Tools and Materials

Note

Items may be Special Order in some stores. Product costs, availability, and item numbers may vary online or by market. Paint colors may vary slightly from those shown. Availability varies by market for lumber species and sizes.

Building Privacy Panels

Build this project as a stand-alone feature; place them in a series along an outdoor space as patio or deck privacy panels or to act as a fence.

Before installing the outdoor privacy screen panels, verify your property lines. Check with your local building code enforcement office to see if a building permit is needed, about hole depth requirements and fence height rules. Also determine if any homeowners association requirements could affect your work. After you choose a location for the panels, call 811 to have the underground utilities marked around them before you dig.

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Build the Upper Panel

Build the Lower Panel

Install the Privacy Panel

Mix a bag of concrete following the manufacturer’s instructions and add it to the hole around the post, tamping it down periodically. After placing the concrete in each hole, check the post for level, adjust as necessary, and allow the concrete to cure for a few hours.

Tip

When mixing concrete for a fence post, mix the concrete with slightly less water than called for to make a very stiff, dry mix. The dry mix will hold the post securely; a wet mix will allow the post to lean before the concrete dries. If it's windy, brace the post with a wooden stake in the ground and a 1-by-4 brace. See Setting a Post in Concrete for one method of setting and bracing a post.

Verify the second post will slide into the remaining hole, trim the edges of the hole as needed to allow a few inches of clearance between the wood and the soil to allow clearance for the concrete. Add stone to the bottom of the hole and set the post in place against the lower panel. Using 3-inch deck screws, secure the panel to the second post, mix the concrete, and add it to the hole. Check for level and allow the mix to cure for an hour.

Try Another Privacy Panel

Monica Mangin has another take on a simple privacy panel: an L-shaped privacy panel that hides a pool filter area of a backyard and attaches to an existing deck. Customize the project to fit your landscape and need for privacy.

As with the project above, find out how building codes, property lines and homeowners association rules could affect the work. Call 811 to have the area checked for underground utilities before you begin digging.

Shop Lattice

A wood outdoor privacy screen next to a white house concealing a pool filter.

Since this is a similar project, it shares many tools and materials with the project above. Here are key additional items Monica used with her privacy screen build:

Here are the key steps for the privacy panel build. Watch the video above for the complete project.

Dig the Footers

Measure and mark the location for the post holes.
Dig 12-inch-diameter holes deep enough to set the poles 6 inches below the frost line.
Add gravel to the hole and tamp it down.
Determine the necessary height of the posts.

Build the Panel

Measure and mark the posts to the correct lengths.
Cut the posts to length and assemble the pieces with lag screws rated for pressure-treated lumber.
Cut the panel slats and attach them with ring-shank deck nails rated for pressure-treated lumber.

Install the Panel

Brace the panel in place and ensure that it's level and plumb.
Pour fast-setting concrete into the post holes and add water.
Attach a spacer and a slat support for the adjoining panel to the deck post.
Cut the slats for the panel and install them to align with the existing slats.
Remove the braces and backfill the post holes with soil.
After the lumber has dried for a couple of months, stain or paint the privacy panel to fit your home and landscape.

How to Build Outdoor Privacy Panels