In this article, I’m going to show you 7 out-of-the-ordinary privacy fence ideas that you can easily make yourself.
Creating your own privacy fence has several advantages such as obtaining a personalized and more original rendering than the models of fences that we usually see. And even if we now find innovative fences on the market (see the new products for 2014 ), they are still expensive, so it is in your best interest to take a little of your time to make them.
You won’t be surprised to find that all of the ideas I’m going to give you use wood . This is the material that works the most easily: a drill-driver, a hammer and a saw are enough to make these models.
I would like to give you one last recommendation before getting to the heart of the matter: to choose the fence that suits you, remember to determine: the height you need , the level of concealment of it (if you want to hide totally, partially or barely) and its solidity , for example, if you have a large dog, you will have to opt for models with fairly large sections of wood.
I won’t keep you waiting any longer; here are different ideas for creating a privacy fence yourself!
With branches
For starters, here’s my favorite idea! Of course, you can use straight and regular branches placed horizontally and blocked between posts, but if this is easy to achieve, it is not extraordinary aesthetically speaking.
I much prefer the idea of using curved, irregular formwork that zigzags … The natural effect is indisputable!
In this case, two possibilities are available to you: put the branches horizontally and nail them to posts fixed in the ground and spaced a maximum of 2m apart.
Or, create a frame with planks and wedge branches vertically into it. It requires a little more work but it combines the natural side of the branches and the robustness of the frame.
With pallets
This is the idea that will be the easiest to achieve because it requires almost no work . To create a privacy fence in recycled pallets, they will have to be placed on the ground to create the demarcation. This technique will work well if you have a flat and regular ground (a concrete slab for example) and a short length. In other cases, it will be necessary to add posts sealed in the ground and fix the pallets on them. So they won’t move.
You can use the pallets as they are or customize them : by painting them, by cutting the ends of the boards… You can also dismantle them and rearrange them to increase the number of boards and make them blackout…
With logs
One idea that I really like is to use wooden logs to create a demarcation. Some will say that it looks more like a wall, it is true that for the whole thing to hold, it will take a certain thickness: the higher the fence, the wider it will be.
Regarding the implementation, a stable ground is recommend to prevent the logs from sinking in certain places and unbalancing the structure. You can use stones, compacted gravel or create a strip of concrete (sill). Then just stack the trunks which should all be the same length. No need to fix them together, they hold on their own, you just have to think about putting retainers at each end and in the angles. Big poles do the job perfectly.
With bamboo
Bamboo is increasingly use for the construction of garden features.
You have two options for creating a bamboo privacy fence:
- Use canes that you have just sealed in the ground. You can use stems of different or uniform diameters, align them knowing that there will always be a little daylight between the culms or put them in staggered rows to close the view. Depending on the height of the rods you take, you will get a higher or lower fence; you can put all the rods at the same height or vary them by a few centimeters for a less regular appearance.
- Put the canes in a wooden frame. We will get closer to the models that we find in the trade, except that it will be cheaper for you to create them by yourself and that you will be able to free your imagination. Indeed, depending on the diameter of the rods, their color (natural or tinted stubble), the wood you are going to use for the surround, many customization possibilities are available to you and you are sure not to find the same privacy fence. At your neighbor’s.
I advise you to use rods of identical diameters to facilitate the implementation of the panels, it will be much more difficult to maintain them if they have different sizes. The calms are wedge between wooden planks fix to the frame.
The panels will be hung on posts anchor in the ground to ensure the stability of the structure.
With tree trunks
Another easy-to-implement idea is to use tree trunks that will be place vertically and pressed into the ground to prevent them from moving.
This is probably the toughest privacy fence I’m going to show you today.
Despite the simplicity of the idea, you can be creative because the final result will depend on the species of wood you use: you can opt for a “classic” type of pine or fir wood stripped of its bark, you will obtain a rustic effect.
If, on the other hand, you use trunks with remarkable bark such as birch for example, you will have an original and modern fence.
Finally, you can take logs sold commercially which are traditionally used to make supports. They will be calibrate and treat for the exterior, but it is much less original!
Some technical tips: you can nail one or more wooden planks behind your trunks to make sure they are well align. If you want this fence to hide you from prying eyes, it will take several rows of trunks to fill the gaps.
With braided stems
We see more and more the use of braided stems ( plessis ) in the garden to create borders , squares of vegetable patch … So why not to make a fence! The principle is the same: on small regular logs placed vertically or horizontally (less common), we intertwine flexible wooden rods . The hazel lends itself very well to the exercise.
You can reach the height you want, and by braiding more or less tightly, you make your fence more or less concealing.
Another more artistic but much more technical form of weaving: the creation of a living wicker (willow) barrier. You will have both a real privacy fence with a decorative appearance, but the stems, which will take root in the ground, will produce foliage every year that will give the illusion of a very thin hedge.
Shaped like colored pencils
No, we are not going to create a fence with real pencils, that would be much too small! We simply take the idea of tree trunks lined up by cutting them and coloring them so that they look like giant colored pencils!
However, be careful with the spikes, someone shouldn’t hurt themselves on them. I advise you to make them high enough so that they are not accessible to children, or to turn the “pencils” so that the tips are down.
Technically, either you seal them one by one in the ground, or you hold them together with boards or horizontal bars that will be screw to posts fixed in the ground.
All these fence ideas can be decline in gate to harmonize in the entourage of your property.
Be aware that in the majority of examples, natural wood is use , entreat for the exterior unlike what is found on the market, so it is normal for it to degrade over time, giving a weather appearance that will be very popular in country or rustic style gardens. You will rarely keep these fences for more than 10 years, but this can be an advantage: as they are very economical to make, you can easily renew them at a lower cost! It’s very nice to think that every decade, we will have a new fence design and we can change our garden for a few Euros and a little manual work in the great outdoors.
Finally, you wonder where to find wood? Hazelnut, osier and bamboo stems can be found in garden centers and at specialist merchants.
For the rest, you can recover branches in the forest only if they are already broken and on the ground.
You can also get closer to foresters and landscapers who will be happy to get rid of branches that have no interest in their eyes. In the case of trunks and logs, they can be purchase from loggers and sawmills.
