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I'm not sure whether this should be in "House" or the "Real Estate" forum, so I'll try here first.
When it comes to fencing, there's wood privacy (of different qualities and heights), iron, pretend-iron look (usually black, but made of steel or aluminum), chain link silver, chain link black (coated with black vinyl), vinyl.
I think chain link silver is probably the least expensive, but it doesn't look very nice, IMO. Great for rural areas, or very large expanses of land.
But other than that, which do you think is the least expensive while still looking nice enough for a middle-to-upper income subdivision (where the other neighbors have all used the standard wood privacy)?
The "least expensive while still looking nice enough" fence is none at all. Why do you think you need a fence and what will its purpose be? Given that information we could probably give you answers that will help you decide what's best for you rather than just telling you what everyone out here prefers for themselves.
The chain link house on the street is always the trashiest one.
Agreed. And even worse is the corner house that has a too-high wooden/plastic fence then stone, and then chain link fence next to the sidewalk. It looks tacky and it also screams "I have lots of stuff valuable enough to steal so stay away."
I have a very high wood side fence, but I don't live on a corner where people need to be able to see so that they don't drive into things and people.
I hate corner houses, unless they are on a steeply elevated slope that hinders trespassing.
I ran the numbers some years ago and concluded that labor was not that big a part of the cost for a standard board fence. If you consider the work required either to remove and haul away existing fence, if such is the case, or the work required to dig a correct number of post holes of the correct depth by hand (have you ever dug a post hole by hand in clay soil? Thought not. Now do 30 of them.) or the cost to rent a post hole auger, it turned out that I would have saved only a few hundred dollars and would have spent several days of hard labor to save those few hundred dollars. Remember, a crew will have a post hole auger; chain saws (how the posts get cut off at the correct height); nail guns and compressors; and they will get a better price on pickets, rails, and posts than you can. Of course if your day job causes you to already have all the equipment, go for it - but if that were the case you wouldn't be asking random strangers on the internet, would you? because you would already have put up the fence.
As someone who put up his own all red ceder six foot privacy fence last summer........and dug all of his own post holes in clay.....and poured all of his own concrete......I think your estimate of only saving a few hundred dollars in labor is way off. Yeah I ran the numbers as well
The "least expensive while still looking nice enough" fence is none at all. Why do you think you need a fence and what will its purpose be? Given that information we could probably give you answers that will help you decide what's best for you rather than just telling you what everyone out here prefers for themselves.
For my dogs. And to keep loose dogs out. Also, so no one steals my fruit from fruit trees. And privacy. It'd be nice to sit on the back patio in my nightie & drink coffee.
I didn't realize some people don't like fences. I thought they didn't have fences because they couldn't afford them.
For my dogs. And to keep loose dogs out. Also, so no one steals my fruit from fruit trees. And privacy. It'd be nice to sit on the back patio in my nightie & drink coffee.
I didn't realize some people don't like fences. I thought they didn't have fences because they couldn't afford them.
Like you. I wanted privacy. Just because we step into our yards and are outside does not mean we want to be seen or wave at every passerby. When I bought my house last year half of my yard dropped six feet to a small driveway shared by three other houses. There was no privacy and when I was on my deck I practically felt like I was standing on my neighbors front porch. Last summer a contractor came in and installed a six foot retaining wall, leveled the yard and a week later I put up a beautiful board on board red ceder fence. I still remember the reactions of my friends when they saw the yard before the wall and fence....it was not favorable. The reactions aftarwards are very favorable. And, thankfully my neighbors find the wall and fence to be an attractive addition to the neighborhood I would say my house now feels much more complete with the addition of a fence and a yard that is private and does not feel like some communal space.
I was in a neighborhood of 60's homes where chain-link was the norm but now they look trashy and too industrial. I ended up getting white PVC privacy. In the two front sections that connected with the house, I did the PVC picket style so it didn't look like the whole yard was in a barricade. The primary reason for my two little dogs, but the problem was the township code was that you had to leave 2" under the fence (for drainage). Well, 2" was all my dogs needed to get a good hole going, and they must have escaped five times. I would keep barricading and they'd knock down the barricades or just start a new hole. Little devils!
I think the look of the black iron (or steel or whatever it is) is the classiest. Wood posts are nice but don't you have to stain them every so often?
I was in a neighborhood of 60's homes where chain-link was the norm but now they look trashy and too industrial. I ended up getting white PVC privacy. In the two front sections that connected with the house, I did the PVC picket style so it didn't look like the whole yard was in a barricade. The primary reason for my two little dogs, but the problem was the township code was that you had to leave 2" under the fence (for drainage). Well, 2" was all my dogs needed to get a good hole going, and they must have escaped five times. I would keep barricading and they'd knock down the barricades or just start a new hole. Little devils!
I think the look of the black iron (or steel or whatever it is) is the classiest. Wood posts are nice but don't you have to stain them every so often?
Yes you need to stain the wood fence......usually every couple of years depending on the quality of the stain chosen.
I have a wooden stockade fence on the back of my dog yard. I replaced an old one in 1999 and then rebuilt the house, and discovered that the new septic system drains water to the bottom of the stockade, rotting it. I have black chain-link around the rest of the yard and it actually looks pretty nice and holds up very well.
In my new house, which will be very close to other small houses, I expect to have black chain link in the back for the dogs. There are significant windstorms and other weather where I'm building and I don't want to worry about anything falling over and blowing away.
I did have a dog (German shepherd mutt) who climbed the 4-foot chain link fence like a spider running up a web and could not be kept in the yard. She was very agile. Otherwise, 4-foot chain link seems quite OK for less enterprising dogs.
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