Privacy panels for your own personal paradise

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/06/2017 (3090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When a property is situated on the corner of two intersecting roadways, borders a well-travelled back lane, and the only thing between the sanctuary of your backyard and the hustle and bustle of these three thoroughfares is a chain-link fence, the expectation of privacy may be too much to ask — or is it?

Nearly two years ago to the day, my clients the Lakusiaks had an urgent project on their list of outdoor upgrades they wished to tackle before the summer took hold.

Although they have beautiful, lush foliage in their back yard, it never seemed to thicken up enough to provide the privacy they so desired.

I recall Lynn Lakusiaks saying, “I don’t want to block things completely, I just want something back there, to make it just a bit harder for everyone to see into our yard.”

A suggestion to replace the existing chain link fence, which provides zero protection from prying eyes, was quickly dismissed.

And then, Lynn Lakusiaks had a brilliant idea — privacy panels, in designated locations along the back perimeter of the backyard to fill in the empty void between each of the larger trees. And so, the designing process began and it wasn’t long before we had the master plan in place.

The concept was simple — custom privacy panels, arranged in a fashion that not only suited my clients’ needs, but also enhanced the optics of the yard from either side.

Each panel would be custom built on site, affixed to four-by-four posts at each end as the main support. Once the dimensions for each of the panel sections were established, post holes were dug to a depth of roughly 76 centimetres at the required locations, for each of the panels’ posts.

The Lakusiaks’ son, Scott, gave me a hand with the hand-held auger, which was a good thing — the auger bit hit roots on a few occasions and nearly sent me flying. Boring holes with a hand-held auger is definitely a two-person job.

The pairs of posts were set in place at a precise distance from each other, as determined by each of the panels’ dimensions. After each post was levelled, quarter-down gravel was back-filled and packed into the post hole to secure the posts in their permanent positions. It was much like setting posts while building a fence, just in short bursts.

The panel sections were slightly more artistic in nature and took a while to construct. Eight-foot fence boards, set horizontally, were fastened to the posts using a pattern of ‘one full width, two half widths,’ from bottom to top.

Flat two-by-fours were set horizontally at the bottom and top, to finish the picture-frame effect. A halved fenced board was also fastened from top to bottom to each of the horizontal fence boards at the midway point, in an effort to prevent twisting and warping over time.

Although it took some time to split the required number of fence boards to create the desired panel pattern — and even more time to assemble each of the panels one at a time — the results justify the effort. Not only do the panels provide the sought-after privacy, they look good while doing it. Even when off property and looking in, these privacy panels hint at a backyard sanctuary that lies behind the walls.

Sometimes it’s the simple solutions that make the most sense.

For a relatively small investment of money and effort, the Lakusiaks can now truly enjoy being outside in their backyard. Although they aren’t completely sheltered from the human race, it’s just enough to make it feel like their own secluded slice of private paradise.

BossEnterprise@outlook.com