Hit and Miss fencing

Product Details

What is hit and miss fencing?

Hit and Miss fencing usually refers to a fence where the vertical boards are alternately fixed on the front and the back of the horizontal rail.  The choice of posts, rails and boards is dependent on what the customer is trying to achieve.  While we do not stock hit and miss panels we sell sawn and planed timbers for the trades person to cut to size.  Popular choices are the 100mm and 150mm sawn timbers.

Why build hit and miss

Another advantage of the Hit and Miss style is that the slatted panel design has a wind load reduction of approximately 15%.  Because the gaps between the timber pales allows air to pass through, the bigger the gaps the greater the reduction. Therefore in windy areas the hit-and-miss fence is an obvious choice.

Sawn or planed boards

On a more rustic fence the popular choice of vertical boards is 75mm, 100mm or 150mm. The width of board is largely determined by the height of fence being constructed. On a 1.5- 2.0 metre high fence the 150mm boards look better proportioned. Planed boards are sometimes alternated for effect, say two boards at 150mm followed by one or two at 75mm width. However, whichever boards are chosen it is important to treat the cross cut timbers with Ensele end-grain preservative.

Vertical or horizontal

Another option is to run your fencing slats horizontally. Spacing of the slats will largely depend on wind exposure, larger spacing is better in exposed areas. Allowing the wind to pass through the fence means lower wind-loads on both fence and posts.  If you run the slats horizontally it makes sense to keep post spacings at 1.5m or 1.8m to maintain the fence’s strength .