Dog-Ear Fence Installation: The Standard Wood Privacy Fence, Built Right

6 ft and 8 ft Dog-Ear Privacy Builds

We build dog-ear privacy fences at 6 ft and at 8 ft. Six feet is what most backyards get. It blocks the view from a neighboring patio and keeps most dogs in.

Eight feet is a different fence structurally. The pickets catch a lot more wind, so the frame has to be heavier: an extra rail, deeper post holes, and stouter posts than a 6 ft fence would need. People choose it when a neighbor's deck or second-story windows look down into the yard, or when the lot backs up to a busy road. Taller fences can also run into zoning or HOA height limits, so we check what your address allows before any lumber is ordered.

Adding a Cap and Trim to Dog-Ear Pickets

Cap and trim is the upgrade most people ask about. A flat cap board runs along the top of the fence, and a trim board is fastened across the face of the pickets just below it. The result reads as a finished piece of carpentry instead of a row of boards.

The cap does some practical work too. It covers the end grain at the top of every picket, which is where rainwater soaks in fastest, and it ties the top of the fence together so individual pickets are less free to twist. It adds lumber and labor, so expect a cap and trim fence to price above a plain dog-ear run of the same length.

How We Install a Dog-Ear Fence

Installation starts with the fence line. We confirm where the fence goes with you, have underground utilities marked, and string the line so every post lands where it should.

Posts are set in concrete and plumbed. Rails are attached next, and then the pickets are hung one at a time. Building picket by picket, instead of hanging premade panels, lets the fence follow the grade of the yard so there are no triangular gaps under the bottom edge. Gates are framed and braced so they do not sag, and are hung last. We haul off the scrap and the spoil from the post holes before we leave.

• Fence line confirmed and utilities marked
• Posts set in concrete and checked for plumb
• Rails fastened, then pickets hung individually
• Gates framed, braced and hung
• Site cleaned up and debris removed

When a Dog-Ear Fence Is Due for Replacement

A dog-ear fence usually fails from the ground up. Posts rot where they meet the soil, and the first sign is a section that leans or rocks when you push on it. Rails pulling away from posts, pickets that have cupped far enough to open gaps, and gates that drag are the other common signals.

If one or two posts are gone and the rest of the lumber is sound, a repair may be enough. When several posts along a run are soft, new pickets on an old frame is money spent twice. Replacement means pulling the old posts and their concrete footings, hauling everything away, and building the new fence on fresh holes. We do tear-out and rebuild as one job.

Dog-Ear Fences on Charlotte Lots

Red clay is the main thing a wood fence has to deal with here. It drains slowly, so the soil around a post stays wet long after a storm, and then it shrinks and cracks in a dry August. Sound post setting matters more in this soil than the picket style does.

Many yards in Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cabarrus and York counties also slope more than they look. A stick-built dog-ear fence handles that well because each picket can be set to the ground. And because dog-ear is the plain, familiar look, it is the wood style that neighborhood associations most often already have on their approved list. We can give you the drawings and specifications an HOA application normally asks for.