Cedar Fence in West Linn, OR

Cedar that suits wooded hillside lots, built to step down slopes cleanly and to stay dry at the base under heavy shade.

Cedar handles damp shade better than most fence woods, which is why it fits wooded lots so well. But shade still slows drying, so the way a cedar fence is built here matters more than the board grade. We keep every face board off the soil with a replaceable kickboard, set posts on gravel with concrete crowned to shed water, and add a cap so rain runs off the top edge instead of soaking into the end grain.

Slopes shape the look. Cedar privacy panels are usually stepped, each section level with a short drop at the post, so the top line reads as a staircase down the hill. Cedar pickets and spaced-board styles can instead be racked to follow the ground. Either way, the downhill posts are set deeper.

Height follows the city's lines: 3 feet in the front yard and along the first 20 feet of the side line, then 6 feet. A common plan is a low cedar picket section out front that steps up to full privacy at the 20-foot mark, in matching wood and stain.