In a big-dog town like Shawnee, the fence that gives you a private backyard and the fence that holds the dog are usually the same fence — and both are won or lost at the bottom board, especially on the rolling western lots. Build it tight to the ground and you get seclusion and containment in one solid run. RKC Wood Care Pros builds cedar board-on-board, shadow box, vinyl, and composite privacy at $25 to $58 per linear foot — posts 36 inches deep in concrete below the frost line, runs racked tight to the western grade with a rot board on the dog runs, and the first stain coat about a month out by the same in-house crew. 4.9 stars from 85 Google reviews, 400+ fences across the metro since 2021.
THE PRIVACY FENCE THAT ALSO HOLDS THE DOG
Shawnee runs a lot of big, active dogs, and around here the fence that gives you a private backyard and the fence that holds the dog are almost always the same fence. A solid six-foot run screens the yard and, done right, gives a jumper no foothold and a barker no parade of passersby to react to. The catch is that a privacy fence only contains a dog if it's tight all the way to the ground — which is exactly where a lot of them fall short.
Western Shawnee — the ground rolling toward Clear Creek, Grey Oaks, and the K-7 corridor — drops and climbs enough that a fence can't just run level. Step the panels down a slope in blocks and you leave a triangle open under each one: a clear line of sight for the neighbor and an easy way out for the dog. We rack the run instead, letting the rails ride the grade so the pickets stay vertical and the bottom hugs the dirt the whole way across.
Cedar is the default across Shawnee, but the two halves of town ask for different things. The older east — the Nieman Road renovation stretch and the flat, tree-shaded 1970s blocks — leans practical, with more room for a budget pine run or a chain-link line coming out for something solid. The newer subdivisions west toward De Soto lean toward vinyl and composite that skip the upkeep. We build to the block you're actually on.
A cedar privacy fence is only private while the boards stay flat and closed. Leave it bare and the grain silvers, the boards cup, and the joints open into slots you can see — and a dog can see — right through. We run the staining ourselves: an opening coat about a month after the build once the wood dries down, then a refresh on a two-year rhythm. Same crew, start to finish, so the fence keeps doing the one job you bought it for.
WHERE A DOG FENCE FAILS — AND HOW WE BUILD IT
| The weak point | Where most fences fail | How we build it |
|---|---|---|
| The gap under the fence | On a western slope, panels stepped down in blocks leave a triangle open beneath each one — a sightline for the neighbor and a squeeze-out for the dog | We rack the run to the grade so the bottom rides tight to the ground the whole way, no gap to see through or slip under |
| Digging at the base | A determined digger works the soft dirt right at the bottom board until there is a tunnel | A pressure-treated rot board set at grade takes the digging and the ground moisture off the cedar — buried an inch or held tight to the dirt |
| Climbing and jumping | Chain link is a ladder of toe-holds, and an open fence keeps a dog wound up at everything that moves past | A solid board-on-board face gives no foothold and blocks the view that sets a dog off in the first place — calmer dog, real privacy |
| The gate | A gate left ajar or nosed open is just an open fence, and the yard leaks | Self-closing hinges and a drop-rod latch a paw cannot work — the weak point on most dog fences, built shut here |
| Height and profile | A four-foot run or a gappy panel is a suggestion, not a barrier, for a large breed | A full six-foot solid panel is the standard on the big-dog runs — tall enough to hold, closed enough to screen |
Screen the yard and hold the dog in one run — that's what a solid privacy fence does in Shawnee when it's built tight to the ground. The metro-wide breakdown of privacy profiles and the 36-inch standard lives on our Kansas City privacy fence installation page; the neighboring Lenexa and Overland Park markets each have their own hub.
THE PRIVACY MENU
The Shawnee standard · the dog-solid pick
Two overlapping rows of cedar pickets, no light through the run — the tightest screen on the menu and the face a big dog gets no purchase on. Cedar carries its own rot- and bug-resistant oils, no chemical treatment. On a containment run we add a pressure-treated rot board at grade to take the digging. Plan an opening stain coat about a month out, then a refresh every couple of years.
Both faces finished · eases the west-side wind
Pickets mount to alternating sides of the rail, so the fence reads finished from both yards and a vent runs between the boards. On the open western lots where the wind gets a run at a tall fence, that vent lets the gusts through instead of pushing the whole panel onto the posts. A hair less private up close than a solid face, but the neighbor-friendly, wind-friendly build.
Zero stain cycle · the western-subdivision pick
Molded PVC panels stiffened with an aluminum spine, closed to the ground and the same on both faces, and they never see a brush. It's the go-to in the newer subdivisions west toward De Soto, where owners want the privacy without the two-year stain habit. Solid to the grade means it contains as well as it screens; the heavier panels get posts sunk to full depth to carry them.
Long-hold · reads like stained cedar
Capped wood-polymer boards that pass for a stained cedar fence at a glance and never ask for a maintenance coat. The up-front cost is real, but it earns out for a Shawnee owner planning to stay put a decade — or anyone who'd rather not track a stain schedule on a long run. Solid, heavy, and dog-proof to the ground, with no gray, gapping stretch waiting a few summers out.
WHERE THE PER-FOOT NUMBER COMES FROM
| Cost driver | What it does to the price | Typical in Shawnee |
|---|---|---|
| Material choice | Cedar is the Shawnee standard; a budget pine run holds down cost in the older east; vinyl and composite cost more up front but skip the stain cycle out west | Cedar board-on-board $25–35 · vinyl $38–52 · composite to $58 |
| Profile & height | The overlap on a board-on-board face, or a shadow-box with its double picket count, runs above a plain solid dog-ear across the same six feet | Board-on-board $25–35 · shadow box $28–38 |
| Rot board for the dog runs | A pressure-treated kickboard at grade adds a course of material but takes the digging and the ground rot off the pickets | Recommended on the big-dog and low-lying runs |
| West-side slope racking | Racking a run to follow the western elevation takes more layout time than a straight shot across a flat eastern lot | Handled where the grade calls for it, itemized up front |
| Rocky western digging | The clay out west runs rocky, so the post holes are slower to dig and sometimes need a breaker bar | A west-lot line item where we hit rock, spelled out |
| Tear-out, gates & stain | Pulling an old eastern chain-link line, each welded gate, and the first stain coat are quoted on top of the per-foot run | Common on the east-side conversions · first coat included on cedar |
Cedar sets the going rate in Shawnee, and four lot-specific lines move it from there: a rot board on a big-dog run, racking on a western slope, the slower rocky digging out west, and pulling an old chain-link line on an east-side conversion. Each lands on its own line rather than buried in a per-foot average, so what the dog, the grade, and the ground add is spelled out before a shovel moves.
SHAWNEE PRIVACY FENCE PRICING
$25–35
per linear foot installed
Overlapping pickets, full screen. The Shawnee standard and the big-dog pick.
$28–38
per linear foot installed
Both faces finished, with the vent that eases the open west-side wind.
$38–52
per linear foot installed
Solid, no stain schedule, finished both faces. The western-subdivision favorite.
Composite holds the top of the range near $58 per linear foot and skips the stain schedule for good; a budget pine run in the older east comes in under cedar. The lot-specific add-ons — a rot board for the dog, racking on a slope, rocky western digging, or hauling an old chain-link line — land on their own lines, never folded into the per-foot figure. Call (913) 286-1091 to set up a walkthrough.
HOW THE PRIVACY FENCE GOES UP
We come out and read the yard on foot — is the dog the reason for the fence, does the west-side ground fall away, is there an old chain-link line on the east side to pull. Then every piece lands on a written estimate: footage, each gate, a rot board where a dog run needs one, any tear-out, material, concrete, and the opening stain coat, all broken out so you can see what drives the total instead of trusting a round number.
Material and profile settled, we chalk the run to your property pins, mark where the walk and drive gates land, and file the 811 locate so buried lines are flagged before we dig. On the east-side conversions we strip the old chain link — mesh, top rail, and every footing — down to clean ground, so the new privacy fence stands on its own posts and not around a rusted-out relic.
Every post goes 36 inches into the ground on a flared, concrete-locked footing, deep enough that the freeze-thaw can't lift it. On the western slopes we rack the run so the pickets stay plumb and the bottom stays tight to the dirt — no escape gap, no sightline. Containment and low-lying runs get the pressure-treated rot board at grade, and rails and pickets go on with galvanized ring-shank fasteners that grab and hold.
Fresh cedar holds too much moisture to take stain at install, so the first coat waits about a month — a penetrating semi-transparent finish worked in by hand by the crew that built the fence. That coat keeps the boards flat and the joints closed, which on a privacy-and-dog fence is the difference between a solid wall and a gappy one. We keep every job on file and reach back out when the two-year refresh is due.
RECENT SHAWNEE INSTALLS
REVIEWS
4.9 ★ · 85 Google reviews
Every review is on our Google Business Profile — read them there, unedited.
Read all 85 reviews on GoogleSHAWNEE PRIVACY FENCE QUESTIONS
OTHER SHAWNEE FENCE OPTIONS
The full cedar, pine, and composite breakdown — species and grades, plus the wind-and-grade 36-inch spec that carries the western frontier lots.
Explore Wood Fence in Shawnee →Galvanized and vinyl-coated mesh — still common in the older east, and the thing a lot of Shawnee owners are converting away from toward a solid fence.
Explore Chain Link Fence in Shawnee →White, tan, and woodgrain vinyl on aluminum-insert rails — zero staining, 30-year life, and the low-upkeep favorite in the western subdivisions.
Explore Vinyl Fence in Shawnee →Powder-coated steel — the see-through look for the hilly western view lots near Lake Quivira where you want the boundary marked but the scenery kept.
Explore Ornamental Iron in Shawnee →Rust-free and lighter than ornamental steel — the choice around pools and on the sloped western lots where a solid fence isn't the goal.
Explore Aluminum Fence in Shawnee →The cedar profiles, cap-rail details, and finishes built to read right in the newer subdivisions west of I-435 where covenants apply.
Explore HOA-Conscious Fencing in Shawnee →Racked-panel resets on settled western slopes, tree-limb-damage rebuilds in the older east, and gate re-hangs across every Shawnee material.
Fence Repair in Shawnee →The service that keeps a privacy fence private: in-house cedar staining, first coat about a month out, a refresh every two years by the same crew.
Fence Staining in Shawnee →Walk gates and double-drive gates on welded frames with self-closing, drop-rod hardware — sized for the mower and built to keep the dog in.
Gate Installation in Shawnee →Need the full Shawnee fence overview? Visit the Shawnee fence installation hub.
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