DIY Picket Fence (With a Gate & Entrance for Cats)
How to Make a Picket Fence with a Gate and a cat face cat entrance
How to Make a Picket Fence.
How to Make a Picket Fence with a Gate and a cat face cat entrance
Background
My daughter went from a bouncer loving bundle of sitting cuteness to a full blown jogger overnight. At that age, when she near anything dangerous (i.e., everything) I was no more than 2 inches from her at all times (I helicopted, whatever).
That being said, we wanted to have a small fence to block her from leaving our newly created backyard hangout. Our backyard also happened to be the major crossing path for a number of adorable stray cats. These little cuties walked this path long before we bought the house – it was only fair that I design the picket fence with that in mind. I had no idea how to make a picket fence when I started but I found the entire process pretty straightforward. It’s definitely a project that I think you can take on.
Keep reading to learn how to make a picket fence of your own. Pickets and all!
Categories and Difficulty
Every Project is ranked by Tool Category and Difficulty Level.
Click below to learn more
alley cat
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Tools
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Materials
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Cut List
6′ Fence Pickets
- Each picket is 4″ in width. We will cut the pickets in half. So each picket accounts for 8″ of material width. I spaced each picket 1″ from the other. This means that one 6′ picket will cover a total 10″ of space. Seven 6′ pickets covered 70″ which was the distance that I needed for my fence. You need to determine the length of the fence that you want. Also, my 70″ fence doubled as a gate and opened and closed fine. If you are building any longer than this I would worry that the hinges will not support it. If you do not want this section of fence to open then you can build it as long as you want. If you want to build a long fence with a gate then I suggest making the gate section smaller than 70″ and then build the rest of the fence separately. Pick through the pile, pickets are brittle and some are going to be in rough shape. Get at least one spare.
Two Pressure Treated 2×4’s
- One of the important lessons on how to make a picket fence is to understand that the wood must be pressure treated. Wood that is not pressure treated will eventually rot.
- Cut these 2×4’s equal to the desired total length of the fence.
One (1) 4′ Pressure treated 2×4 or One (1) 4′ 4×4 fence post
- It is likely that your situation isn’t exactly like mine. I suggest jumping down to section 5 real quick to see what option is better for you. If you aren’t budding up to an existing structure and if you need to dig an actual fence post then get a 4×4 fence post instead. They are a little harder to cut to size but they will not twist over time like a fully exposed 2×4 would.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
How to Make Fence Pickets
How to cut pickets for a picket fence, the easy way
We didn’t design this as a privacy fence and a height of 3′ works great. That being said, our local home depot sold pickets that are 6′ in length.
Because of this, we can purchase 6′ fence pickets and cut them in half. Each 6′ picket is under $4 and I only needed seven (7) 6′ pieces to cover the distance.
Take your 6′ pickets and cut them in half.
Now you have seven (7) mini pickets and seven (7) three foot rectangles.
- Put a three foot rectangle behind one of the mini pickets and trace the top design onto it with a pencil.
- Cut alone the pencil line.
- I used my scroll saw but a dremel, hacksaw or a jig saw would work fine.
- Your rectangle magically transform into a mini picket fence!
- Repeat this process with the rest of the rectangles.
- Check your pickets for blemishes. You will get ones with frayed edges, some knotty, chippy, choppy and all things between. To mediate this, hand sand problematic areas with 80 and then 120 grit sand paper – you are working with pressure treated wood (i.e., chemicals) so wear a mask. Personally, I wouldn’t over obsess with this. Paint will minimize the look and they generally will blend in.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Cutting the cat face cat entrance
Let’s make a Face Fence, i.e., a Fence with a Face
This is where the picket producing protagonist pummels pre-conceived perceptions people place upon pressure treated pine picket fences. BOOM ::mic drop::
For this step we need to print out the cat face.
I wanted the face to span three (3) pickets. To do this correctly, we need to account for the 1″ gap between the pickets.
Cutest Toes in the Business
How to cut a pattern into a picket fence
- Print the cat face (see below for downloadable file)
- Lay three pickets out spaced 1″ apart (or whatever spacing you will use for the fence).
- Make sure that the cat face is the size that you want. If it isn’t you will need to resize the image and reprint.
- Lay the printed sheets on top of the three pickets (with the spacing). Try not to let the whiskers of the face extend too close to the edge of any pickets.
- Cut the sections of the printer paper that are in the gaps between the pickets.
- You should now have three sections of the cat face with some of the printed face discarded (see above).
- Wrap the part of the pickets that the printer paper touches in painters tape
- Wearing your mask and gloves while preferably outdoors spray the spray adhesive on to the painters tape.
- Carefully place the printed sections back on to the pickets. This step is tricky and you may mess up. If so, just remove the tape, reprint the face and start over. I do not recommend spraying the adhesive directly on to the face boards.
- Let the adhesive dry
- Using your scroll saw, jigsaw, dremel or hacksaw trace the outline of the cat face.
- Remove the painters tape that is left on the pickets
- stand back in awe.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Assembling the Picket Fence
Where a Picket Becomes a Fence
We can now line our pickets up, space them properly and screw them into the 2x4s.
Cutting 2×4’s to length: Cut your 2×4 to the exact length of the opening that you are fencing in. This means that you will have 2×4’s sticking out of each side. That’s what we want. You will need to attach the bolt portion of the gate latch to that excess wood.
Again, as mentioned above – my fence was 70″ in length. If you are making a fence that is any longer then you should section the gate portion separately.
Thankfully, 70″ was just short enough to allow the hinges to work properly. If you are not gating the fence then it really doesn’t matter.
Space your pickets evenly on the floor: To do this, I used a small piece of scrap wood as a spacer. I highly recommend doing this to ensure that everything is even.
Once you have triple checked that the pickets are spaced out evenly:
- Place your first 2×4 just above the cat face, make sure that it is completely above the face or you will see it from the other side.
- Optional – you can put woodglue on the parts of the picket fence that touch the 2×4. I did not do this.
- Check that the 2×4 is level
- Using the speed square as a reference, make sure that all of the pickets remained straight.
- Screw two screws through the 2×4 and into each picket in a diagonal pattern (zoom in on the picture above for reference). Screwing diagonally helps prevent the pickets from shifting. The screws risk poking through the front of the pickets so don’t drive them too far into the 2×4’s.
- Lay the second 2×4 a foot or so higher than the other.
- Optional – you can put woodglue on the parts of the picket fence that touch the 2×4. I did not do this.
- Screw two screws through the second 2×4 and into each picket in a diagonal pattern (zoom in on the picture above for reference, deja vu right?).
- Optional – I turned the project over and used my nail gun to shoot a few nails through the front of each picket into the 2×4’s this gave the pickets a bit more stability.
- If your section is 70″ or less then you should be able to pick this solid piece of work up with no fear that pickets are falling out. If they are, make sure that the screws are getting to the pickets. Pickets are very thin and the screw are just barely going to catch. If they are loose then use one or both of the optional steps above.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Painting the Picket Fence
My wife loves me but she can do without my stained towel ripped sheet saving tendencies. They come in handy for projects like this. As you can see from the picture above, I decided to paint outdoors using a few cheap sawhorses and an old sheet.
Before you start painting, check the surface for any major blemishes. We checked the pickets in the beginning but they are brittle and might have been damaged in the prior steps. Once again, hand sand 80 then 120 grit with your mask on.
Don’t over obsess with these areas, the paint will help minimize them. If you have unacceptable flaws then just swap those pickets out for new ones.
Use outdoor paint, no exceptions. I painted the fence with three coats of paint – follow the cans directions for time between coats.
Pressure treated wood absorbs paint in weird ways, in fact people smarter than me suggest waiting a minimum of 6 months before painting pressure treated wood. The pickets are thin and the 2x4s aren’t exactly holding the world on their shoulders. For those reasons I broke the rules.
I had to apply two more coats a few weeks later, likely because of the aforementioned rule breaking. After that I didn’t have any issues.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Making a Picket Fence Gate
If you came here to build a fence that doesn’t open (i.e., no gate) then you’re all done. Secure your newly made fence to whatever it is that you wanted to fence in.
If you have nothing to connect your newly created fence to, then you can follow along below.
It is unlikely that you are in the same situation as me, so for this step just make sure that you are connecting to something sturdy. Regardless of your situation, you will need to follow the bullet points listed below.
Regardless of your situation, make sure that you mount the gate high enough to allow it to swing freely open and closed.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
Attaching Hinges to a Picket Fence
What's a Catio you say?
Our Catio is a double decker, two heated house, food deck stray cat lovin’ paradise. It has provided shelter and food for a dozen or so strays in the neighborhood.
How to install hinges on a gate
The catio was a great place to connect the fence to. Not only is it the perfect match but the posts of the catio are 4×4’s which coincidentally is what is recommended for fence posts.
- If you are using a 4×4 post but did not bury it yet, you will need to do that first.
It is unlikely that you are in the same situation as me, so for this step just make sure that you are connecting to something sturdy. Regardless of your situation, you will need to follow the bullet points below:
- Line the picket up with the 4×4. You will need to prop the fence up with something (or have someone hold it. The fence has to be level before you screw anything in.
- Using 1 5/8″ wood screws, carefully and slowly screw the first hinge in through the picket and into the supporting 2×4. Repeat this step for the second hinge.
- Once again, make sure that the fence is level – screw the other side of each hinge into the 4×4 post.
You should now be able to freely move the gate. This took a lot of trial and error, in fact I broke the cat face twice during this stage. Don’t get discouraged – it will work out.
How to Make a Picket Fence.
How to Install a Gate Latch
One of the issues with this project was that I didn’t have any room to place a fence post (to put a gate latch on to). The old concrete divider would have been a messy thing to remove and I would have had to break up the concrete beneath it as well.
I lined a piece of scrap 2×4 wood up with the 2×4 that is highest on the fence, this made it look like one continuous piece. I then screwed that scrap wood into a 4′ 2×4.
I cut a hole in the bamboo to allow a portion of the wood to stick out.
I then taped off the bamboo fence and painted the exposed wood.
-
Line up the 2×4 or 4×4 post with the top 2×4 on your gate.
-
Center and screw the bolt portion of the hinge into the 2×4 that is connected to your gate.
-
Making sure that the gate is level screw the latch portion of the gate latch into the 2×4 or 4×4 post.
The gate should open and close freely. Make sure that you can open it all of the way and check for stress on the hinges.
Good Job, now you know how to make a picket fence! Somewhere in the world a kitten is smiling just for you.
My writeup’s are more wordy then most, mostly because I try to write out what was going through my head during a project.
It’s extremely rewarding to know that someone thought my idea was cool enough to try. Please share your finished product (and/or progress photos) with me via email (thecraftycatsman@gmail.com) or by tagging me on Instagram (@thecraftycatsman).
I may even feature your post or pic on the website.
Support the website by clicking through the Amazon links, or a google ad that seems interesting.
Thanks for reading!
Dive in to your next project below!
Breakfast Bar
Cat + Kid experience. Okay, well if you disagree then it is aesthetically pleasing as is, without the cat and kid.
Difficulty:
Tools:
Hidden Doorway Bookcase
A secret DIY hidden door bookcase and a budget friendly approach to the Murphy door. Your woodworking skills will be tested with this one.
Difficulty: 
Tools: 