How To Make Decorative Wooden Fence Caps
Finishing off fence posts with wooden fence caps gives any fence a more upmarket and classic look and it is an easy and affordable DIY project you can do.
21/02/2024
Installing a wooden fence as a privacy fence around your house or as a decorative feature in the garden is a fairly easy do-it-yourself project that you can take on over a weekend or few - depending on the size - and as and when you can afford to do it. Not only can you purchase all the supplies that you need from your nearest Builders store but you can also select the most suitable fence design for your property and your pocket.
When designing or installing a fence, rather than settling for a basic fence, consider fence designs that would offer more aesthetic appeal to your home or garden. Even if you just need a way to keep out the neighbourhood dogs, a good-looking fence will add value to your overall curb value and being able to erect a decorative fence in the garden will offer much more than a plain wooden fence. The trick to finishing a fence is adding fence caps on top of some or all the fence posts.
What are Fence Caps?
Similar to the way you would build up crown moulding to finish off a room, fence caps are added to the top of a fence post as a decorative or finishing touch. There are plenty of different designs for fence caps but the ones shown here are the easiest to replicate as a do-it-yourself project using readily available materials and power tools. But fence caps are more than just for decoration - they also help to reduce wear on the posts by limiting the access of water through the top of the post.
How to make Fence Caps
The secret to making professional-looking fence caps is to use a router and decorative router bits. Most homeowners will use PAR pine for the fence installation, including the fence posts and fence caps and, as long as it is properly maintained on an ongoing basis, even a pine fence will last a long time. If you are prepared to spend a bit more for a medium wood or hardwood, then you could also look at meranti, saligna and other hardwoods, but these woods will cost far more.
3 Individual components are placed on top of each other for this fence cap
Fence caps are not readily available in South Africa, although there are a couple of companies that supply PVC fence caps if you cannot be bothered to make your own but making fence caps is a quick and easy project that requires only a saw and a router. The trick to building a decorative fence cap is to build up the design in rows using plain pieces of wood and pieces that have been routed with a design (router bit shape).
Have an idea in mind before you start and then experiment with different router bits to see what effect works best for your fence design and how it complements your house. You will find plenty of inspiration online and on Pinterest and you can use these to create fence caps for your fence. Make fence caps wider than the fence posts for maximum appeal and add layered components to build up the cap design.
The fence caps shown in the image below comprise 3 components arranged on top of each other to create the finished design.
Click here to watch the entire video
It's as easy as that! If you are looking for more detailed instructions on how to make fence caps, this video offers a pretty good tutorial and is easy to understand.
Rather than leave the end grain of fence posts unprotected and exposed to the elements, fence caps fastened to the top of fence posts resolve this issue and will extend the overall lifespan of a fence. Fence caps also add aesthetic appeal to fences and enhance the overall design.
Select a fence cap that highlights the overall design or adds a classic, traditional or modern look to conventional fencing. A decorative fence does more than serve as a perimeter around a property - it also adds curb appeal.
Use your imagination when it comes to planning a fence outdoors and consider the use of materials that one would not normally associate with fencing solutions, such as this trellis fence, below.
