6 Add-ons & Ideas to Upgrade Your Wooden Fence

Upgrade Your Wooden Fence

Have you ever passed a wood fence with distinct features and wondered what those features were called or why they were there? Maybe you’ve noticed a unique fence and want to know the name of its particular construction style. You may even take to Pinterest to explore new fence styles and features to plan an upgrade for your home only to come up empty handed when searching for names of different styles and why each style is important.

Some wood fence options simply make the fence look unique while others improve the fence’s structural integrity. Other wood fence options can add privacy to your yard or home, and some options can even increase the lifetime of your fence.

One thing to remember before you begin exploring options for your new wood fence is that your homeowner’s associations may only allow certain design features if any at all. You can read about the Five Common Fencing Standards that HOAs, POAs, and City Councils Enforce if you want to learn about some of the standards that might affect what you can and can’t do with your fence. But the best way to know for sure is to directly reach out to your HOA or city council.

If you have a relatively lax HOA, here are some fence options you can apply to your new wood fence and why they may come in handy.

Fence Stain

One thing you might notice when walking around a neighborhood with wood fences is that each fence varies in shade. One fence might appear gray while the fence next to it is a deep reddish-brown color. Maybe you’ve seen your own fence lose its color as the years go by. If you’re extra observant, you might even have noticed a fence go from gray and fading to looking like new over night without any sign of a construction crew. What you may have noticed was a fence that was stained when you weren’t looking.

As we covered in our fence stain blog, staining your fence with Wood Defender® Stain & Sealant is a great way to protect your investment and add years to the life of your fence while making it look like new again.

Steel Posts

Have you ever seen a wooden fence fall over after a storm? (We’ve seen plenty). Although there’s no absolute way to guarantee a fence won’t fall over in the event of a tropical storm or a hurricane, using steel posts on your wood fence instead of pressurized wood is one way to minimize the chance of your fence being uprooted. Unlike pressurized wood, steel does not absorb ground water, which is why fences with wooden posts weaken over time. And because the steel that Texas Fence uses to reinforce wood fences is galvanized, it will withstand rainfall without rusting for at least a couple of decades. So if you live in an area susceptible to flooding and want a wood fence with a little more durability, steel posts may be the upgrade you need.

Batten Boards

Have you ever seen a wood fence with thin strips of wood covering the gaps between pickets? If so, you were looking at a fence with Batten Boards. Batten boards are thin lengths of wood that conceal the gaps between your wood fence pickets. As a wood fence ages, its pickets shrink, resulting in a sliver of space between each picket.

One role of a fence is to make a backyard private, so it makes sense that some homeowners would want to cover the small gaps in their fence so that passers-bys can’t peek through. If you are one of these homeowners, cedar batten boards are a simple upgrade that can ensure maximum privacy for your backyard even as your wood fence ages.

Board-on-Board

Have you ever noticed a fence that had two layers of pickets with the top layer concealing the gaps in the layer underneath? It is a wood board on board fence. Board-on-board fences are like the second-cousin of a batten board fence; they serve a similar purpose except instead of a thin strip of wood, congruent pickets are used to cover the gaps between the pickets underneath.

Some homeowners prefer wood board on board fences over batten boards because of the way they looks. Although board-on-board fences are more expensive than their batten board counterparts, the second layer of wood adds to the overall structural integrity and security of the fence. Rather than being one board thick, board-on-board fences have an extra layer of protection so they are less susceptible to snapping or being broken by an object tossed around during a storm.

Cap Tops for a Cap & Trim Fence

Have you ever looked at the top of your fence pickets and thought, “this looks ugly”? Well, you’re not alone. Many homeowners find the ‘dog-eared’ tops of pickets unsightly. If you’re a homeowner who finds the top of your fence’s profile unattractive because of picket tops, the capped wooden fence is an excellent choice to make your fence appear more refined.

A fence with a cap top is commonly referred to as a cap & trim fence. A wood fence cap board top itself is often a 2×4 rail that sits on top of the fence, flattening the fence’s upper profile into a straight line. A Custom capped wooden fence may also come with various divots, grooves, and scrolls to give your fence a more modern or rustic look.

Lattice Tops

If you are an avid fence observer, you may have come across a few fences that go above and beyond the post cap. Have you ever seen a fence that featured interlaced strips of wood above the pickets? If so, you were probably looking at a lattice top fence.

Lattice tops are another way you can mask the unsightly tops of pickets, but instead of doing so with a flat line, you can draw your guests’ attention to an intriguing pattern of crisscrossed wood. One reason homeowners choose to lattice tops is to add fence while providing a certain level of visibility. If you’ve ever seen a lattice top fence, you may have noticed that you can look up through it and see the sky, an effect that many homeowners enjoy.

Lattice tops come in a variety of designs, but the main choices are horizontal and diagonal. Horizontal lattice tops feature crossing wooden slats that run vertically and horizontally to create a grid-like pattern while diagonal lattice tops comprise crossing slats that run diagonally to create a repeating diamond pattern. Lattice tops can be painted and stained to match or contrast with your wood fence.

Add-Ons You Can Count on From Start to Finish

Whether you’re looking for something that will make your fence last longer with steel posts or stain; something that will make your fence more private like batten boards or a board-on-board design; or something that will make your fence look nice like cap or lattice tops, Texas Fence strives to build fences that address your unique needs. That is as long as the HOAs let you.

If you’re ready to schedule a free consultation, call us at (281) 807-7900 or visit our Quick Contact page.