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By Mike McClintock
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, June 15, 2000; Page H04

If you're great pals with your neighbors and crave their constant company, you don't need a fence. If you like a little privacy, you may want to shield part of your yard from prying eyes, street noise and other distractions.

But before you start digging fence holes, bear in mind that building codes and zoning ordinances do not favor a homeowner's desire for privacy--not when it comes to outdoor spaces. In many areas, there are rules about building any permanent structure close to your property line, and height restrictions even if you move the fence well off the line. Some areas also have restrictions on what materials and colors you can use.

There are exceptions to every rule, but getting an official okay, called a variance, can take more time and trouble than building the fence. The drawn-out process may involve submitting multiple copies of your plans to the building department or planning board, posting notices--and having your plans nixed if the nosy neighbor you're trying to escape from doesn't like them.

Trees and shrubs are an obvious option. An interlocking line of foliage does a good job of screening out sight and sound. But unless you spend thousands for mature plantings, you'll have to wait years for the natural fence to fill in.

Masonry vs. wood

Solid walls can create outdoor rooms nearly as private as the ones inside. You can make them out of bricks or blocks and face them in stucco or stone. But their great weight requires a masonry foundation, which means heavy-duty excavation and concrete work before you start on the wall. Even an existing concrete patio may not have enough strength to support a substantial stack of bricks or blocks along its edge.

It's generally easier to build a screening wall with 4-by-4 posts every six to eight feet, and a framework of smaller supports between them. Getting the posts in the ground can be tough work, particularly in hard-packed or rocky soils. But post work is faster and less expensive than pouring concrete. And once the posts are set you can apply boards, slats, lattice, pickets and many other materials to form either a partial screen or a full screen that offers the same protection as masonry.

You can use cedar or another weather-resistant wood. But pressure-treated timbers are best suited to survive below ground because they are infused with wood-preserving chemicals. That means you can crosscut posts or notch them to hold intermediate framing without exposing untreated, rot-prone grain.

When you cut pressure-treated material, remember to wear a dust mask and eye protection, even cutting outside. If you want the durability of pressure-treated wood, but don't particularly like the greenish tinge, conceal it with a coat of penetrating oil-base stain. Use a semi-transparent stain to alter the color a little, but let the wood grain show through. Use a solid-body stain to change the color completely.

If you want to block only a small area and your screen wall needs just a few posts, use a post-hole digger to set them. Its scissors-action blades are good for scooping out a deep hole with a small diameter. If you need many posts, think about renting a power auger. There are one- and two-person models, each with a pull-start gasoline-powered motor on top of a huge auger screw that digs into the ground. The beefy tools make quick work of digging holes but require a lot of muscle.

Filling between posts

Whether you plan a short row of narrow pickets or a stockade of wide boards, you need an interior framework running from post to post to support them.

There are three basic ways to connect the supporting frame, which typically consists of one horizontal 2-by-4 near the ground and another near the top of the posts.

The quick but ugly approach is to face-nail the 2-bys against the posts, and then face-nail the fencing on the 2-bys. This looks fine from the finished side, but not from the back, where 4-by-4 posts plus 2-by-4 framing plus a layer of fencing create a bulky structural sandwich.

Make a sleeker framework by installing the 2-by-4s between the posts. Instead of toenailing them into place, which is too likely to cause splits, use galvanized hardware connectors. You can clamp them in place, adjust for level, then screw the connectors to the posts and the 2-by-4 framing to the connectors. The third approach is to make notches, called dadoes, in the sides of the posts. This entails a lot of woodworking (and pressure-treated cutting), but eliminates the hardware.

Covering the frame should be the fun part of the project, even though attaching one board after another gets repetitive. But whatever type of wood and pattern you select, start by clamping a few boards in place to be sure that the spacing gives you the desired degree of privacy.

As you attach the boards, use small blocks of material, such as 1/4-inch plywood or 3/4-inch shelving, to maintain even spacing. The finished surface also will look neater if you use a small template to position the nails or screws the same way on each board.

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