The courtyard with two different privacy problems

Sightlines

Measure on the plan, draw the area that actually needs privacy, then move A, B and C along the sightline. Every candidate is sized against the same geometry, and the one you pick is something to test with a sheet before anything is built.

The line

Open sightline

Place being protected

Who can see in

From this seat: Reading chair. The line is toward East upstairs window, a window. The section is this one line, not a view of the whole garden. A linked photograph is a note on this line, not a calculated performance.

No photograph is linked to the selected protected spot or observer yet. The geometry can still be read, but a kept candidate will have no photo-evidence reference.

Read the geometry in October

The line itself does not move with the season, but a deciduous canopy can stop blocking it and view openness can change.

Ground distance: 36 ft
Direction: E · 85°
Vertical angle: 17.6°
Line still open: 100%

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it. These figures are read off the plan, so they are as good as where reading chair and east upstairs window were put.

Measure on the plan

Tap empty plan space to place the active tool, drag R1/R2, Z1/Z2/ZD and A/B/C, or tab to any handle and use the arrow keys. The fields below each panel set the same points by number.

BuildingNot yours (dashed edge)CanopyCan see inWhat a window can see, cut short where something is in the wayProposed

To scale · to the measurements given: Drawn to scale from the measurements given. Not a survey. It is not a survey.

Ruler: tap twice to place R1 and R2, then drag either handle. Measuring does not move or save property geometry.

Field ruler

A distance read off the plan, not a change to the Property Record.

Plan distance: 36 ft
Bearing: E · 85°
R1: at reading chair
R2: 36 ft E of reading chair

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it. Both ends are things you measured, so this is worked out from measurements.

Actual area to screen

The window, seating area, patio edge or other real zone the screen has to cover—not an assumed person-sized box.

Z1, one end of the edge

From reading chair (ft)

Direction: not set

Z2, the other end

From reading chair (ft)

Direction: not set

Zone depth, ZD (ft)

How far the area reaches back from the edge, square to it. Set both ends first.

UnansweredWidth stays unanswered until Z1 and Z2 are set. Two points set the edge; the depth follows at a metre, and can be changed.

Candidate screens

Move A, B and C along the sightline on the plan or with the sliders. Height and width recalculate from the same geometry, and the marked view is read before and after each one.

Candidate A
6 ft 9 in high
Position: 25% from reading chair toward east upstairs window
Height
6 ft 9 in
Width
Set the target zone
From the spot
9 ft 1 in
From the observer
27 ft
Boundary
Inside recorded boundary
Marked view
Unanswered
Candidate B
9 ft 7 in high
Position: 50% from reading chair toward east upstairs window
Height
9 ft 7 in
Width
Set the target zone
From the spot
18 ft 1 in
From the observer
18 ft 1 in
Boundary
Inside recorded boundary
Marked view
Unanswered
Candidate C
12 ft 6 in high
Position: 75% from reading chair toward east upstairs window
Height
12 ft 6 in
Width
Set the target zone
From the spot
27 ft
From the observer
9 ft 1 in
Boundary
Crosses / falls outside recorded boundary
Marked view
Unanswered
NoteSome of this screen falls outside the boundary currently drawn in the Property Record. That is a geometry flag, not an ownership determination.

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it. Sizes are worked out on the plan, from a zone drawn by hand. “Marked view” only measures view corridors you actually marked. Boundary status does not establish ownership, setbacks, easements, structural adequacy or permission to build.

The line, from the side

To scale · to the measurements givenWorked out

Eye to eye, at true scale. A screen near the seat can be short because the line is still low there; near the window it has to be tall.

The section, in a table

From reading chair, nothing on the plan cuts the line to east upstairs window: it rises from 3 ft 7 in to 15 ft 1 in over 36 ft.

Everything along the sightline, from the protected spot to the observer.
What	From reading chair	Height	The line
Reading chair (eye)	0 in	3 ft 7 in	Starts here
Screen A	9 ft 1 in	6 ft 9 in	Just closes it
Screen B	18 ft 1 in	9 ft 7 in	Just closes it
Screen C	27 ft	12 ft 6 in	Just closes it
East upstairs window (eye)	36 ft	15 ft 1 in	Ends here

Test it before anybody builds it

Candidate B is a hypothesis about where the line runs. A sheet on a pole for two evenings finds out whether it is right, for the price of a sheet.

The test: Hang a sheet or hold up a board about 9 ft 7 in high at B, 18 ft 1 in from reading chair, for two evenings at the hour that bothers you.
If it worked: Sitting at reading chair, you cannot see east upstairs window over it or round its ends.
If it didn’t: If you can still see east upstairs window over the top, it sits higher than the plan says; if you see it round an end, the zone is wider than drawn. Either way, nothing should be built to these numbers yet.
Next evidence: Photograph the view from reading chair with the sheet up, from the same spot both evenings, and measure how high east upstairs window actually is.

Buy nothing yetHold a sheet where the plan puts the screen before ordering a single panel.

Keep this candidate to test

Keeps the selected candidate and its target zone with this place. Reassessing reruns the geometry later, instead of treating today’s dimensions as settled. Keeping it builds nothing.

Call it something

Candidates kept

Kept on this device with the place. Loading restores the zone and candidate; reassessing uses the current plan and month.

No candidate has been kept for this place yet.

Reference positions

Fixed quarter, halfway and three-quarter answers, kept as a check on the movable candidates.

Barrier height needed at three fixed positions on the line.
Where	From reading chair	Height needed
Near the protected spot	9 ft 1 in	6 ft 9 in
Halfway	18 ft 1 in	9 ft 7 in
Near the observer	27 ft	12 ft 6 in

What this answers—and what it does not

Height and width are geometric sightline dimensions for the target zone and observer on the plan. They are not structural design, a property-line survey or permission to build. Wind loading, footings, codes, easements and ownership remain separate questions.

Edit the plan

Every observer from reading chair