Privacy Screen

Our deck is one of our favorite outdoor spaces to spend time on. Because of our mild temperatures here in the south, we can eat outdoors three out of four seasons a year. The deck was big and beautiful but we hand one problem, privacy. Living on a corner lot exposed the side of our deck to the street and the western setting sun. As much as I love my neighbors I really didn’t like the feeling of being so exposed. Oh look, the Wilson’s are having dinner again on the deck. Fine, call me paranoid, I just like my privacy! We came up with a simple solution to the problem and built a privacy screen. I’m going to show you how to make one too!

The picture below shows what our deck looked like before without the privacy screen on the far side of the deck. Click to read How to Create an Outdoor Living Space in 5 Easy Steps. See how I can easily wave to anyone on the street from the deck? Let’s build a privacy screen asap.

Material you will need to build a privacy screen:

pressure treated 2x4’s

2 and 3 inch deck screws

vinyl or wood lattice

cove molding

brad nailer

You can make your screen any size you choose, just be sure your height is lower than your width. Our privacy screen is approximately 4.5’x5’. You will cut your 2x4’s to form a frame. We chose to extend the left side of the frame all the way to the deck floor for extra stability, but really it is not overly necessary.

Step 1: Make sure your top board (the top yellow line in the drawing below) is covering the top of the side boards. This will prevent water from entering the end cuts of your side boards. Make sure your bottom board is between your side boards. Use 2 inch deck screws to fasten the frame together.

Step 2: Measure the interior of your frame and cut your trellis to that measurement.

Step 3: Measure and cut the cove molding, creating mitered corners like a picture frame. You will do this twice. You will have a cove molding frame in the front and a cove molding frame on the backside of the privacy screen. Secure one of the cove molding frames to the 2x4 frame with brad nails.

Step 4: Place your cut lattice against the cove molding frame and now press your 2nd cove molding frame snug against the back side of the lattice and nail into place. See in the picture below how the two cove molding frames have formed a channel for the lattice? It holds the lattice securely in place.

Step 5: Place your privacy screen on top of your flat deck railing and secure it to the deck railing with 3 inch deck screws. Place your screws at every 6 inches. Make sure it feels secure and add more screws if needed.

Step 6: Stain your privacy screen to match your existing deck, plant a climbing vine near it and enjoy your newly built privacy screen!

Kim

For more DIY projects, check out my DIY Project Gallery & Décor Crafts.

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