Fence Picket Spacing for Dummies

Privacy fence

When it comes to outright dumbassery, we've come to realize that some people apparently have no boundaries. OK, perhaps we should say that some people have no specialties: they're dumbasses in many ways. In their work, out research team members frequently come across freelancers who display ignorance time after time in math or science, but it takes a real "un-generalist" to be a dumbass across a variety of categories. Today's candidate is one such freelancer: she's already displayed ignorance of masonry, carpentry and gardening. Now, our research team has found Shala Munroe demonstrating that she knows nothing about building fences, either, as she capably (not) showed for SFGate.com when she provided (not) "Help With the Spacing of a Wooden Picket Fence for Privacy." Well, OQ, sorry: you're not getting much help here!

As is so often the case with DemandMedia articles, the site's formatting guidelines preclude providing a simple, direct answer: when installing six- or eight-foot dog-ear pickets (either cedar or treated), professional fence installers simply use a 10d nail to size the gap between pickets, pausing every three or four pickets to make certain that the picket is plumb. The gap – about ¹⁄₈" – allows the pickets to expand and contract with temperature changes (that's 55 words, 245 short of the DMS minimum).

It's not what Shala says, anyway: what Munroe thinks is "How you space them along the railings helps determine how much privacy you have. For maximum privacy, use a board with minimum contraction and expansion problems such as cedar and butt the boards next to each other. This is considered a solid fence. But spacing out the boards slightly, even 1/4 inch, helps improve airflow into your yard without losing much privacy." Ummm, no, Shala, you never butt the pickets together... Never, no matter what species of wood. That's not to mention that a ¼" gap doesn't provide much privacy or, for that matter, allow much airflow (as if anyone cares much about the airflow). And you never mentioned picket width, either: (nominal) 4-inch? 6-inch? 8-inch? Shala finally goes into more detail about height than you'll ever need to answer a question about picket spacing... but then again, she has a minimum word count to meet

What we found odd is that, although Shala has plenty to say about fence height, she says nothing at all about the most common picket type, dogear pickets. She also says nothing at all about the privacy fence design known as "shadow box," where pickets are alternated on the front and back of the stringer. With that design, you could get 100% privacy – no gap at all for "prying eyes" – though the picket cost increases significantly.
We'd think that some "expert" might have come up with a better answer. In fact, we don't think Shala came up with an answer at all; hence her fourth award from the Antisocial Network for her ongoing work as Dumbass of the Day!

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