Picket-Top Privacy Fence

The owners of this Wyoming property were overlooked from two sides and wanted privacy, but they did not want to live behind a two-metre wall of paling. The answer was a solid privacy fence with a picket-top detail that lifts the whole thing visually.

We set the posts to correct depth and spacing, ran the rails dead level across a yard that was not level to start with, and built the palings and picket-top detail on site so the proportions suited the fence height. That set-out work is what separates a fence that looks intentional from one that visibly follows every bump in the ground. Posts were installed with proper drainage at the base, which is the single biggest factor in how long a timber fence lasts.

Finished in white, the fence gives the backyard genuine privacy while keeping the street frontage friendly and open in character. It is a straightforward job done properly — square, plumb, and built to still be standing straight in ten years rather than leaning by next winter.