I had to choose between a 6-foot cedar panel and a 4-foot chain link for a sloped backyard in Cincinnati, and going with the cedar meant building a stepped layout that took 3 extra hours but looks a hundred times better.

What's your go-to method for handling a steep grade when the client wants a solid privacy fence?

3 comments

3 Comments

Stepped panels are the way to go for a clean look on a slope. You just have to accept the extra labor and material waste from cutting. I always set the posts plumb and step the rails, keeping the panels level. It's more work than racking a fence, but it doesn't look wavy and warped after a few seasons. That cedar choice was smart, it's gonna last and look solid.

logan_ellis2mo ago

Yeah, the "extra labor and material waste" is the real kicker. It's not just the cutting, it's the time spent measuring each step so the gaps at the bottom stay even. If you mess that up, you get a weird looking shadow line all the way down. But you're right, doing it right once with cedar beats fixing a racked fence every few years. That thing will sag and look terrible.

emery_black2mo ago

Man, that stepped layout talk hits home. My neighbor tried to cheap out on a similar slope with those pre-made rackable panels, said it was "good enough." Two winters later the whole thing is leaning like a drunk sailor. Had to listen to him cuss every time a new section bowed. Sometimes the right way is just the only way, even if it means burning a Saturday getting it perfect.