Quality, complementary fencing can enhance your property and immediately add value to your home. It should also extend your usable living space to the outdoors.
Tall, solid wood or vinyl fencing is great for privacy, security, containment, marking boundaries, and acting as a noise barrier and windbreaker. Vinyl is a bit more expensive initially, but requires less maintenance long-term. Solid materials make a good pet fence for cats, dogs and other animals.
Open wood fencing is not as satisfactory for containment, but it could be a better choice for your needs. Some people feel claustrophobic within solid fencing, and they don’t want to block a particularly nice view.
Open wood fencing requires fewer materials and less labor, which usually lowers the cost. It is not as satisfactory for containment, but it could be a better choice for your needs by creating boundaries, partitions and barriers. It is also less claustrophobic for those who want to see beyond the fence.
Some communities, for appearance sake, only allow "invisible," electric fences, which can be used as a dog fence. Electric cables are installed underground, and they can work as long as the batteries in the dog’s collar are working. They will not keep out strangers or other animals.
Durable chain link fencing is one of the most commonly used, and it’s one of the least expensive to install. It is utilitarian, but not aesthetic. It does not usually increase a property’s value because it tends to rust with time and needs to be replaced.
Chain link is a good, economical choice as a pool fence, since most localities require fencing around pools.
Chain link fence comes in different gauges and heights, and is usually made of aluminum or galvanized steel. Standard four-foot-high chain link costs about $6 per linear foot. A heavy-gauge fence can contain most young children and small pets, but older kids, cats, and large dogs can climb or jump over.
Chain link fences can keep toys off the street, and act as a barrier to thoughtless strangers or neighbors. Some disadvantages: outsiders can taunt trapped animals; the unsavory can watch children from a covert distance; and chain link offers little privacy unless covered by vines or bushes.
Wrought iron fencing offers great security, and can appear quite imposing, especially if it’s 8-feet tall with pointed posts and a locked gate. Expensive, at about $20 to $30 per linear foot, its elegant looks are especially well suited to Victorian and older American homes. It requires significant and regular maintenance, which adds to its long-term cost. Imitating wrought iron, newer versions made of steel or aluminum cost less and require less maintenance.
Wood is wonderfully versatile. It can complement a home’s design – from casual to formal to traditional. Wood fencing comes in styles such as 2-, 3- or 4-rails, picket-style, lattice-style and side-by-side solid planks. Wood used for fencing should be pressure-treated to weather the elements. In general, 4-foot-tall wood fencing costs about $9 to $10 per linear foot. Taller fences, used for privacy and security, run about $14 to $15.
Whereas wood requires ongoing costs for repairs and maintenance, PVC vinyl costs more initially, about $18 per linear foot, but less over time because it requires no staining or painting.
Of course, costs are directly related to the length and height of the fence, the number of posts, and the amount of time required for installation. Some Do-It-Yourselfers can install a small fence over a weekend. Installing a fence might require local permits and can get quite involved with clearing and leveling the soil, digging in posts, and actually installing the fence.
Some fence installations will definitely require professionals.
But if you’re an advanced D-I-Y person, you can save about 60% of the cost by installing chain link or wood fencing, and about 40% if you install wrought iron.