There are lots of different cap styles. You can do whatever you want but to me personally it looks unfinished without a cap.

You may want the top edges champered, then cover with a preservative. Test a small area for color satisfaction.

Put 1-2’ of lattice on top of that fence. And put the bottom board on a 2x6 or 2x8. Pressure treated. Wood shrinks, board and batten block the gaps. But if your fence experiences a lot of wind, you want some or many gaps.

I don't want the look of caps or lattice. my plan was to have them cut the posts flush with the top of the fence.

my fence guy said he could have the top trim go all the way across. I worried that would cost extra. It will look more finished though, so I think I'll go with that.

This is ours with caps. This pic is just as installed.

I don't want any style of cap for the look I'm going for. I want the top of the fence to be a continuous line.

Good luck!

I totally understand not loving the caps. Would you consider a fence with horizontal boards? I love the horizontal wood fences I’ve seen as they are so clean and modern. And they typically don’t have caps. Just an idea. I think the look you pictured above with the continuous trim piece is also great!!

Fence caps are very uncommon in my area even in nicer neighbood (Oklahoma). As a result, the fences without caps look absolutely normal to me.

I think the problem you will have is that the fence posts will degrade more quickly as water will seep down the insides. The tops of the fence posts are ragged, there are little pockets which will hold water, and those cracks expand and grow, etc.

I have some fence posts with caps which continually blow off, and those posts are definitely splitting more than the posts which the caps have stayed firmly in place.

Then do the pieces all the way across and be done spend the money to get what you want you need to keep water from getting into the posts and you have had your answer from the person building the fence.

decker1018 yep, I'm going to go ahead and do a horizontal board that goes across, like in the 2nd picture I posted.

for those who are confused: I think caps make the fence look a little bit more old fashioned. it's a perfectly classic look that I like seeing in other yards. I just prefer simplicity and a very squared off simple look.

we originally wanted horizontal fencing, but we have a lot of steep elevation change in our yard and it seems like it's way too difficult to do (therefore more expensive). worse, you have to deal with more gaps in the bottom -- bad for keeping small dogs from escaping.

B F that is a great point about the elevations and also about the gaps at the bottom. But the trim solution is going to look great! If my house had a more modern/ less traditional aesthetic I would definitely copy you!!!🙂

BF now you’ve got me questioning our fence! Our house is modern and we have caps...

yours is beautiful! don't question it. "old fashioned" was maybe the wrong choice of words. I see post caps even with some of the brand new box moderns around here.

I'm weird. this all started when I was lamenting my old fence -- its ugly black caps and hideous orange stain. I thought that if I sawed all of the posts flush, it would look a tiny bit better. so when we started thinking about getting a new fence, my design plans went from there.