Slatted Fencing in Dawlish
Slatted fencing in Dawlish
A lot of Dawlish homes have been opened up in the last few years: render over the old pebbledash, bifold doors onto a new terrace, a garden room at the bottom of the lawn. A tired feather edge fence looks out of place next to all that. Horizontal slats give the garden the same clean lines as the house, and because they’re built on site we can make a screen exactly as long and as tall as the space needs, rather than whatever a panel size dictates.
Screening without losing the view
Plenty of gardens in the town have a glimpse of the sea or the estuary over the rooftops below, and nobody wants to give that up for privacy. Slats let us be selective. We can run a taller, tightly spaced screen beside the seating area where the neighbours can see in, then drop the height or widen the gap further along so the view stays open. It’s one of the few fence styles where varying the height along a run still looks deliberate rather than patched.
Sun, salt and the colour you choose
South facing patios in Dawlish get strong afternoon sun, and sea air carries salt a fair way inland. Both are hard on a finish. Dark charcoal and black stains look sharp on day one but lighten fastest on the sunniest stretches, so we talk about how often you’re happy to recoat before you pick a colour. Stainless or coated screws are used throughout, as plain steel heads left in neat lines across a slatted fence will show every rust streak.
Where Dawlish customers use slats
- Wrapping a raised deck or terrace that looks down over the next garden
- Front gardens up the steeper streets, where a low slatted wall-top screen sits better than a tall closed fence
- Holiday lets and second homes around Dawlish Warren and Cockwood that need to look smart for guests with little upkeep
- Hiding wheelie bins, a heat pump unit or a gas tank by the side of the house
- A backdrop behind a garden room or hot tub so it feels tucked away
Getting it level on uneven ground
Slatted fences are unforgiving: if one end sits lower than the other, the eye follows the lines and spots it straight away. On the stepped plots common around town we set the posts to a string line and check every height, then decide whether the run should step in clean blocks or hold one level top with a deeper gravel board below. We’ll show you both options on the visit so you can choose.
Work out the height from your own chair
The right height for a privacy screen depends on where your eyes are, not on a standard figure. Put a garden chair where you actually sit, then ask someone to walk along the boundary holding up a bamboo cane with a bit of tape on it. Slide the tape up until it just blocks next door’s window or patio, and measure from the ground to that point. On a plot that steps down the hill, you may find a much lower screen does the job, because the neighbour is already below you.
Do the same check from an upstairs room if the view matters to you. A photo taken from each spot, with the cane in shot, tells us more than a page of measurements, and it gives you something to look at when deciding where the tall part should stop.
Sandy ground at the Warren, firmer ground in town
Close to Dawlish Warren and along towards Cockwood, the soil can be light and loose, sometimes with a high water level after a wet spell. A post there relies on a wider, deeper footing because the ground around it offers less grip. A slatted run catches more wind than people expect, too, even with its gaps. Up towards Holcombe and on the slopes behind the Strand it’s a different job, with firmer red ground, retaining walls and sometimes very little soil above old footings. Knowing which you’ve got shapes how long the bays are and what each post sits in.
Softwood, cedar or composite?
- Treated softwood: the everyday choice. It takes a stain well and suits a colour you’re happy to refresh.
- Cedar: naturally durable and lovely up close. Left alone it silvers, which many owners near the sea end up liking, though the wood is softer and marks more easily.
- Composite boards: no staining at all, and the colour stays steadier. They’re heavier, can feel less natural, and need their own fixings and framing. Our composite fencing page goes through them.
Which side gets the good face?
Most slatted screens are fixed to one side of the posts, so one household sees neat lines and the other looks at the framework. That matters more on a hillside than you might guess. If your garden sits above the next one, your neighbour may be looking up at the screen’s reverse every day, while you only see its top half. Boards can go on both faces, staggered so the slats on one side cover the spaces on the other. It uses far more timber and adds weight on the posts, but it looks finished from everywhere and blocks more of the view. Often it’s only needed on the stretch that faces a seating area next door.
Why slats take longer than panels
A panel arrives ready made. A slatted run doesn’t. Each board is cut to length, spaced and fixed in turn, and any screw line that wanders shows up from across the garden, so nobody rushes it. On a terrace or patio that you use every day, expect that part of the garden to be out of action for longer than a panel fence would keep it. It’s worth keeping that in mind if you’ve got guests booked in at Dawlish Warren or a family gathering on the calendar, and mentioning any fixed date when you first get in touch.
Planting against the boards
- Leave a hand’s width: foliage pressed flat on timber holds moisture, and a finish under it tends to fail first.
- Think about the salt: plots close to the railway and sea front get rougher treatment than those up the valley towards Dawlish Water, so walk round your neighbours’ gardens and notice what’s thriving before you buy.
- Use pots with feet: a planter standing tight against the bottom slat keeps that board wet for most of the winter.
- Keep some gaps clear: part of the appeal of slats is the light coming through, and a dense shrub in front can turn a neat screen back into a dark wall.
Lights, sockets and cables
A slatted screen often ends up being the backdrop for evening lighting, so think about that before the boards go on. Once a frame is covered, running a cable neatly behind it gets much harder. Decide where any lights, an outdoor socket or the supply to a garden room should go, then ask a qualified electrician to plan that part. Mark up the route on a photo if it helps. Leaving a removable board or two near any junction box lets an electrician reach it later without dismantling a whole bay.
Slatted fencing in Dawlish: questions
Can slats go on top of an existing wall?
Yes, it’s a popular way to add height to a low front or side wall. If the wall is solid we can fix posts to it or set them just behind it; if it’s crumbling we’ll say so and suggest an option that doesn’t rely on it.
How wide should the gaps be?
For a seating area most people go for a narrow gap, about the width of a finger, which hides you well. Along a boundary where you mainly want a smart edge, a wider gap is cheaper on timber and lets the plants behind it breathe.
Will it stand up to a winter on the coast?
With the gaps letting some wind through, posts set in concrete and a capping rail tying the slats together, a well built slatted fence copes with Dawlish winters. On the most exposed runs we shorten the span between posts.
Can you match a screen to an existing slatted fence?
Usually. Send us a close photo of the old one and we’ll match the slat size and gap as near as the timber allows.
Can I have a slatted screen on a raised deck?
Check before you build. Decking well above the ground, or a tall screen standing on it, may need planning permission, because the height counts from the soil below, not from the boards. Ask Teignbridge’s planners where you stand, particularly if neighbours are overlooked.
How much space should I leave around a hot tub?
Enough to lift the cover off and reach the service panel, which is usually on one side. Check the maker’s guide for the clearance it asks for. Gaps between boards help steam clear, and it’s worth keeping electrics away from the timber.
Can the boards run upright instead?
Yes. Vertical battens can make a low space seem taller and tend to shed water better than flat boards. The look is more formal, and they can hide a slope less easily, so they’re usually best on level runs or short sections beside the house.
Can a slatted fence stand beside the pavement?
It can, but height is usually the catch. Under the normal planning rules, anything bordering a road is generally limited to one metre without permission, and two metres elsewhere. Pavements and corners can raise their own questions, so ask Teignbridge first if yours is a street-side run.
Would a dog stay inside it?
That depends mostly on your dog. Narrow gaps stop most from squeezing through, and a solid board at the foot stops digging or nosing underneath. Horizontal lines can give a determined small dog something to climb, so tell us about any escape artists before the design gets settled.
Can one section lift out for access?
Often, yes. If there’s a meter, a stopcock or a wall you’ll need to get at, a bay can be framed so that it unscrews as one piece. It’s far easier to plan this at the start than to cut a section out afterwards, so point out anything along the line on the visit.
Thinking about slats for a Dawlish patio, front garden or boundary? Send us a few details with a photo or two and a rough length, and we’ll come and look at the spot, the view you want to keep and the one you want to hide. For the general picture there’s our slatted fencing guide, and if you’re weighing up other styles see hit and miss in Dawlish, close board in Dawlish or all our Dawlish fencing work.
For a cheaper run along a long back boundary, our Dawlish fence panels page explains what we’d use and why.
Other fencing work in Dawlish
Not quite what you need? In Dawlish we also do close board fencing, fence panels, hit and miss fencing, composite fencing, chain link fencing, trellis, post and rail fencing, picket fencing, garden gates, driveway gates and fence repairs. Everything we do in the town is on our fencing in Dawlish page, and if the job is over in Teignmouth, see slatted fencing in Teignmouth.