Horizontal Wood Fences

Horizontal Board Fences are beautiful and when built correctly can provide that clean and contemporary at your Orlando, Winter Park, Oviedo, and Central Florida home.   The best part is a horizontal fence can be customized to match the architecture of the individual home creating a sense of true uniqueness.  Simply put, a horizontal wood fence is a head turner.    

But... Before traveling down the Horizontal fence path, stop.   We encourage you to do your research regardless if the fence is being professionally installed or it is a DIY weekend warrior project.   Here is why:  The success or failure of the horizontal fence will depend on the design, product, and the method of installation. 

Horizontal Board Fence Guide:

Principle One:  Use The Right Type of Materials.  

Ideally, horizontal wood fences should be built with cedar within the Central Florida Market place.  Cedar is less prone to warping splitting and cracking caused by the moistness of the Florida climate and possesses natural chemical which limits rotting.  Keep in mind; however, the support posts must be pressure treated for below ground contact with copper azole.  Depending on your aesthetic intent, selecting the correct grade of lumber will become the trickiest and expensive task.  

When building with cedar, the grade of the lumber will determine the outcome of cost.   They are as they sound.  

Pressure treated pine is an option, but make sure the pressure treated is treated with EcoLife, not MCA.  EcoLife possesses wood polymers and stabilizers that control the rate of water absorption for 1- 2 years.   Make sure the grade of pine is a minimum of Common #2 prime and pay close attention to Principle Two and Three.  Depending on the need for appearance, clear of select grade will be the best choice

When using composite materials, the base of the composite material must be wheat cellulose fiber and not a wood base.  Wood base composite has tendencies to excessively fade and eventually swell due to water absorption.   Wheat cellulose based composite holds color pigment better and is less absorbent.   Vinyl is a no, no....

Principle Two:    Use The Right Material Thickness and Posts Spacing.  

The post spacing and thickness will vary depending on species of lumber selected.    When using pressure treated pine, use no less than two-inch lumber profiles and posts spacing every six feet to minimize warping and bowing.  One inch lumber profiles in Pine is a no, no.   The thickness of cedar should be no less than a true inch and post spacing should be reduced to four foot on center.   All horizontal boards, regardless of selected wood species, should be staggered or seam off-set.  When building with composite, the system needs to be completely manufacture designed. That's post, rails, and frame.   Mixing composite with pressure treated pine horizontally never ends well due to the twisting nature of pine.     Last but most importantly, a horizontal fence is basically a deck built straight up in the air.  As a result, the post to height leverage ratio should be no less than 50% and the on center spacing of the post will depend on materials selected.   

Principle Three:  Use The Right Fasteners.

Stainless steel, stainless steel, stainless steel.  The use of galvanize anything will quickly rust in the Florida climate and when used in pressure treated pine result in premature failure of the fastener.   Understand, each metal has a uniquely positive and negative electronic charge, but copper and galvanize have similar charges.  As a result, these two like metals generally try to destroy each other.  Why is this important?  The prominent chemical in pressure treating is copper and the number one type of fastener used by fence companies is galvanize nails.  It does not matter if the fastener is coated.  One scratch in the surface coat and premature failure will occur.         

Principle Four:  Pick The Right Custom Fence Company.  

The majority of Central Florida fence companies claim to be custom for two reasons: (1) Your money and (2) Market position.  Just keep in mind, there are only two legitimate custom fence companies located in Central Florida who have the ability to create quality horizontal custom fence solutions that last.  Most all Orland or County Fence Companies, will redirect a customer to a simpler style or push vinyl.     So do your research.  And Never choose a  Florida fence company that has the words Outlet or Discount attached to its name.  Better yet, stay away for companies named after the owner's first or last name.   From experience, the above companies account for the majority of the custom fence horror stories we often have to fix.   

Like we have already stated, we at Custom Fence Orlando take Horizontal Fence seriously.  Any fence system we suggested are researched, designed, and tested in Florida before they hit the Florida Market Place.   Below are 3 Custom horizontal fence designs that are proven to with stand the harsh conditions of Florida and the test of time.   Any fence system we suggested is researched, designed, and tested in Florida before they hit the Florida Market Place.