TL;DR
A wind gap is the intentional spacing left between boards or panels of a fence so wind can bleed through instead of loading the structure like a sail. Solid privacy fences catch enormous force, a six-foot panel in a 60 mph gust carries hundreds of pounds, so builders in gusty regions space pickets, use shadowbox patterns with alternating boards, or choose semi-privacy designs.
What it means
A wind gap is the intentional spacing left between boards or panels of a fence so wind can bleed through instead of loading the structure like a sail. Solid privacy fences catch enormous force, a six-foot panel in a 60 mph gust carries hundreds of pounds, so builders in gusty regions space pickets, use shadowbox patterns with alternating boards, or choose semi-privacy designs. The same logic sets deeper post embedment and closer post spacing for solid styles, and a leaning fence after every storm is usually a solid design built where a ventilated one belonged.
Where it sits in the glossary
Wind gap is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
License: CC-BY-4.0 — quote freely with attribution to ProFix Editorial Team / ProFix Directory.