Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-07
Fences Are Available
To Suit Kind and Style
Of Every Home
Picket Type Is Simpler;
Also Popular and Cheaper
Is Stretcher Model

A fence is the finishing touch to
cottage or mansion, and home has
not quite reached the ultimate in
privacy and satisfaction until its sur
roundings have been rendered both
private and attractive by wood
fence of which there is a kind
and style for every home.
A fence is by no means an exclu-
sive prerogative of wealthy families.
Fence material is inexpensive and
the skill required to build one is not
beyond the capability of the average
householder. 1t is quite probable
that the most attractive enclosures
In your neighborhood were built by
"home-gr labor during half
holidays and long summer evenings.
Attractive wood fences can be built
within a wide cost range. Cost is de-
pendent more upon the amount OF
special material used than upon
the size or style of the fence.
Fence architecture is somewhat
like house architecture 1t may be
formal, informal. rustic, elaborate,
costly, or very expensive. Even as
the type OF garden Is usually de-
signed for harmony with the style
and size of the home which it sur
rounds, so the fence matches in
feeling both the architecture and
the garden arrangement.
Picket Type Is Simplest.
The most common of all fence
styles is the simple picket type, which
found its first roots in New England
Colonial architecture. If it can be
said that there is such thing as an
American fence standard" it is
probably the simple picket type.
Usually built about 4 feet high, the
picket fence is decorative and ade-
uuate to exclude unwanted animal
visitors and keep children within
safe bounds.
Picket-style fences require posts,
stringers and pickets, all three of
which are available in most retail
building material establishments as
stock" items.
Ready-cut picketS are purchasable
in standard lengths and widths. in
four or five different patterns. They
come packaged, ready for use, and
are much less expensive than nom
standard, odd sized pickets, which
must be made to order.
Both round and square posts are
supplied in various lengths and are
usually better suited to fence build
ing and cost less than specially cut
material. Rails for the average
picket fence can be made of a good
grade 2 inch by 4 inch, another
stock item.
There are certain standard dimen-
sions for height of pickets and spac-
ing which have become accepted, be-
cause they produce fence of pleas
ing proportions. However, they are
easily varied to suit individual taste.
One dimension. the placing of posts,
is fairly we'll established from a good
construction standpoint: 1t is I'M
wise to space posts further than 8
feet apart unless stringers are
heavier than inches by inches.
Stretcher Fences Cost Less.
Ordinarily. space between pickets
Is the same as the width of the
picket, but some fences are built
with the pickets as close as an inch.
When the fence is intended to block
vision or keep out animals, this
spacing is advisable.
The predominant pattern of a
picket fence is vertical lines. Over
q great expanse, vertical lines are
some times tiresome and confusing
to the eye. Hence, for a straight
run much over 100 feet. it is well
to consider a style other than pickets
"a stretcher fence, for instance.
After the picket type, the simple,
two-rail stretcher fence is probably
most popular. Stock 4 inch by 4
inch posts. feet long, are ordinarily
used. Rails may be fitted between
the posts with large finishing nails,
toenailed. This works out well for
the pocketbook, too. Since there Is
much less material in a stretcher
fence. its cost per lineal foot is con-
siderably less. AS the stretcher type
is used over long reaches. this saw
Ing makes up for some of the extra
posts and labor needed to inclose a
larger plot.
II you build a white house you
Usually build white fence. BY
the same rule of thumb, fence in
closing a natural wood finish or
weathered wood exterior should also
be stained or given a natural treat
ment. Natural wood stained fences
blend we'll with any landscape, be-