Decorative Privacy Fence Panels

Privacy First: What Actually Blocks Sightlines

Most "privacy fence" marketing shows a beautiful panel and lets you assume privacy follows. It often does not. Whether a fence screens your garden depends on three things that a product photo cannot show you: open area (how much of the panel is hole), height relative to the observer's eye level, and gaps - under the panel, between panels, at posts. Get two right and one wrong, and the fence photographs beautifully while the neighbor watches you barbecue.

The numbers we work to: at 20–30% open area, someone standing on the other side sees movement and shape but cannot make out faces or detail - that is real privacy. At 40–50%, you get silhouettes and filtered views, which suits screening a utility area but not a patio you sit on. Anything above 60% open - including most expanded metal and all wire panel fences - is a boundary marker, not privacy, whatever the listing says. On height: 1.8m blocks the view for a standing adult on level ground. If the neighbor's patio is raised, or their windows look down into your space, no fence height on your side fixes that - that problem needs distance, planting, or a pergola, and we would rather tell you now than sell you a fence that disappoints.

This page is the privacy selection guide. For the full decorative range comparison see our decorative fence panels guide; for the pattern-driven garden version see laser-cut garden panels.

Sizing and Installing for Privacy

Height: 1.8m is the privacy standard for level ground; 2.0–2.4m where local rules allow and the boundary faces a road or public path. Check your local fence height regulations before ordering - front boundaries often have lower limits than rear ones, and planning permission sometimes kicks in above 2m.

Gaps - the most common privacy failure: a 1.9m panel mounted with 150mm of clearance underneath is a 1.75m privacy fence with a view strip for every dog and child on the street. We drill privacy panels for low mounting, and on sloped ground we rake the panels to follow grade - stepped panels on a slope leave triangular see-through windows at the fall, which is the classic mistake on hillside gardens. Panel-to-post gaps get closed with cover strips or channel posts.

Materials for privacy duty: hot-dip galvanized steel with outdoor powder coat is the default and handles most climates. Aluminum if you are within sight of the sea. Corten where the rust look is the design - with the same staining caveat we give on every corten page: keep it away from light paving. All panels come with matching posts, gates and hardware so the privacy run and the gate line read as one fence, not two purchases that almost match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What open area do I need for real privacy?
20–30%. At that range an observer sees shapes and movement, not detail. 30–40% works for screening utility areas or where the observer is far away; anything above 60% open is not a privacy fence regardless of how it is marketed.

Will a privacy fence block my neighbor's second-floor windows?
Honestly, no. A fence blocks sightlines at and below its own height on level ground; a raised observer looking down defeats any fence height you would be allowed to build. That situation needs distance, a pergola or planting. We would rather lose the order than sell a fence that cannot do the job.

Privacy or security - are they the same panel?
No. Privacy panels optimize for blocking sightlines (low open area, taller). Security fences optimize against climbing and cutting (tops, mesh geometry, structure). Some panels do both; many do one well. Tell us which problem you are actually solving and we will point you at the right family - including ours or not.

Can I get privacy without losing all the light?
That is exactly what laser-cut privacy panels are for: 20–30% open area keeps light and air moving while blocking the view. Solid corrugated panels are the choice when you want wind and noise reduction too - you lose the light, you gain shelter.

Do you supply matching privacy gates?
Yes - gate leaves in the same pattern and finish, sized for pedestrian or vehicle openings, with the same low open-area spec so the gate is not the see-through link in your privacy run. Order gates with the panels; matching a pattern later is never as clean.

What is the MOQ and lead time?
One 20ft container, mixed families and heights accepted - the mix-by-exposure approach above ships in one load with posts and hardware. Standard patterns 15–20 days; custom artwork at privacy density 20–25 days including pattern engineering.