What is hit and miss fencing?

A fence with boards fixed alternately to the front and back of the supporting rails, so it looks the same from both sides and air can pass through the gaps between boards.

Can you see through hit and miss fencing?

Not looking straight at it. From a sharp angle you will see narrow slivers of daylight between the boards. It is high privacy rather than absolute privacy.

How much does hit and miss fencing cost?

From around £195 per metre supplied and fitted in London. Horizontal costs more than vertical because it needs more posts.

Is hit and miss fencing good in wind?

It is the best timber option for wind. The gaps let pressure through instead of turning the fence into a sail, so the posts take far less load than they would behind a solid panel.

Horizontal or vertical hit and miss — which is better?

Horizontal reads more modern and makes narrow gardens feel wider. Vertical sheds water better along the grain and suits period properties. Neither is stronger if it is built properly.

Hit-and-miss fencing, fitted in London.

Looks the same from both sides, and lets the wind through instead of falling over in it.Also sold as Hit & miss, Venetian hit and miss, Double-sided fencing.

Estimate this fence

Horizontal hit-and-miss fence with alternating boards in a London garden

Hit-and-miss fencing has boards fixed alternately to the front and back of the frame, so it looks identical from both gardens and lets air pass through the gaps. Supplied and fitted in London it starts at around £195 per metre. You get near-total privacy looking straight at it, some visibility at a sharp angle, and far better wind performance than a solid fence.

Want to run the numbers first? Open the cost calculator with hit-and-miss selected.

Every run is fitted by our own team — see how a fence installation in London works end to end, or what's involved in a full fence replacement.

From, fitted: £195/m
Privacy: High
Wind: Best in class

How it works, and why it survives storms

Boards are fixed alternately — one on your side, the next on the neighbour's side — with each board overlapping the gap left by the one before it. Head-on you see a solid fence. From a sharp angle you see slivers of daylight between the boards.

That deliberate porosity is the engineering. A solid fence is a sail: wind hits it, has nowhere to go, and the load transfers straight into the posts and the concrete. A hit-and-miss fence bleeds pressure through the gaps, so the posts take a fraction of the force. On exposed gardens, corner plots and anywhere with a long open aspect, it is the sensible choice rather than the fashionable one.

Horizontal or vertical

Horizontal is what most people picture in 2026: wide boards running left to right, a contemporary look, and it makes a narrow London garden read wider than it is. It needs more posts, because a horizontal board has no natural support between them, and that is part of why it costs more.

Vertical hit-and-miss is the traditional version. It sheds water better along the grain, so it tends to age more evenly, and it suits a period house or a garden with a lot of planting far better than horizontal does.

The double-sided argument

Every other fence has a good side and a bad side, and someone gets the rails. Boundary conversations turn on that more often than on money. Hit-and-miss removes the argument entirely: both gardens get the same fence.

If you are unsure whose boundary it even is, read our guide on UK boundary rules before you commit to anything.

Be honest about privacy

Retailers sell hit-and-miss as a total privacy fence. It is not, quite. Standing square to it you see nothing. Walking along it at 30 degrees you catch movement and light through the gaps.

For most back gardens that is a non-issue. If you need absolute screening — an overlooked patio, a hot tub, a ground-floor bedroom window — closeboard is the correct product and we will tell you so on the visit.