[mellow music]
- How many of you out there have a space outside of your home
that you wish was a bit more private?
Maybe you live near a busy street or you have nosy neighbors.
Whatever your dilemma, I've got a solution for you.
Today I'm going to show you how to build a privacy screen for an outdoor space.
I'm going to take you through the step-by-step process
and teach you how to do it right.
I'm confident that by the end of this video,
you'll be able to take what you learned and do it yourself.
When we talk about a privacy screen, we're not talking about a full-length fence.
Think of it more like a partition that can block off a portion of your yard.
Privacy screens not only create a much-needed barrier,
but they're also great for adding some style.
The first thing you need to determine is the location of your privacy screen.
Is it going into the ground, on a deck?
Is it part of a patio?
What you're attaching it to
will determine part of your design and the materials that you need.
For this situation, we're going to be
putting a privacy screen in front of the pool filter.
The pool filter's right off of the pool.
It's a beautiful backyard, but it's not something you really want to look at.
This is a great example of how a privacy screen
can help you hide something that you need to access
but you don't necessarily want to look at it all the time.
My friend Jon is starting some measurements.
He's a licensed contractor, and he's going to be helping me throughout this project.
So we're going to explain where we're putting it,
why we're putting it, and get our measurements.
Here we have our pool filter,
and we want to hide the front and side, right,
so we're going to go for two sides, kind of an L shape,
but we're figuring out our exact length and our height,
so what'd you come up with?
- So we have 39 inches from the edge of that trim
over to the edge of this post. - Okay.
- So if we dig our footers here,
we can have our front screen at 39 inches that's right here.
- Okay, and as far as our height goes,
we're kind of letting our utility determine how high we need to go
because we want to cover that outlet, so how high is that?
- We have 72 inches to the top of this electrical box...
- Yeah, okay.
- Which is conveniently the same place as where the top of this post is.
- It's perfect.
- And since this is already footered all the way down,
so if we attach right to that, we should be in good shape.
Out here, we're clear with the pipes,
so we can dig a footer and we'll be in good shape.
- For our situation, we're going to be able
to work off of the existing deck post back against the house,
and then we'll install two additional posts here in the front.
Okay, it's time to create a materials list.
This screen should be a fairly simple build for us
and for you at home if you know your way around some power tools.
Now, every privacy screen's materials list could look a little different,
depending on the size and the design you choose.
For our purposes, we need the following:
three 4x4x8 pressure treated lumber posts,
1x6x8s for horizontal slats,
stainless steel screws,
6-inch FastenMaster HeadLOKs,
one box of stainless steel ring shanked nails,
two bags of gravel,
four 50-pound bags of fast-setting concrete,
and a couple gallons of water.
All right, we're going to get ready to start digging our holes for our posts,
and what we need to do is make sure we're exactly placed,
so our privacy screen is going to be at a 90-degree angle,
so one post will go here, then the screen will continue on,
and then the other post will go right here.
So what we have is marking paint,
and now we're going to mark those holes, dig our holes,
and then we'll go build the rest of our screen that fits it exactly.
Another thing to mention is that anytime you're putting up
any sort of permanent structure like this,
you want to check with your local building codes and zoning
and just see if you have to pull a permit.
- And then you want to call 811 to make sure
that you have no utilities that you're messing with.
- Okay, for the diameter of the hole, basically how big, how wide
do I need to make my hole, the way to do it
is to calculate three times the size of what's going into it.
This is a 4x4, so 4 inches times three, I need a 12-inch hole.
You can do this a couple different ways.
We're going to be digging our holes and putting in our posts first
because we do have a good bit of plumbing under the ground here.
Now, we've checked with our pool guy, and we have a pretty good idea.
I think we're going to be safe,
but we still feel like that would be the better route.
It's also a great idea to keep some plastic on hand
that, if you need to move some dirt, which we're going to be unloading a lot,
you can put it onto a tarp and it doesn't kill your grass.
Also it's easier to move it if you have excess.
All right, when you're using a post hole digger,
it's really great, does a lot of the work for you.
When you drop it down into your hole, your handles are together.
Then you'll spread the handles apart, lets it grab all the dirt,
bring it out, and then put them back together to release it.
We're going down about 24 inches.
Now, we're in a really warm climate, but if you are not,
if you're an area that can freeze, you want to know what your frost line is,
and you generally want to make sure
that your hole goes 6 inches below that frost line.
- And the reason why is, if any water gets below that and freezes,
it could heave the post up out of the ground.
So, basically, if you're up in the Northeast
and your freeze line is at 36 inches, you want to go to 42.
That way, it keeps the post from coming up out of the ground.
- Now that we've got our hole to 24 inches deep,
we've come to a really important step.
We need to add 4 inches of crushed stone or gravel to the bottom of the hole.
The stone will help with drainage around the post.
This simple measure will also provide
a solid, level surface for our post to sit on.
All right, our gravel is in, it's been tamped down by the post,
and now what we need to do is determine
how much of the top of this post we need to trim off
so that it's the exact height we want this privacy screen to be.
All right, so we're using the level coming off the top of the post,
which is going to be the very top of our privacy screen,
and now once Jon's level, I am going to measure down into my tamped stone.
I have a flat surface,
and that'll tell me exactly the height that my post should be cut down to.
We are at 95 inches.
- We got our reference point here, and then we'll level off of that.
Now, this measurement's not going to be exactly 95.
It could be a little more, or it could be a little less.
- Right, depending on exactly where our stone landed,
but we're pretty close, 94 3/4.
- All right, cool. - Okay.
All right, so we've set up a little workstation here,
and when you're about to build,
it really is important to be working on a level surface,
so we've got two sawhorses
and then a sturdy piece of plywood that we'll work off of,
and even went for a little luxury,
popped up a tent to keep us out of the sun and comfortable as we're building.
As I mentioned, we are going to be building this privacy screen
with an L shape, and so I did a rough sketch.
I'm not an artist,
but it shows you guys a little bit of what we're going to be doing.
While we're over here under the tent with our workstation,
we're going to be focusing on building this larger portion,
and then the smaller area over here will actually be built in place
because part of that's going to be working off of the deck.
Okay, so the first part of this build is going to be actually cutting down
our 4x4s, which we leveled and measured and got our lengths on,
and to do that, we're going to be using a circular saw.
- So for cutting these down,
I think using a circular saw is going to be a better option
than using a miter saw or something like that.
This has a little bit more agility, so we can kind of, like, work through,
and you're not throwing a piece of heavy lumber on top of, you know, a miter saw.
- Yeah, absolutely, so it's a preference thing, but for us,
we're going to go with the circular saw, and Jon mentioned that these are heavy.
I also should mention that they are pressure treated.
Anytime you have wood that's going to come in contact with the ground,
you want to make sure that you're using pressure treated
because that will prevent rot.
Now, the one thing to keep in mind is that when you're using pressure treated lumber,
you can't paint or stain it immediately,
so our privacy screen is going to need to dry and cure for, like, one to two months
before we can actually apply stain.
You want to really check out your individual product
and what you plan to do to it, and the timing will vary a little bit.
All right, so we're going to start off by measuring and cutting our wood.
All right, so we're going to measure 95 inches,
so Jon's just marking it,
and I'm using a Speed Square to give myself a nice, straight line.
So the blade on our circular saw
is not deep enough to cut all the way through this 4x4,
so what Jon's doing is marking our measurement on all four sides.
This way, we can cut, then flip the board and cut again
and we'll be cut all the way through.
And now we're going to safety up and use our circular saw to make these cuts.
- So one of the things that I really like about this saw is,
it's obviously light.
It's not corded.
It has a thumb lock, which is great for safety,
so if I go and pull the trigger right now, it's not going to start.
So you want to make sure that your blade is clear of the blade guard,
but when you come into it, you want to make sure
I'm pressing my thumb lock down, pulling the trigger,
and you're starting away from the material.
If you come into it and then try to start it, it's going to jam up a little bit.
So when we go to engage, I'm going to use the Speed Square,
and it's going to act as a guide along with the pencil line.
- So to use the Speed Square, line up the blade with your cut line,
and then you can take the Speed Square, slide it up,
and then hold it securely.
This is a great way to make sure you get a nice, straight, steady cut.
Pressure treated wood is treated with chemicals,
and you don't want to breathe in any of the chemicals
when you're cutting via the sawdust.
You want to make sure that you're using a respirator dust mask.
You also always, always want to make sure that you're using eye protection
when you're working with any type of power tool.
And we're going to cut through, flip it, and cut again.
[rock music]
Okay, so our two main posts are cut to size,
but this third 4x4 we need to cut down
for our top and bottom rails on the main section.
- So our total is 39 inches, so we're going to subtract 3 1/2 inches
because these are actually 3 1/2, not a true 4 inches.
- 4x4s are 3 1/2. Tricky, I know.
- So that brings us out to 32 inches.
- All right, so the total cut is going to be 32.
When these add on, we're at 39, right?
- Correct. - Okay.
[rock music]
So all of our posts are cut to size,
and now we're building out what will be the framework
for our larger side of the privacy screen.
We've clamped one of our long vertical posts to our plywood
so that it's super secure,
and that will hold everything in place while we begin building.
So now what we need to do is attach all of these posts together,
and what we're using here are screws that are treated
specifically with a coating for pressure treated wood.
All right, so we're going to start attaching down at the other end
and give you one of these.
Now, I should note, these are really long 6-inch fasteners,
but that's what we need because it's going to go all the way through the one post
and grip into the next one.
- So this is an impact driver.
The difference between this and a regular drill:
it has enough torque to be able to drive through this
without needing to predrill it.
- All right, we're going to put two on each end.
[upbeat music]
Okay, so now that we have our frame all set,
we're going to get moving onto the wooden slats,
and this is where you can really get creative
and have a little bit of fun and change up the style.
We are going with 1x6 pieces of wood,
and I've decided that I want to make this look kind of like the fence,
so we're going to separate them, just put a little gap in between,
and just consistent horizontal slats.
But you could go with a combination of wider boards and thinner boards.
You could vary the space between them. You could go vertically.
This is really where you have complete creative control.
The first thing before we can actually attach these,
we need to cut the boards down to size.
Jon's going to cut them down to exactly 39 inches
so the boards will cover from one post all the way to the other post,
a perfect 39 inches, and then we'll attach them.
Okay, now that all of our boards are cut down to size,
we can attach them onto the framework,
and we're going to be doing that using a hammer and galvanized patio deck nails.
The reason that we're using these is that they are exterior,
they're going to work really well with our pressure treated lumber,
and they're ring shanked.
And also just because you will see these nailheads,
we went ahead and measured exactly where they'll go on each board
so that we have a consistent straight line all the way down.
Okay, so we have our first board attached,
but now we need to determine the spacing between each board.
I got a little trick for you. I like to call it a cheater block.
And, basically, I cut a scrap piece of one of our 1-bys here,
and we use this exact same piece every time.
We're going to have consistent straight lines
and not have to measure every single one as we go.
It's a really quick way to do it and still get consistency.
Go back in here, rest it down.
All right, so this is the main panel of the privacy screen is built,
and now what we're going to do is put it down into our predug holes,
we're going to fill it with concrete,
we're going to make sure we're nice and level, brace it up,
and then once this piece is installed, we'll build off the house
and add the smaller turning section of our L shape.
Now that our posts are in our holes,
we want to make sure that our privacy screen is level and plumb,
so level horizontally and then vertically level, which is plumb.
All right, first thing we're doing is leveling off of our fixed point,
which is our deck post here.
- I'm pretty happy with that.
- We did a pretty good job with our holes and the distance in our measuring.
This side is level.
Now we're going to level across the front.
- Pretty good. - Pretty close.
Maybe a little bit high on that side,
so Jon's just going to use a hammer and tap it down just a bit.
- Good? - Good.
We're attaching temporary braces to the front and sides of our privacy screen
so that it will hold it sturdy in place when we put our concrete in.
To make these braces, we're attaching a 1x4 onto each side
and then putting stakes into the ground.
Jon's leveling, and once I know it's exactly where we want it,
I'm attaching a screw through the side of my 1x4
into the stake holding it securely in place.
For stakes, you can pick some up at Lowe's,
or you can cut them yourself out of any leftover scrap wood.
You just want to make sure that you have an angled point at the bottom.
Makes it easier to go right into the ground.
All right, so to make sure that our posts are supersecure,
we're adding some quick-dry concrete that's going to go down into the holes.
We're using a fast-setting concrete, and we picked up about four or five bags.
Each hole is taking about two bags each.
What I really like about this is that we don't need to premix it,
so we're not adding our concrete and water in a bucket and then putting it in.
We can add the concrete to our hole dry and then add water on top
and it'll still give you the strength and durability
but kind of save us a couple extra steps.
You want to stop about 4 to 6 inches from the top of the hole.
You can also check out another how-to video on setting your posts into concrete.
Click the link.
We're moving on to building the smaller portion of our privacy screen.
This is the section that's going to be a little bit smaller
and actually attach to the post on the deck.
Jon's attached a spacer board and then a 2x4 directly onto the deck post
that gets us nice and straight and level, so we'll work off of that.
And now he's leveling,
and we're going to measure out and cut our slats exactly for each piece.
One thing to remember is that we're lining up our slats perfectly
with the same location and positioning that the other ones had.
We're using the same hammer and nails and keeping our spacing the same
as we did on the front side just to give it, again, a look of consistency.
So now we're going to use our cheater block on the backside,
but on the front, we're more concerned
with making sure it visually looks perfectly aligned.
We're also hitting the ends with a little bit of sandpaper
just to make sure that it's nice and smooth and finished.
For my bottom three boards,
I'm going to install them just a little bit differently.
We want to be able to easily access the plumbing in here,
so even though this is a privacy screen,
if you have an area where you want it to be private but also easily accessible,
I'm going to use screws to put these ones in.
This is much easier than if I were to continue with a hammer and nails.
With the nails, it would be hard. I'd have to pry it back off.
But with the drill and screws, if we ever need to access down there,
we can zip them back out and easily put them back on.
Okay, now that we have all of these horizontal boards on,
the only thing that remains are to attach the top two,
and that will require us to take our brace off,
which we can totally do now because this is really secure.
All of these boards are fastened into this post,
and it's good to remove it.
Okay, so we're just about done.
We need to remove the rest of our temporary braces,
and then we need to backfill the dirt around our holes,
set everything back up so we're good as new.
So we saved dirt from when we dug the holes,
and we're using that to backfill in.
We left about 4 to 6 inches at the top of our concrete,
so now we just need to get this all back to normal.
Okay, our build is complete, and our privacy screen looks awesome.
It's doing exactly what we intended: blocking the pool filter,
and it's even going to help out with the noise of it.
Even though our privacy screen looks great,
it's going to look even better in a couple months
when we stain it to match the rest of the fence and this yard,
but, remember, because we used pressure treated wood,
we need to give it one to three months to fully dry out.
So, for now, our work is done.
We'll be back. We'll stain it. It's going to be good as new.
As always, do it right. Start with Lowe's.
Want to learn more?
Be sure to check out the Lowe's YouTube channel
for great step-by-step and how-to videos
and lowes.com/howto for all kinds of projects.