Press J (Fence, in the site tools) and click the fence line point to point. Every click adds one straight bay to the same fence, so a whole boundary is one fence you select, restyle and move at once, and each corner stands on one shared post. Press Esc or Enter to finish, or click the first point again to close the boundary. Fences are free.
Draw the run
- Press J. The panel shows New fence: pick the Style first (Wood, vertical slats, Wood, horizontal boards, Mesh panel or Metal bars).
- Click where the fence starts, then click each corner. Type a length to place the next point exactly (Tab switches to the angle), and hold Shift to lock to 45°.
- To fence right round, click the first point again: the last bay meets the first on one corner post.
- Otherwise press Esc or Enter, or double-click, to end the run.
⌘Z while drawing takes the last bay back and carries on from the corner before it.
Edit the line
Select the fence and its corners get handles, the way a drawn guarding’s do:
- Drag a corner to move it.
- Click the ＋ in the middle of a bay to add a corner there.
- ⌥-click (Alt-click) a corner to remove it. A fence keeps at least two points.
A gate stays where it stands on the ground when you add or remove a corner.
Style, height and posts
The Fence panel shows the Length of the whole run and how many bays it has, then:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Style | The four styles above. |
| Height | Above the ground or the base wall, 300–3000 mm. Starts at 1600 mm for timber, 1500 mm for mesh, 1200 mm for bars. |
| Base wall | A concrete wall under the fence, 0–1500 mm high and 150 mm thick. It stops at every gate. |
| Post spacing | The target spacing, 600–5000 mm, 2400 mm to start. Each stretch between corners and gates is divided into equal bays as near it as possible. |
| Post size | 20–300 mm. Starts at 90 mm for timber, 50 mm for mesh, 60 mm for bars. |
| Slat width / Slat gap | Vertical slats, 95 mm and 50 mm to start. For bars the rows read Bar width and Bar gap (20 mm and 110 mm). |
| Board height / Board gap | Horizontal boards, 145 mm and 25 mm to start. |
| Slat top | Flat, Pointed or Rounded (Bar top for bars). |
| Bars above top rail | Metal bars only: how far the bars run up through the top rail and stand above it, 0–400 mm. 0, the default, caps the bars under the rail. Choosing a pointed or rounded Bar top while the bars are capped sets 100 mm, so the shape shows. The fence Height is then the bars’ tips, and the top rail and posts stop that far below. |
| Posts above slats | Vertical slats only: how far the posts stand above the slat tips, 60 mm to start. 0 makes them flush; a negative value, down to −250 mm, puts the slat tips above the posts. |
| Rails | 2–5 rails, for every style except horizontal boards. |
Each fence is built as it is in reality. Picket rails run between the posts and the slats are fixed to their face, so the slats run straight past the posts, set out evenly over each stretch between ends, corners and gates. The posts stand above the slats, flush with them or below their tips, as Posts above slats says. On a bar railing the bars pass through their rails, and with Bars above top rail set they finish above the top rail, as most railings do. Horizontal boards are fixed to the posts’ face and laid out from the top, so the top board is level with the post tops and no post sticks up above the boards. Bars pass through their rails.
Put the boards on the other face
On the two timber styles, Boards on (or Slats on) has an ⇅ other face button. It moves the boards or slats to the other face of the whole fence, however it was drawn, so a boundary drawn the “wrong” way round does not have to be redrawn to put the good side out.
Gates
- Select the fence and press + Add gate. The gate goes in the middle of the longest bay, 1000 mm wide.
- Drag the round handle on the gate along the fence. It can slide round a corner into the next bay, and right up to an end post or a corner post: the gate then hangs on that post, with no post of its own beside it.
- Set it in the panel:
- Gate 1 width, 500–6000 mm.
- Opens by: Swinging or Sliding.
- Built as (timber styles): Matched to the fence, the default, uses the fence’s own slats or boards on its face, with the same tops, up to the fence’s top, and two ledges (or stiles) and a diagonal brace behind them. Framed gives a rectangular frame with the infill inside. Bar and mesh gates are always framed.
- ⇅ side chooses which way a swinging gate opens. ⇄ hinge moves the hinge to the other post; on a sliding gate it reads ⇄ park side.
- 2 leaves splits a swinging gate into a pair that meets in the middle.
- Remove gate.
In 3D a swinging leaf hangs in the opening with a 15 mm gap at each post. A matched leaf keeps the fence’s face and its brace rises from the hinge side; a framed leaf sits flush with the posts on the side it opens to. A sliding leaf runs beside the fence on a track, past its parked position.
Finishes
The panel’s Finish section gives each part its own material: Posts, Rails, the infill (Slats, Boards, Bars or Mesh), the Base wall and the Gates. A part with no finish keeps the style’s own timber or metal, and a gate with none is dressed like the bays. Members take timber, metal and paint materials; a base wall takes façade materials such as brick or render.
In the Finishes activity you can also paint a part directly, on the plan or in 3D, the same way as a furniture part. Finishes are presentation only: the length, heights and posts do not change.
Fences drawn before October 2026
Fences used to be one entity per straight segment, so an older plan’s boundary may be several fences with two posts at each corner. Select them all, right-click and choose Join into one fence. They must meet end to end with no branch and share the same style, height, base wall and post spacing; a segment drawn the other way round is turned to match, and its gates keep their side and swing.
What this doesn’t do
- No stepped or raked fences. A fence runs at one height along its whole length and stands on the ground level; it does not follow a slope.
- No ready-made panel sizes. Bays are divided equally from the post spacing, not in fixed panel widths.
- No hinges, latches or post footings. Gates are drawn as leaves, and posts stop at the ground.
- Fence finishes do not appear on the Textured plan. The plan shows the fence line, posts, gates and their swing.
For heights, post spacing, gate widths and which side faces out, see the guide to garden fence dimensions.