Can Deck Boards Be Used for Fencing?

A lot of new builders (and a lot of veteran contractors alike, even) tend to think of building materials as universally interchangeable. Boards that work well on a deck work just as well on a fence, right?

Not exactly. You see, deck boards are specifically cut and milled for deck builds only. On top of that, the dimensions of deck boards usually can’t handle the kind of unique stresses placed on a fence. Skip using deck boards for fencing – and use fence boards instead – when you can.

Below we go over why it’s such a good idea to use deck boards for your deck and fencing material for your fence.

Can Deck Boards Be Used for Fencing?

Though you could technically use deck boards for fencing – including composite deck boards – you would find out pretty quickly why most professionals recommend against this approach.

Expensive

For one thing, deck boards are often a whole lot more expensive than what you’d spend for fencing material. This goes for wooden construction materials (like pressure-treated and cedar) as well as composites. Especially composites!

Secondly, the kinds of board dimensions you’ll find in deck boards are very rarely going to work in a fence application

You see, deck boards are designed to sit on top of a smartly engineered and almost always overbuilt lattice of framing material underneath. Each individual deck board is supported every 16 inches (and often even more than that) and there’s not a lot of room to “wiggle”.

Fences generally don’t have that kind of support structure.

You might have two posts for each run of fence and then a board running across the top and the bottom of the fence slats to tie everything together. Maybe you get a little bit of crossbeam support somewhere in there, too.

That’s not going to be enough “meat” to hold up deck boards, especially when the wind starts to blow.

And that’s the other thing that you really need to think about when choosing materials for the kind of project that you are tackling.

A deck is going to be having force exerted on it in one main direction – down. On top of that, most of that forces going to be located to very small areas at a time (everywhere your feet are).

Fences, the other hand, are going to be subjected to wind and weather pressure that may change and swirl on a moment’s notice. On top of that, you have to deal with gravity itself looking to pull the fence down – not to mention kids, animals, and even nosy neighbors cranking on the fence every now and again.

The material for the job has to be carefully selected to fit.

Deck boards just aren’t going to cut the mustard when you’re looking to build a fence most of the time.

Fewer Customization Options

Another problem with using deck board material on your fence is that you are really restricted to the amount of customization you can do with your deck.

With traditional fencing you can go with a standard picket fence, a wrought iron fence, synthetic and composite options in all different kinds of designs and colors. The sky really is the limit when it comes to overall design.

When you try and use deck boards to build out your fence, though, a lot of those design decisions fall by the wayside.

For starters, there’s really only so many different ways you can cut and utilize 2 x 6 pressure-treated materials or 5/4 wooden material. Eventually you run out of creative options.

Secondly, if you are using pressure-treated your options for finishing your fence are going to be pretty limited.

You have to be smart about how you paint your fence

Choose the wrong kind of paint (even the wrong kind of primer) and the pressure-treated chemicals will repel the finish, leaving your fence looking old and dingy just a few weeks after a fresh coat of paint went up.

Worse, you’ll have an almost nightmare of a time trying to stain pressure-treated materials.

Remember, that same chemical treatment under pressure that makes these wooden construction components so useful for a deck will work to repel the stain from getting deeper into the wood.

That means you’re going to be staining, restating, and restating some more a whole lot more often than you would have with traditional fencing solutions.

Throw expensive composite decking options into the mix – options that can’t be painted or stained reliably (and cost a small fortune compared to fencing material) – and it’s pretty apparent that deck boards just aren’t the way to go.

Closing Thoughts

Those that are just bent on using deck boards for their fence will inevitably find ways to get the job done.

We aren’t any stretch of the imagination suggesting that building a fence from deck board materials would be impossible. Far from it.

You can build a fence (even a halfway reliable fence, though it’s probably not going to be that pretty) out of pretty much anything these days!

What we are saying, though, is that deck boards are not the ideal material to use for this specific application. You’ll have to fight cutting these boards, fastening these boards, and even finishing these boards on your fence almost every single step of the way.

Who wants to deal with all that headache and all that hassle?

There’s a reason they are called deck boards and not just “boards” in the first place!

No, if you have the option (and the budget) to use fencing material specifically designed for fences in mind that’s 100% the way to go.

If, on the other hand, you’ve got a couple of broken fence slats that need to be replaced or a couple of fence “stretchers” that could be beefed up a little bit, you might be able to use some leftover deck boards in a pinch.

You’ll be a whole lot happier if the deck boards stayed on the deck where they belong, though. Especially over the long-term.

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Can Deck Boards Be Used for Fencing?