Privacy Screen Installation — Wood Screens, Lattice Panels, Snow Fence
A patio the neighbors look straight into, an air conditioner beside the front walk, or a driveway that drifts shut every storm — a screen built where it does the job, not a fence around the whole yard.
JMB Builders does privacy screen installation across the Twin Cities metro: cedar slat screens beside a patio, deck or hot tub, lattice panels that hide an air conditioner or trash cans, and snow fence set upwind of a driveway to drop drifts before they reach it. Screens are carpentry, built on posts set below frost or on brackets on a deck. Priced per project, quoted from your photos. A full fence is its own project.
- Priced per project, quote from photos
- Cedar slat, lattice and panel screens
- Posts set below frost or bracketed to a deck
- Snow fence set before the ground freezes
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
A privacy screen is one or two sections of wall placed exactly where the view or the wind comes from. It costs a fraction of fencing the lot line and, on a small patio, does more. Where it stands is the whole job: sit in the chair you use most, find the sightline, and the screen goes there. We do the same with a snow fence, which is set out in the yard upwind of the driveway, not along it.
Screens are carpentry. Posts are set in concrete below the frost line so the screen does not lean after the first winter, or bolted to a deck frame with post brackets and blocking. The panels are cedar slats, horizontal or vertical, with a gap that blocks the view but lets the wind through; a solid screen in an open yard is a sail. Lattice panels in a cedar frame hide a condenser or a trash pad while letting the air the unit needs get to it. Tops get a cap rail so end grain does not sit in the weather.
Snow fence is set in fall before the ground freezes: wood-slat or polymer fence on steel T-posts, placed out in the open so the drift forms in the yard and the driveway stays clear. It comes down in spring, or we build a permanent slat screen in the same spot. Cities limit screen and fence height and setback near the street and the property line; we check yours before we build. Painting or staining is quoted as a separate line, or leave the cedar raw.
What you supply
- Photos from the patio, deck or driveway toward what you want to block, and one back at the house
- The style: horizontal slats, vertical boards, lattice, or a panel with a planter or bench at its foot
- How tall and how long, or where you sit and what you want gone from the view
- For snow fence: which way the wind and the drifts come from, and a photo of the driveway in winter if you have one
- Your stain or paint color if you want the screen finished; it is a separate line, or finish it yourself
What JMB supplies
- Layout on site, a utility locate, and a check of your city's height and setback rules
- Cedar or treated posts set in concrete below the frost line, or post brackets and blocking on a deck
- Cedar slat, board or lattice panels built on site, screwed with exterior fasteners
- A cap rail and trim so the top and ends shed water
- Lattice enclosures with a removable panel or gate for condenser service
- Snow fence on steel T-posts set out in the yard before freeze-up, and takedown in spring on request
- Haul-off of cutoffs and spoils, and photos of the finished screen in your job folder
- Staining or painting of the screen when you want it, quoted as its own line
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Length and height of the screen; each post and panel is priced
- Cedar slat with gaps vs. solid boards vs. lattice, and the slat spacing
- Posts in concrete below frost vs. bracketed to a deck frame
- A gate or removable panel for condenser or trash access
- Rock, patio or roots where the post holes go
- Snow fence: length and the number of T-posts, seasonal set and takedown vs. a permanent screen
- Staining or painting, quoted separately
Send a photo from where you sit toward what you want to block, with a tape or a person in it for scale. Most screens are quoted firm from that.
How long it takes
A one- or two-panel patio screen: one day, plus a day for the concrete to set before the panels go on. A lattice enclosure: half a day. Snow fence: a couple of hours.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Cedar slat screen beside a patio
Horizontal cedar slats on posts set in concrete, one or two panels long, placed on the sightline from your chairs. Gaps between the slats block the view and let the wind through.
Privacy screen on a deck
Posts bolted to the deck frame with brackets and blocking, so nothing is dug. Vertical boards or slats to the height that blocks the neighbor's window, with a cap rail that matches the deck rail.
Lattice panel to hide utilities
A cedar-framed lattice enclosure around an air conditioner, generator, trash cans or a well head, with clearance for airflow and a removable panel for service.
Hot tub privacy screen
A taller screen on two sides of a hot tub, slatted so steam and wind move through, with a post spacing that keeps a tall panel stiff.
Snow fence for a driveway
Wood-slat or polymer snow fence on T-posts set out in the yard upwind of the drive before freeze-up, so the drift builds in the yard. Taken down in spring, or replaced with a permanent slat screen in the same line.
Privacy Screen Installation — Wood Screens, Lattice Panels, Snow Fence: questions, answered
Where should a snow fence go to protect a driveway?
Out in the open on the upwind side, well back from the driveway, not beside it. Snow drops on the downwind side of the fence in a drift several times the fence height long, so a fence set right next to the drive buries it. We set it out in the yard where the drift lands on lawn, and we look at which way your winter storms come from before we place it.
Do I need a permit for a privacy screen?
Usually not for one or two panels in a backyard, but cities limit the height of fences and screens, set them back from the street and the property line, and some count a screen as a fence. A screen on a deck may also have a height limit. We check your city's rules before we build so the screen does not have to come down.
Can you put a privacy screen on my deck without digging posts?
Yes. The posts are bolted to the deck frame with steel post brackets and blocking between the joists so they do not rack, and the screen is built on those. It works for a screen up to the height the deck frame can hold stiff. Taller screens beside a deck get posts in the ground next to it instead.
Solid privacy screen or slats with gaps?
Slats with gaps for almost every yard. A gapped screen blocks the view from a few feet back, lets the wind through so it does not lean or blow over, and looks lighter. A solid screen makes sense only where you need to block sound or a direct sightline at close range, and it needs deeper posts to take the wind.
How much space does an air conditioner screen need?
Enough that the unit can breathe. A condenser pulls air in through the sides and blows it out the top, so the screen stands off the unit on every side, stays open at the top, and one panel lifts out or swings so a technician can get at it. We build lattice or spaced slats so air moves through, never a solid box.
Is a privacy screen the same as a fence?
No. A screen is a few panels placed to block one view or one wind. A fence runs the property line and needs a survey, more posts, gates and usually a permit. If what you want is the whole yard enclosed, that is a fence project and we quote it as one. Most patio privacy problems are solved with one or two screen panels.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 24, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All landscaping pages
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