Fence & gate services
Picket Fence Installation
Picket is the fence that has to look right from the street, which is why almost every front-yard fence question in this territory ends up being a picket question.
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Picket Fences in Chester & Delaware County
Picket is the street-facing fence, and that is a zoning fact before it is an aesthetic one. Almost every township in Chester County, Delaware County and along the Main Line caps fence height in a front yard well below what it allows behind the house — four feet is the figure we run into most often, against six feet in a rear yard. That number is set by your municipality's zoning ordinance rather than by any statewide rule, so it has to be confirmed for your parcel rather than assumed, but the effect is consistent across the territory: a front-yard fence is a short fence, and a short fence that is going to be looked at every day is a picket fence. Corner lots feel the rule twice. Most ordinances here treat both street-facing sides of a corner lot as front yards, which drops the lower cap onto the side a homeowner would otherwise call the back, and it catches people in West Chester borough and on the older Main Line streets constantly.
A picket fence is defined by its gap. Spaced picket — pickets set apart by roughly the width of a picket, sometimes less — is the traditional configuration and does what people actually want from a front fence: it marks the boundary, keeps a dog or a small child off the sidewalk, and does not hide the house. Closing that gap gives you a solid picket, sometimes called closed picket, which reads heavier from the street and buys a little screening, though at the heights a front yard allows it is screening nothing above waist level. Underneath the appearance, what decides whether the fence still looks right in ten years is the frame. Post spacing follows the rail stock rather than being stretched to save posts, and the rail count follows the height: a four-foot run normally carries two rails, and anything at five feet or above wants three. Under-railed picket sags between posts, and once the rails bow the picket line goes wavy.
Material is the other decision with a long tail. Western red cedar is the wood that reads as a picket fence — it takes a semi-transparent stain or a solid white, resists rot and insects naturally, and mills cleanly enough that the profile cut into the picket top stays crisp. Pressure-treated southern yellow pine costs less and is structurally sound, but it moves as it dries, and a cupped or twisted picket shows far more on a spaced fence than it ever would on a privacy run. Vinyl picket removes the maintenance entirely and holds a uniform white indefinitely, which suits newer developments and HOA communities better than it suits an 1890s twin in the borough. Two constraints sit on top of the material choice. Where a property lies inside a designated historic district — West Chester borough and Kennett Square borough both have one — street-facing work can fall under the borough's historic district review, and that review has views on material and profile. And a picket fence at standard spacing is not a pool barrier: the openings are wider than the barrier provisions accept, and the rails are usually climbable from the outside face.
Options
Styles & Configurations
Dog-ear picket
The picket top clipped at forty-five degrees on both corners. The most common profile in our territory, the least expensive to produce, and the one that sits quietly into an existing streetscape.
Gothic and French gothic
A pointed picket top. Gothic runs straight to the point; French gothic flares to a small shoulder first, which throws a shadow line and reads more ornate. This is the traditional colonial profile and the usual answer on older borough properties.
Flat-top picket
A square-cut top, sometimes with a routed or chamfered edge. Contemporary and quiet, and the profile that pairs best with modern architecture or with horizontal detailing elsewhere on the house.
Scalloped top run
The top line dips in a shallow curve between posts instead of running level — concave for the classic cottage look, convex where it arches upward. A scalloped top has to be laid out to the post spacing, so it is decided before the posts go in, not after.
Solid picket
Pickets butted edge to edge with no gap. Heavier from the street and some screening at low height, using considerably more picket stock per foot than a spaced run. Because there is no gap for the wood to move into, solid cedar picket wants a stain schedule more than a spaced run does.
What to expect
How the Installation Runs
- Site walk and layout — we measure the frontage, mark gate positions, read the grade along the run and agree the top line with you, because a scalloped run has to be laid out to the post spacing before anything is cut.
- PA One Call utility mark-out, filed before a single hole is dug. Front yards are where the utilities are: water and gas service, the electric lateral, cable and irrigation all cross the ground between the street and the house.
- Township permit, plus the HOA architectural review packet and the borough historic district submission where those apply. We prepare and file them.
- Post setting — holes below the local frost line, concrete footings, posts set plumb to a string line and left to cure before any rail or picket goes on.
- Rail and picket installation. Pickets are set with a spacing jig against a string line, and the top profile is laid out on site rather than assumed off a plan.
- Walk-through — gate swing, latch alignment, picket spacing and the finished line checked with you before the crew leaves.
Where we install it
Picket Fences By Town
Common questions
Picket Fences Questions
How tall can a picket fence be in a front yard?
Four feet is the figure we see most often for front yards across Chester County, Delaware County and Main Line townships, against six feet in a rear yard, and that gap is the main reason picket dominates street-facing work. The number comes from your municipality's zoning ordinance rather than from any statewide rule, so the front-yard height limit that governs your parcel is the one that township or borough publishes. Corner lots matter here: most ordinances in our territory treat both street-facing sides as front yards, which applies the lower cap to a side you would otherwise call the back.
What is the difference between a spaced picket and a solid picket fence?
The gap. Spaced picket sets the pickets apart, commonly by about the width of a picket, so the fence marks a boundary and contains a yard without blocking the house or the light. Solid picket, also called closed picket, butts the pickets edge to edge for a heavier line and a degree of screening. At the four-foot heights a front yard usually allows, solid picket is not really buying privacy — it is an appearance decision, and it uses considerably more picket stock per foot than a spaced run.
How far apart should picket fence posts be?
Post spacing follows the rail stock rather than a universal number, and it is set so the rails are never carrying more span than they can hold flat — commonly six to eight feet on centre, tightened at gates, corners and grade breaks. Rail count matters just as much: a four-foot fence normally runs two rails, and anything at five feet or above wants three. Under-railed picket sags between the posts, and once the rails bow, the picket line goes wavy. That is the most visible way a front-yard fence fails.
Should a picket fence be cedar, pressure-treated or vinyl?
Western red cedar if appearance is the point — it holds a stain or a solid white paint, mills cleanly so the profile on the picket top stays sharp, and resists rot and insects naturally. Pressure-treated pine costs less and is structurally sound, but it moves as it dries and a cupped picket shows badly on a spaced fence. Vinyl removes maintenance entirely and holds a uniform white, which suits newer neighbourhoods and HOA communities more than an older borough streetscape. On a property inside a historic district, review may narrow the choice for you.
Can a picket fence be used as a pool barrier?
Not at standard spacing. Pool barrier provisions require openings narrow enough to reject a specified gauge, and typical picket spacing is wider than that allows. A conventional picket fence also carries its rails on the outside face, which the barrier rules treat as climbable within the barrier height, and it usually sits below the required barrier height to begin with. The requirements that govern your property come from your municipality, which adopts and can amend the code independently. Where there is a pool, we specify a barrier system built for the job rather than adapting a picket run.
Do I need extra approval for a picket fence in a historic district?
Possibly. West Chester borough and Kennett Square borough both have designated historic districts, and where a property sits inside one, exterior work visible from the street can fall under the borough's historic district review in addition to the ordinary zoning permit. That review tends to have opinions about material, height and picket profile, and it runs on its own schedule alongside the permit. We confirm with the borough whether your parcel is inside the district before the design is finalised, and we prepare and file both submissions where they apply.
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