Close board, lap or featheredge: choosing a fence

The panel style decides the price, how it handles wind, and whether it can follow sloping ground properly.

Lap panels

Horizontal overlapping boards in a frame, the standard cheap panel sold everywhere. Quick to install, easy to replace, and the least robust in strong wind. They come in fixed sizes, which means on sloping ground they have to be stepped down, leaving triangular gaps at the base.

Close board

Vertical featheredge boards fixed to horizontal rails, usually built on site rather than delivered as a panel. Heavier, stronger and more expensive. Because it is built in place it can be raked to follow a slope continuously instead of stepping, which looks considerably better on uneven ground. Individual boards can be replaced.

Slatted and hit-and-miss

Slatted fences have deliberate gaps. Hit-and-miss alternates boards on either side of the rails, so it screens views at most angles while still letting air through. On exposed sites this matters more than appearance: a solid fence acts as a sail, and wind load is what pushes posts over.

Choosing between them

Sheltered rear boundary where cost matters most: lap. Long run, exposed position, sloping ground, or a fence you want to last: close board. Windy site or where you want light through: slatted or hit-and-miss. Whatever the choice, the posts and the ground detail decide the lifespan far more than the panel does.