Horizontal board wood double gate beside a stucco wall in Sanford

Recent Project

Horizontal Wood Fence With Small Gaps in Sanford

A horizontal board wood fence with narrow gaps between the boards, around a Sanford yard with a shed and a double gate.

Location: Sanford, FL
Material: Wood
Style: Horizontal, small gaps
Gate: Double gate at house

This wood fence installation closes in a yard in Sanford with horizontal boards and a narrow gap between each one. The fence runs along the side of the house, down the back past a gray shed, and ends at a double gate. Light and air move through the gaps, and the fence still marks the edge of the yard. The boards run level from post to post, and matching gate hardware keeps the whole fence reading as one piece.

Straightline Fence builds wood fences across Sanford and Seminole County with our own crews. Call (407) 593-1888 and we will bring samples to your yard.

Horizontal wood fence with narrow gaps between the boards beside a grass yard in Sanford

The gaps

Why leave small gaps between horizontal boards?

For wind, for airflow, and so the lumber has room to move.

The gaps are a design choice and an engineering one. Wind passes through a gapped fence instead of pushing on a solid wall, which takes load off the posts. Wood swells in the rain and shrinks as it dries, and a small space lets each board move without buckling against the one above it. Wet wood also gets somewhere to breathe, which slows rot along the board edges. The look is lighter than a solid fence too. The gaps here are small, a thin line of daylight between boards, not an open slat look.

Horizontal slat is popular in newer neighborhoods. It needs straight lumber and closely spaced posts to stay flat over the years. Our wood fence installation page covers it alongside privacy, shadowbox and picket.

Horizontal wood fence with small gaps running past a gray shed in a Sanford back yard

Privacy

How private is a fence with gaps?

Private from an angle. Less so when you look straight through the slats.

It depends on where you stand. From the side, the overlapping lines of the boards block the view. Look straight at the fence from close up and you see slivers of the yard. That is plenty for a lot with a shed, a lawn and room to play, like this one, where the goal is a clear boundary and some screening. A see through look also keeps a wide back yard from feeling walled in. Where you plant or set furniture along the fence changes how private it feels, too.

It is not the right pick for a pool deck or a hot tub. For those, ask for tighter spacing or a solid style such as board on board. To compare styles with real wood in your hand, schedule a free estimate.

Side yard

How close can a fence run to an AC unit?

Close enough to enclose the side yard, with room left for the service tech.

The side of the house is the narrowest stretch of this job. The fence runs down a tight side yard, and an AC condenser sits just inside it. Equipment like that needs air around it and room for a technician to work. We plan the fence line around it, so a repair visit never turns into a fence repair. The gaps help too, since they keep heat from pooling behind a solid wall. Ask the estimator to mark any equipment on the sketch so nothing gets boxed in by accident.

Before the fence goes in, we note where the meter, the hose bib and the equipment sit, and we do it at the estimate. Our fence company in Sanford page covers the permit rules for the city and the county.

Project photos