Glossary
Fencing terms, defined
36 terms that turn up in fence quotes, in ordinances and in conversations with crews, explained without jargon and with a note on why each one matters here.
Parts of a fence
- Line post
- An intermediate post along a straight run. It carries the fence between corners and takes far less load than a corner or gate post, which is why it is the smallest post on the job.
- Terminal post
- A post at an end, corner or gate, where the fence stops or changes direction. Terminal posts carry tension and cantilever loads, so they get larger material and deeper, wider footings than line posts.
- Rail, or stringer
- The horizontal member spanning between posts that pickets fasten to. A six foot privacy fence normally uses three rails; shorter fences often use two.
- Picket
- The vertical board or bar making up the face of the fence. Spacing between pickets determines whether a fence is privacy, semi-privacy or open.
- Rot board, or kickboard
- A wide treated board along the bottom of a wood fence. It takes the ground contact instead of the pickets, closes gaps under panels on sloping ground, and is replaceable when it eventually goes.
- Post cap
- A cover on top of a post. On wood it sheds water off the end grain, which is where a post absorbs moisture fastest, so it is functional as well as decorative.
- Tie wire
- The short twisted wires holding chain link fabric to its posts and top rail. They loosen over years and are the usual reason chain link starts to bag before the fabric itself has failed.
- Tension bar and tension band
- On chain link, a flat bar woven through the end of the fabric and clamped to a terminal post by bands. This is what holds the fabric taut against a pull.
Wood and materials
- Southern yellow pine
- The dominant fence lumber in Georgia, milled close to the Chattahoochee Valley. It takes pressure treatment well and is the reason a wood fence is the cheapest solid fence in this market.
- Ground contact rating
- A pressure treatment retention level intended for wood in or near soil. It carries substantially more preservative than the above-ground rating and is what belongs below grade. The two look identical when delivered.
- Checking
- The shallow splits that open along the grain as wood repeatedly dries and rewets. It is normal weathering rather than failure, and it is cosmetic in a way that rot at the soil line is not.
- Cupping
- A board curling across its width as one face dries faster than the other. Common on wide flat pickets in a climate with strong sun and high humidity.
- Co-extrusion
- A vinyl manufacturing method putting the ultraviolet inhibitors and titanium dioxide in the outer layer where sunlight lands, with a structural layer beneath. It is the difference between vinyl that stays white and vinyl that chalks in Georgia sun.
- Powder coating
- A dry finish applied electrostatically and baked on, used on aluminum and steel fence. It is the corrosion protection as well as the color, which is why a deep gouge from a trimmer is worth touching up.
- Galvanized
- Steel coated in zinc to resist corrosion. Standard on chain link fabric and framework. Vinyl coating is applied over galvanized wire rather than instead of it.
- Wire gauge
- The thickness of chain link wire, where a lower number is thicker. The difference between a light residential gauge and a heavier one is the difference between fabric that bags where a dog leans and fabric that does not.
Styles and layouts
- Stockade
- Privacy fence with pickets butted together on one side of the rails. The cheapest privacy layout, and the one where gaps open as the boards shrink.
- Good-neighbor, or shadowbox
- Privacy fence with pickets alternating on either side of the rails so both properties see the same face. It also lets air through, which makes it behave better in wind than solid panel.
- Board-on-board
- Privacy fence with overlapping pickets, so no gap opens as the wood dries and shrinks. Costs more than stockade and is the layout that still reads as solid in year five.
- Racking
- Pivoting a fence panel so the rails follow sloping ground while the pickets stay vertical. The fence line stays continuous with no gaps underneath. Manufactured panels rack up to a stated limit; site-built wood racks further.
- Stepping
- Keeping each panel level and dropping it in stages down a slope, leaving a staircase top line and triangular gaps beneath the panels. Suits abrupt grade changes and panel styles that will not rack.
- Semi-privacy
- Any layout that blocks the view straight on while leaving deliberate gaps for air to pass. Shadowbox and spaced picket are the common forms, and both handle wind better than solid panel at the same cost.
- Puppy picket
- An aluminum or vinyl panel configuration with tighter picket spacing in the lower section, so small dogs cannot pass through while the upper section keeps a normal open look.
Gates and hardware
- Diagonal brace
- The member running corner to corner across a gate frame to stop it racking out of square. It has to run from the bottom hinge corner up to the top latch corner so the weight of the gate loads it in tension.
- Drop rod
- A vertical rod on one leaf of a double gate that drops into a socket in the ground, fixing that leaf so the other can latch against it.
- Cantilever slide gate
- A gate that travels parallel to the fence line on rollers rather than swinging. Needs clear space alongside the opening but no swing arc, which suits drives that rise behind the gate.
- Self-closing, self-latching
- Gate hardware that returns the gate to closed and engages the latch without anyone doing anything. Standard on pool barriers and worth fitting anywhere a dog is behind the gate.
- Gate operator
- The powered mechanism that opens and closes an automatic gate. A complete installation also needs power at the gate, a control method, and safety devices that reverse the gate when something interrupts it.
Farm fence and ground
- H-brace
- A braced corner or end assembly of two posts joined by a horizontal member with a tensioned diagonal wire. It is what carries the tension of a stretched wire fence, and it is the structural element of a farm fence rather than an upgrade to it.
- Woven wire, or field fence
- Wire fence with a graduated mesh, tighter at the bottom, for general livestock perimeter. The workhorse product on acreage.
- High-tensile wire
- Smooth wire designed to be stretched and to return, rather than to stay where it is put. It covers long distances cheaply and is re-tensioned at in-line strainers as temperature and time slacken it.
- Fall Line
- The geological boundary where the hard crystalline rock of the Piedmont gives way to the softer sediments of the Coastal Plain, running northeast across Georgia from Columbus to Augusta. Columbus sits on it, which is why the soil under a post hole changes across the city.
- Cecil series
- The dominant Piedmont soil north of the Fall Line: red clay over weathered crystalline rock, with a sandy loam surface where it has not eroded. It grips a post firmly and drains slowly.
- Easement
- A right held by someone else, usually a utility or the local government, over part of a property. Easements very often run along rear and side lot lines, do not show on the ground, and are shown on the plat or survey.
- Sight triangle
- The open area at a street corner that has to stay clear so drivers can see across it. The Columbus ordinance requires fences, walls and hedges to sit at least twenty feet from any corner right-of-way line.
- Certificate of Appropriateness
- The approval issued by the Board of Historic and Architectural Review for exterior changes to a designated historic property in Columbus, required before construction begins. Adding a fence is named among the alterations that need one.
Where these show up
The post and footing guide uses most of the ground terms, the slope guide covers racking and stepping in detail, and the farm fence guide covers braced assemblies.
Get a price on your fence
Call (706) 786-4625 or use the quote form, whichever is easier.