards, with posts spaced 6-feet apart. We wanted it 8-feet tall, but our lot is sloped and I didn’t want the fence to stair-step or slope with it.
I must have missed that math lesson in school, because I have no idea how they figured all that out…but our fence is completely level across the top from one side to the other. Which means it ranges from 8 to 10 feet tall, depending on the slope of the lot.
I love the clean look of just a single layer of horizontal boards (spaced much closer together than these), but since privacy is a big reason for the fence, we opted for board-on-board.
We had the posts built on the outside to create a clean look in the backyard, but our neighbors on one side look out their Kitchen window directly at the back of our fence…. so we had the metal posts covered with cedar also. Again, I was surprised by what a big difference this made in giving the fence a more finished look… as well as, how little extra it cost to frame the posts.
A horizontal fence takes about twice as long as a traditional vertical fence to build since each board has to be held up on either end by two people, leveled, and then nailed in place.
Once that was done, they added trim pieces to the top and on each seam, then stained it. Voila, zee fancy fence!
The stain color isn’t quite what we wanted, but we’re going to live with it for a season and see how it weathers before spraying it again. Next up is adding sun-loving plants to all the pots!
[Update: Unfortunately, I do not know the brand or color of the stain. Our contractor had me flip through a deck of stains, and I picked the darkest, least yellow-looking option.]
We had a shorter fence built around the pool equipment, and added a gate to create hidden storage and cut down on the noise of the pump. For both gates, I went with very simple latches and handles, and had them mounted on the horizontal, as well.
We haven’t changed one other thing in the backyard, but thanks to the horizontal fence, it already feels like a spa-like retreat! I can’t wait to tackle the patio area and screened porch next!
Of course Maggie had to put her stamp of approval on the new fence. #poser
I’m ready for Summer and weekends by the pool! So tell me, what do you think of the horizontal fence?!
Catching up? See the full backyard and fence Before shots here.
Thy fence is fabulous!!!
Cassie!!!! Holy moly that is one gorgeous fence! The design is amazing. I bet the neighbors are super jealous!
That fence rocks! I would have never thought to do something in that style/pattern, but it really looks great. Enjoy!! Oh, and I would totally take your dog. ADORABLE!
Have a great week!
"The Busy Brunette"
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I love your blog but I have to tell you – I follow you on Bloglovin, and when I'm trying to read through my blogs, yours takes me away from Bloglovin and directly to your site! Not that I don't love your site, but it messes up my groove. Do you know what the deal is? Thanks!! Love your blog!!
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I love the horizontal fence. It makes me stop and say, "Hmmm, that's different". Yesterday I was in a model home and they had their wood panels going horizontally. I like the "twist" very much.
Have a great day!
CASSIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOODNESS!!!!!!!! That fence is FABULOUS. And I'm quite sure I've never said those words before. Good goin' lady!
That is bold AND beautiful! I LOVE its uniqueness!!!! ….on a side note, I may have purchased some SW iron ore for an accent wall in my office. 😉 thanks for the inspiration. I never would have chose it had I not seen how you used it in your home!
I never knew a fence could be so gorgeous! I love it and all of your pictures!
Love the fence, pretty inside and out. Love your outfit too.
Oh..my..goodness…that is the most beautiful fence I have ever seen! You should be super excited. Enjoy!
the first thing that popped into my head with the first pix was "omword that looks like she's entering a spa resort!" with the horizontal, the height, the cedar wow!
I LOVEEEEE this fence. Holy cow. And the numbers on it are soooooo perfect. It does look like an entrance to a chic spa. Great choice, you guys. SO good.
My thoughts exactly-the numbers, the spa note, AND who knew I could appreciate a fence soooo much?!!!
LOVE the fence! What a great idea hiding the metal posts….looks so good !!! Well done!
Your fence looks amazing Cassie! You should be excited!
Wow! What a huge upgrade! It looks just lovely and is making me think I need a horizontal fence of my own…
Oh my gosh I love it and it is SO tall! Definitely tagging this for a future house!
Absolute perfection!
Gaaahhhh! Now I just need a house with a yard, so I can get that fence!
gorgeous!! love the horizontal boards. and those #s! (i think i had similar ones on my seattle house.)
Wow – totally, totally gorgeous!
Yay! Thank you for posting about this! We were literally just at Home Depot this weekend looking at the cedar plank selection for a horizontal fence we want to build by our chicken yard. You've totally inspired us – I love your design with the alternating boards. Looks so great!
Your fence is beautiful. I love the way you finished out the outside part. Great job!
Love it !
Was it built with treated lumber? We're having a fence built right now and our guy says it can't be stained for at least three months, depending on weather. That the 'wetness' of the chemicals in treated lumber needs to dry out before it will accept stain or paint evenly.
Hi Sandra! We used raw cedar, then stained it! xo
What is the stain color? I quite like it- not too brown not too red.
Unfortunately, I have no idea!! Our contractor gave us swatches to choose from, so I’m not even sure of the brand!! I’m sorry I’m not more help! xo
The stain is probably like the regular wood stain as we have something similar to that colour. The only unfortunate thing is you have to stain the fence approx. every 2 years as the stain fades due to weather wear.
Ah! I was hoping to learn the stain color as well. It is exactly what we want for our new fence. Your fence is gorgeous and it is also crazy to me the excitement involved with a new fence. Ha! I’m sure you are quite used to it at this point since this is a 4-year-old post but still, it made me want to comment! 🙂
That is a beautiful fence!!
That fence is gorgeous! I mean…it makes your yard feel tropical and far away…like an oasis! Love it Cassie!
Freaking gorgeous!!! The numbers are perfect too. Reminds me of a place we stayed in Palm Springs. Bring on the pool days!
I'd like to see a pic of how it looks on your house as a whole. We just put a deck on our house with horizontal boards in place of traditional rails. Now we are trying to make it fit with the more traditional look of our home.
The fence came out fantastic!!!
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Soooo good! I never knew a fence could look so pretty and make such a lovely statement. Ours is such an eyesore, you are making me want to rip it down and start over. 🙂
Incredible!! This is just so, so good!!
cassie im obsessed!!! i have serious fence envy (haha that's a thing right?!) great job lady! xo jillian – cornflake dreams
Beautiful!!!
Love the fence. It looks so up to date but not too modern. Great choice on thinking outside the box!!!
Love it Cassie! So different! Love how the house numbers look on it too 🙂
The fence looks really nice and sturdy. Your pool and backyard are beautiful too. That bag is very cute!
I think the horizontal fence is cool. Funny how a simple design can become such a focal point! The fence steps it up a notch!
thank you
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oh em gee! I LOVE it like crazy!! Such a big impact!! #fancypants
Gah, love this! It's soo tall and the numbers make it feel extra special. Great work!
It looks AWESOME!! Horizontal fences are all the rage 'round here & I've been coveting them. Privacy never looked so good. As do you & Mags, mah ladies.
I love your fence. Would you please tell me who installed it. I also live in the DFW area.
Hi Lana! I'm happy to share…your profile is set as 'no reply'…so shoot me an email and I'll get you their info! xo
I love this fence SO much! So much better than the fences you see in every single other yard.
Love the fence! Would you mind sharing the name of the fence company?
Certainly! Shoot me an email and I'll give you their info!
Well my wife saw your fence pinned on Pinterest. Now I have to be Bob Vila and build it for her. Would you be kind enough to let me know who built the fence so that I can contact them to see if they used dog eared fencing or just plain rough cut square boards. Thanks
haha, sorry Ryan!! It was an independent guy arranged by our general contractor, so I don’t have any info on him!! I’m so sorry! Hopefully the progress pics help you determine the method!
Hi Cassie, do you have the design plans in a pdf or some document for the horizontal fence. I would love to show it to my contractor and ask him to work on these lines. My email is rashmipaliatgmaildotcom. If you can send them to me that will be great. Its a perfect modern privacy fence with loads of feel good!
I'm thrilled you love it, but unfortunately, it wasn't built with plans, or even a lot of planning! I just talked through what I wanted each step of the way. Hopefully my pics can help your contractor! xo
I love this fence. Anyway, you can share a picture of how it looks full front? Just wondering how the front side looks.
Thanks, Adriana
Hey Cassie, I've been wanting a horizontal fence for awhile and I like how you incorporated some things. I thought it was clever incorporating the metal fence posts, great idea. That must have cut down on cost and will last forever. So having an 8' fence.. I am wondering, Do you have an estimate of cost per linear foot? Thanks, Kathleen
Thank you, Kathleen. We love the fence so much, and yes, the metal poles will help it to last longer. Unfortunately, I have no idea how they did the pricing, but I don't think it used any more wood than a standard vertical fence.
Ha! My husband looked at it and told me I picked the most expensive fence. I told him that you were just smart and it is a vertical fence layout placed horizontally…only way more cool with good trim detail! I'll get it figured out. Thank You So Much, You rocked it!
Hi Cassie, incredible pictures. Such a fantastic project! How is this fence doing 1 year later? I've been considering a horizontal design for my own yard, but I have a neighbor whose fence started to bow after a year. Is your cedar holding up well?
Hi Drew!! We still LOVE the fence, and it's held up perfectly!! Staining the wood definitely helped to seal and protect it, too.
What was the Stain color you finally went with?
Hey I’m looking to instal this fence soon. Do you know the measurement between your posts?
Ours are about 7-feet…he spaced them equally based on the length of the fence line.
Hi there! We are (finally…) dealing with our poorly done fence from previous owners as well…and I’m pretty sure I live quite close to you based on places you go – I’m in North Plano. I knew this day would come, and your fabulous fence has been stashed away in my brain until this time came! Any chance you know/would share who did the work? It’s just SO perfect! If you don’t mind but don’t want to post publicly, my email is haileyloientte at gmail – THANK YOU!!!
I’m happy to share! Can you email me via that contact form (it’s hello@hisugarplum.com) and I’ll get you the info!
Hi! Loooove this fence. This is definitely what we are doing in our backyard. Do you know how much space they put in between each board? Also we are trying to price ours out and wanted to know how much you spent on yours. Please let me know if you could. My email is mbarraza1483@gmail.com
How far is it between each fence? Love the look!
Love the fence and plan to DIY one as close as I can 😉 can you tell me the size of the horizontal boards and the spacing? How tall is the gap between boards?
I am wondering the same thing!
Found your fence on Pinterest. I love your fence! Ours is on the brink of collapse and we’re getting new ones installed tomorrow. Your fence was my inspiration. I cannot wait to see the transformation. What color stain did you use?
Hi there. Love your fence! Any chance you know what gauge the metal posts are that you used? I want to make sure mine are structurally sound and I am not sure which metal gauge to use. Thanks so much!
I’m sorry, but I have no idea!!
Love the color. Could you share the stain you used?
Thank you!
Hi Michele! I’m not sure, we just chose the darkest shade available on our contractor’s stain card! :/
This is absolutely fabulous. I have a chain link fence up now (6’). I think I can duplicate this same look, don’t you think?
How did you calculate the materials needed? I am going to replicate this fence.
I wish I could be more help, but our contractor handled it all!
How tall is that? We can only have 6′ fences here. Not sure it would have the same effect.
It’s 6-feet in some areas, but taller in others to keep the site line level.
Thank you for this! I was deciding if I’d get a vertical or horizontal privacy fence. Now your article has really inspired me to have the horizontal ones put up around my AZ home! Such a helpful and wonderful blog right here!
Beautiful fence! We are in the process of building something similar and came across your post.
Looks like several people are interested in the stain color, (it’s really pretty on the cedar). If your contractor has those stains as a selection for his clients, could you ask him what brand and stain color that was used? Great looking fence and would make an outstanding backdrop! Nice job!
Hi Lisa! Unfortunately, I do not know the brand or name of the stain! Our contractor had me flip through a deck of colors, and I went with the darkest, least-yellow looking option. xo, C
Hi Cassie,
We are almost finished with our fence and I found a very similar stain option! We found one from Lowe’s, it’s a Valspar (really a Sherwin Williams Stain that Lowe’s just puts their name on) color is called October Brown. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lisa
So glad you found something you loved!!! xo, C
Hi, I am shocked that noone asked about the specs for the metal posts, wood post and the grip ties used to connect the two…I believe it’s a 2x6x6’ cedar attached to 8ft 2 3/8” diameter galvanized steel pole? I searched everywhere and do not see any tie grips narrower than 6 1/2”, which would not fit on your 2×6…pretty please; ask your contractor for info on the tie grips that were used…guarantee they know this, based on the visible detail on this amazing design…and happy to figure out the rest…thank u vm!
Hi there! Every single piece of info that is available to me about the fence is in this blog post! I haven’t worked with the company who installed the fences in years, so I don’t have any details for your questions! I’m so sorry!
Wow your fence looks great!! I love how unique horizontal fences look, plus the added privacy is a big benefit! How has your wood fence held up over the years? I’m having a contractor install a new fence in my yard in a few weeks, but I’m still debating between getting a wood fence or a composite fence.
Hi Sarah! Our fence has held up really nicely, no complaints here! xo, C
Hi! So I totally fell in love with your fence & well just had to run with your idea to build my own. HOA won’t allow anything higher than 6ft but I’m 100% pleased with how mine turned out. Thank you for sharing bc now I have the most beautiful fence! I wish I could pics !
So thrilled you could find inspiration here! Especially over something as odd as a fence, ha!! xo, C
Fence is absolutely beautiful
Wow, I love how this turned out! My husband and I are getting a composite fence installed in a few weeks and they offer horizontal and vertical slats. I was set on choosing vertical since it’s more traditional, but after seeing your pics I actually love how unique and modern the horizontal slats look!
We love this fence so much that we are currently having it built! Is there any way I could get a picture of what the inside of the gate looks like? Our contractor has voiced concerns over not doing some sort of “X” or “K” bracing on the door so it doesn’t twist or warp. Thank you for sharing your project so we could be inspired!
Hi Wendi…I’m so glad the post was helpful, but unfortunately we no longer live at this house, so I’m unable to get more pics!! Good luck with your project, I know it will look great! xo. C