This project is nearly a year in the making, and today I’m thrilled to finally share the details about our new backyard fence and DIY arbor!
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Choosing a fence
A fence was always on our wishlist, but not within our budget when we first built our house. Our house sits on a corner lot, so that meant zero privacy in our backyard—and consequently, we rarely took advantage of the space.
On our neighboring side, the fence was in rough shape and a constant eyesore. I was counting down the days until we could replace it!
That day finally came last spring, when we decided it was time to reach out to fence companies. We briefly considered building our own, but realized our time and energy was better spent on the Hacienda Hideaway.
I had plenty of time to think about the type and style of fence that I wanted, and I landed on a lattice top black fence—kind of like this:
Because we’re in central Florida and the elements are unforgiving, I was set on using vinyl instead of wood. Wood stands no chance out here after a few summers, as evidenced by countless other warped and decaying wood fences in our neighborhood.
We found several local vinyl fence distributors, but only one had the color and style I wanted, and it was no longer available (this was at the height of supply chain issues last spring). We didn’t want to wait any longer, so we gave in and hired a fencing company to build a wood fence.
Surprisingly, it was a challenge just to find someone who was willing to build a fence with a lattice top. And we had to wait several months to get on the schedule!
Finally, last September, the fence build began. Even though wood wasn’t my first choice, it was so nice to finally have privacy in our backyard!
Our next door neighbors wanted to keep their fence (technically it was theirs, even though it was installed backwards) so we had to compromise, and covered the old fence with new pickets.
We were anxious to stain it black, but new wood (especially pressure treated!) has to fully dry out for a long time—months—before you can stain it. So we patiently waited all fall and winter long.
Adding post caps and finials
The fence was looking pretty good, but it felt incomplete without post caps. After a long search, I landed on these miterless fence post caps (similar here) and inexpensive ball finials:
I’m really happy with these!
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. We’re about to re-do our landscaping (more on that in a future post!) but before that could happen, we needed to finish this fence. And that meant tackling another project: building a fence arbor!
Building a fence arbor with planters
I found this wood arbor last summer and couldn’t pass it up—nice design, the right size and an absolute STEAL compared to everything else out there (and a better deal than building from scratch!)
It had to be built into the fence somehow, so we came up with the idea of raising it up and adding planters on each side. This was going to take some creativity and a little force, because none of the wood was straight, level or square.
First, we had to dig out and level the ground for the planter boxes:
Next, the planter frames were built using pressure treated 2x4s and joined with pocket holes:
It took a whole lot of shimming, leveling, and adjusting to pull it all together…
The planter boxes were cladded in decking boards (from Home Depot) and mitered for a cleaner look.
A few finishing touches, and they were done!
We had the fence pressure washed before moving onto the next step…
Staining the fence black
Finally… it was time for stain! Lucas figured this would be a pretty easy DIY he could tackle in one day. We chose Cabot semi-solid exterior stain in black after research/local recommendations, and bought 5 gallons, hoping that would do the trick (oh how wrong we were!)
Lucas borrowed his dad’s hand sprayer, prepped the area and got to work…
It was immediately clear that we did not have the right tool for the job. The sprayer shot the stain out like a hose, saturating everything around it, leaving a trail of puddles and drips.
Half of the stain was wasted going through the lattice, and I was rushing behind with a brush, trying to stop the drips and salvage whatever stain I could.
We got about 1/8th of the way through, and our $250 bucket of stain was empty.
Time for Plan B: call in reinforcements! Miraculously, we found a company who could start the next day. We bought an additional 25 gallons of stain and happily let the pros take over.
We also switched to the solid stain instead of semi-solid, per their recommendation. We wanted a pure black finish with no transparency at all, and a solid stain would provide that (it’s very similar to an oil-based paint, but won’t peel off like paint).
They came prepared, and finished the job in one day. Worth every penny to hire this one out. Lesson learned!
Fence and Arbor Reveal
After three years of longing, dreaming, planning and building… our backyard fence is complete!
Eventually we’re looking forward to a full scale backyard renovation (with a pool!) but this is a welcome first step.
Let’s talk about this arbor though…
I just love the way it frames the house and gives us a “formal entrance” feel. And these planters are icing on the cake!
We planted white flowering bushes, and wove star jasmine around the trellis. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll take root in time to bloom this spring…
The next stage for our backyard is new landscaping (at least, redoing much of our original landscaping). We’re planting a row of viburnum along the back fence.
Cost breakdown
Our total fence is 230 linear feet, for reference. We also had two gates installed. Here’s the price breakdown:
| Fence installation | $6,650 |
| Fence stain (material) | $1,508 |
| Fence stain (labor) | $1,200 |
| Arbor | $141 |
| Planter boxes | $201 |
| Post caps & finials | $364 |
| Total | $10,064 |
Keep in mind that we wasted a lot of stain in the beginning, and we also ended up with about 7 unused gallons, so we overspent on stain by ~$500. So close to coming in at under $10k!
Final thoughts
While I’m quite happy with the way the fence looks now, I can’t help but think I might regret it once it reaches its’ inevitable demise in the near future.
To be fair, I didn’t spend a ton of time investigating the life span of black vinyl in our climate, but I have to assume it’s longer than wood. Most of our boards aren’t even straight to begin with (the installers already had to come out and replace a few posts and boards).
The thought of spending $8k every 5-10 years (or living with a crumbling fence) is crazy to me, and I wish I would have done more research into alternative options. Do you have a favorite fence style/material that lasts a long time?
Maybe I’ll be surprised and our fence will outlast my predictions—we can only hope. I’m not stressing about it now—what’s done is done, and we’ll certainly enjoy this fence as long as we can. Just something to consider if you also live in an unforgiving climate and are on the fence (ha!)
But boy, do I love our new arbor! No regrets there. I also can’t wait for our new landscaping to go in—just one more month until install. Happy first week of Spring!
Update: here’s how the jasmine looks less than two years later! Maintenance has been very minimal, as the jasmine naturally weaves it’s way through the arbor. It blooms in the spring and smells divine!
Diane says
Looks absolutely beautiful! Wondering where you found that great deal on the Arbor/Trellis?
Jenna Sue says
Amazon! Here’s the link again: https://amzn.to/37MxiPN
Josephine Patti says
I just love it, it looks fantastic. I love your choice of color
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Josephine!
Lindsay says
The fence looks great! I love the black! A stucco type fence could be an idea if the wood doesn’t last. You’d have to tweak it to match the style of your home but here is an idea: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c3/47/c6/c347c68f2330d7589b21d71209c7b432.jpg
Jenna Sue says
That was an option we considered too! But quite a bit more expensive and I notice a lot of crumbling stucco walls around here which also made me nervous.
Lilly Thomas says
It looks gorgeous Jenna!!!
Another Florida neighbor here and looking into fencing our yard too. We’re actually going with wood and not vinyl. I had a vinyl once and always looked dirty after the rain as the dirt would splatter on it and the green moss and stuff would stick, so that was another cleaning project every few months.
Wood will be easier to replace the boards when needed and after hurricanes. We’ve seen our neighbors have to get whole panels vs. picking up the wood and nailing them again. In addition, we have bears that love to climb and take down fences, so it will be much easier to repair. lol I gave up on my bird feeders because the bears love them and destroy them, so don’t want to give up my fence for them. LOL
Jenna Sue says
That is a very good point! We have white vinyl at the Riverside Retreat at it definitely needs to be power washed regularly.
Beth says
It looks great. If you do a perimeter planting when the wood eventually falls apart you could replace it with black aluminum. It create less privacy but by that point the plants will be creating more privacy and you won’t need a solid fence.
Erica says
It looks amazing!
We live in Ohio. We built a big deck using lumber from Lowe’s. Had to replace 1/2 the boards the next season. We used a family owned, local lumber yard for the replacements. That was in 2014 and those boards looked brand new for a few years . We moved before we had the chance to replace all of the boards on the deck.
Jenna Sue says
Wow, the right wood really makes all the difference! I think our fence company used the absolute cheapest they could find.
Sydney says
I love how this turned out! I may have to get a couple of those arbors for my backyard! We love love love our trex fence. It was $$$ to have installed, but has a 20 year warranty and requires zero maintenance.
Jenna Sue says
I had a Trex deck and railing once, it’s the best!
Jenny says
Looks fantastic!! A fenced in back yard is worth every penny! I fenced mine in several years ago for my pup and didn’t realize how much I would enjoy it myself.
Ana says
We use stone in Spain. It lasts forever!
Jenna Sue says
Ahh that would be my dream! I wish it was within our budget… sigh.
Heather Gray says
Hey Jenna,
Just a note about your fence, which looks great by the way. We just replaced our wood fence. It was about 20 years old but we got a good 15 out of it having to replace a few boards hear and there. We considered vinyl but learned that dark colors fade easily and also that it can split/ crack from rocks during lawn care or storms blowing things around. We opted for wood again. A better design and better install this time should get us far. We live on SC coast were the humidity is high and we often get brushed by hurricanes.
Ps. The fact that you’ve stained will help protect it as well! Have a blessed day!
-Heather
Jenna Sue says
Very insightful, thank you for sharing! I’m feeling a little better about going with wood now. Maybe there will finally be affordable/durable black vinyl fences in 15 years when we need to replace 😉
Sadie says
Wow!! I love the black. It looks so good! We have to stain ours- hoping we can DIY, your fence makes me want to go black!!
I can’t believe cost differences, we live in Utah and wood was actually our first choice. Ours was 10k just to install (240 linear feet) and 5k for staining.
Jenna Sue says
Oh, wow, huge price difference! But, we have to replace our fences so often so I guess that makes sense, hah!
Karen says
Very nice job. Rewarding too. Off the list , congrats.
Jenna Sue says
Thank you Karen!
Deb says
I have lived in Florida and Texas, so I know what you mean about the longevity of a wood fence.
I had a white vinyl fence installed in 2017 and it was worth every penny.
Hopefully your new fence will last quite a few years and you won’t have to do this again for a good long while.
Jenna Sue says
It’s so odd to me that vinyl is only offered in a few colors! You’d think it would be the norm nowadays and there would be more options. Mind boggling.
Karina says
Absolutely beautiful, Jenna! Just perfect in every detail.
Jenna Sue says
Thank you so much Karina!
Kate says
I’m in Tampa and we had a black stained wood fence. If you stain or seal it every 3-5 years then it can last a lifetime. I’m willing to bet that all the crappy ones around you just aren’t cared for like they should be. My neighborhood was certainly full of them. The sun is brutal but lack of care causes more damage. (can we now vent about how all those white vinyl fence owners never pressure wash their fence? 😜) I think it looks amazing and that you’ll be pleasantly surprised about how long it will last!
Jenna Sue says
I really hope so! Our boards have already warped so much — even just after the few days since staining! Maybe you have better quality wood…??