How to Build Wooden Fences With Privacy Lattices

Install a wooden lattice fence to enhance privacy, provide security, improve the appearance of the landscape or hide imperfections. Built with square or diagonal patterns, lattice panels fit easily between posts and serve as a functional and decorative fencing option. Depending on personal preference, leave the wooden fence as it is for rustic charm, or stain it so it stands out in the landscape. Install a 4- foot or 6-foot fence yourself to save on professional contractor fees. Consult your local buildings department for building permits you may need before you begin the project.

Powdered chalk
Flags
Post hole digger
Concrete
Bucket
Trowel
4-by-4-inch wooden posts
Carpenter's level
Shovel
Measuring tape
2-inch-by-4-inch boards
Handsaw
Hammer
Galvanized nails
Lattice panels

Instructions

- 1
  Spread powdered chalk on the ground where you want to install the lattice fence. Insert a flag at every 8-foot interval along the fence line to mark locations for the fence posts.
- 2
  Remove a flag and dig a 2-foot-deep hole over the spot, using a post hole digger. Pile the dirt in a mound near the hole. Continue to remove the remaining flags and form post holes.
- 3
  Add water to concrete in a bucket and mix with a trowel until a workable consistency. Add more water to loosen the consistency, or add concrete to make it thicker.
- 4
  Add a few inches of concrete into a corner post hole and level the top. Stand a post vertically into the hole, ensuring it is plumb and level, or align it immediately before the concrete cures. Enlist a helper to hold the post while you pour concrete around it in the hole, until 4 inches from the top. Repeat for the remaining posts.
- 5
  Pack dirt into each hole, directly over the cured concrete, and tamp with the back of a shovel. Measure the distance between the inner edges of a corner post and the post next to it. Cut two lengths of 2-by-4-inch boards to the exact length, using a handsaw.
- 6
  Measure 4 inches upward from the corner post and mark the spot. Mark the spot on the post next to it, as well. Measure down 1 foot from the top of the corner post and mark the spot, and mark the spot on the post next to it. Mark the spots along the inner edges of the two posts.
- 7
  Attach a 2-by-4-inch board to the two posts, directly above the parallel upper spots. Hammer the end of the board over each mark, using 16d galvanized nails. Attach the second identical board to the two posts, directly over the two lower marks.
- 8
  Measure the vertical spacing between the upper and lower 2-by-4-inch boards, and cut two identical lengths of 2-by-4-inch boards to the same length. Attach each board to the vertical post using galvanized nails, forming a frame over which you will install the lattice panel.
- 9
  Hold the lattice panel up against the frame between the posts. Attach the lattice panel to the front, bottom and two sides of the frame, using 10d nails. Repeat the process of attaching an 8-foot-wide panel between two posts until you complete the fence line.

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