Projects / Dallas, TX
Horizontal Board-on-Board Cedar Fence
A tall horizontal board-on-board cedar boundary framed on steel posts and finished in a rich stain, wrapping the yard, the alley line and a mature tree.
- Location Dallas, TX
- Style Horizontal board-on-board
- Material Cedar on steel posts
- Finish Stained
- From $65 per ft
Board-on-board, laid horizontally
Board-on-board overlaps every board with the one beside it, so there is no gap to see through as the timber moves through the seasons. Laid horizontally it also gives the same finished face on both sides, which matters when one side of the run faces a neighbour or an alley.
It is the most demanding way to build a wood fence. Every board spans between posts with nothing above it to disguise a sag, so the framing is heavier and the post spacing tighter than a standard vertical run. How we build these is on our wood fence installation page.
Steel posts, because timber posts move
The run is framed on galvanised steel posts set in concrete footings poured to our one-third depth rule. Dallas black clay swells after rain and shrinks in August, and a timber post in a shallow footing leans within a few seasons. On a horizontal fence that lean is obvious immediately, because every board line shows it.
Steel also holds a tall solid panel straight against the wind load these runs catch in a May storm. The failure pattern, and why depth decides it, is in our guide to fences leaning in Dallas clay soil.
A gate that disappears into the run
The access gate is built in the same boards at the same spacing, so the board lines carry straight through the opening rather than stopping at it. That only works if the gate frame is square and the hinge post is stiff enough to hold a heavy leaf without dropping over time.
Heavy hardware and a braced frame are what keep it closing cleanly years later. Where an opening needs to be automated instead, the options are on our gate installation page.
Stepped around the yard as it actually is
The run steps around a mature tree rather than taking it out, with the boards returned and closed neatly at the trunk. Details like that are where a fence either looks made for the property or looks bought by the foot.
The whole boundary was stained after installation, which blocks the UV load that greys and cracks untreated cedar in a single North Texas summer. Why the finish matters as much as the species is in our wood fence climate guide.
Project photos
The finished boundary from the alley and the yard, the steel framing, the matching gate, and the return around the tree.
Services and guides behind this build
Want a horizontal cedar fence on your property?
Send us your fence line length and whether the run faces an alley or a neighbour. We measure on site, price the framing honestly, and quote in writing.