Estimated cost of concrete block wall????

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

I think the block walls are really ugly, especially if you don't stucco over them, leave them morbid gray, and never paint them a decent color.

They are pretty boring as is. While we have the outside of our block wall fence painted with stucco matched to our home(standard in our development), for the inside of our fence in the backyard, we opted to put plants around the fence/cover it. Vines and easy maintenance evergreen shrubs and large spreading tree-like cactus we think make it look just as nice as a painted/stucco fence. The plants also serves the purpose of cutting down on reflected heat. And nice to not have to deal with the maintenance of painting, dealing with the inevitable cracks that appear in the stucco, water spillover from neighboring yards that can cause issues to the paint/stucco, etc.

[BlueCat1105]

I couldn't imagine not having a wall with the tiny yards they are selling out in the Phoenix area these days. You'd have everybody "up in your business." That said, they look VERY tiny all walled up like that too. That's why I moved out a bit further and got a larger lot. Of course, that would mean more fence to paint/stucco/etc. Maybe plantings will be the key to hiding some of that gray color.

[subgeniuz]

In 1996 I replaced my cedar fence with block due to a microburst. At the time cedar was quoted as 15.00 per linear ft and block was 16.50, so it was a no brainer. I expect you can pay up to 50% higher now.

[Serenity1944]

Back east when I was young a lot of people used hedges, bushes, small trees etc at the border of their property for some privacy.

[cjs123]

I like the grey, but then I also like my beige stucco house (technically 'Spanish Brown' with 'Crisp Khaki' pop-ups and a 'Peking Blue' door).

Grey is a cool color; I love how it looks after the rain. Painting the wall the same as the house would, to me, be too much of a good thing. Also love my desert yard and have some nice plants around the perimeter, and the grey color makes a nice background.

My lot is not large though it backs up to an easement, so no home is directly behind me and the lot extends out a bit farther than it would otherwise. Also my home is smaller, so less footprint = more yard. I love sitting out there at night in summer and during the day in the cooler times, enjoying the sky and the flowers. It would be awful if there was no privacy--I'll take a block wall any day.

The walls still look good going on 10 years; hope they last--figure it won't be cheap to have them repaired/replaced!