5 ft Wood Privacy Fence — Gardner, KS

We replaced a weathered wood fence with a new 5-foot wood privacy fence in Gardner, KS, in April 2026. Five feet screens a backyard without the height of a full 6-foot run, and every post went in 36 inches deep in concrete, below the frost line.

Choosing a 5-foot privacy fence

Six feet is the height most people picture for a privacy fence, but it isn't always the right one. A 5-foot fence screens a patio and most of the yard from the street and the neighbors, while keeping the space feeling more open and letting more light reach the plants along the fence line. It also puts less surface in front of the wind and uses less material than a 6-foot run. The tradeoff is at the top edge. An adult standing close on the other side, or anyone on a raised deck, can see over a 5-foot fence where a 6-foot one would block the view. Before you settle on a height, it's worth checking what your neighborhood covenants allow.

Why old wood fences turn gray and fail

The gray on an old wood fence is the sun at work. UV light breaks down the surface of unsealed wood, and rain washes the loosened fibers away, which leaves that silver, weathered look. Gray on its own is mostly cosmetic. What usually ends a fence's life is lower down, where posts sit in damp ground, rot at the base, and start to lean. When we replace a fence, we build the new one to hold up better in both places. Every post on an RKC privacy fence installation goes 36 inches deep and is set in concrete, below the frost line, and once the new boards have dried they can be stained so they don't gray the way the old ones did.

Building for wind and clay in Gardner

Gardner sits on open, fairly flat ground in southwest Johnson County, where wind crosses the yards with little to slow it down. A solid privacy fence takes that wind like a sail, and the load goes straight into the posts. Underneath, the clay-heavy soil holds water after rain and heaves when it freezes, so a post set shallow in wet, freezing clay is the first thing to give. Deep footings below the frost line are what keep a wood fence standing straight through Kansas winters.

Keeping the new fence from going gray

A new wood fence is the easiest time to start protecting it. Once the boards have had time to dry, a stain and seal holds the color and slows the weathering that grayed the old fence. We handle fence staining and sealing in Gardner in-house, so the same company that built your fence can take care of it. If your fence is gray, leaning, or both, we can tell you at a free estimate whether staining, repair, or replacement makes the most sense.