How To Choose What Fence is Right For You

Your Goal

It is important to first define why you want a fence. Are you keeping a dog in? Adding privacy? Or, is this purely to add a nice touch to your yard? This will ultimately end up being the biggest factor in your decision. Let’s break those down now.

If your goal is adding privacy, you’ll likely want to go with a fence that is 6′ tall (standard “privacy” fence height). Many fences can come in heights of 6′, but only wood and vinyl privacy are solid fences. Additionally, these will keep dogs and animals both in and out.

If you like your backyard view yet still need to keep the dogs in, congratulations, you have the most options! You are now open to chain link, aluminum, wood, and vinyl fences. At proper height, all of these options are a safe bet. You may want to tell your installer to run the fence close to the ground.

But what if you just want decoration? Aluminum and vinyl fences tend to be regarded as more decorative fences. They also have many options available to suit styles and preference. If you would rather have the look of wood fence, they can be dressed up with stain to add color and longevity. 

Your Price Point

Price is often a large part of homeowners fence buying decision. Lets touch quickly on what specifically drives price. The largest factor on any project will be material. This almost goes without saying, but the larger the project the larger the material bill. Within the material category, the number of gates a fence has will ultimately drive up price the most.

Next up on price drivers will be labor. Some fences take longer to build than others, but most are somewhat similar for installation time. So if you feel you may have a tricky situation, or some custom work involved be prepared for some labor pricing increase. Other items that affect pricing are usually somewhat fixed and don’t change dramatically from project to project. These may include the companies overhead and profit that is also baked into the price.

With that knowledge in hand, you may need to eliminate an extra gate, or settle for a less expensive material if budget is the main concern. Generally, aluminum and vinyl fences are on the upper end, and chain link and wood fences are going to be on the lower end of the pricing spectrum. As with everything, there are factors. A 6′ tall chain link fence with barbed wire and a large cantilevered gate will likely cost more than a 3′ decorative vinyl fence for example. However, for a typical backyard situation, the general pricing spectrum above stands true. 

Making Your Choice

With your new found goal and price facts, how do you decide? Most importantly you’ll need to be satisfied with the decision, and left with a functional fence. Saving $600 by eliminating that double drive gate you really had in mind does no good if you cant get the lawnmower into the back yard! Just the same, a 3ft vinyl fence likely wont keep in a determined German Shepard. Try to really focus on what you are getting a fence for, and any future life changes that could warrant different needs. A new fence is ultimately an investment that you will live with for a long time, so you will want to get something you’ll be satisfied with. If your ideal fence seems out of reach after a job bid, many companies offer financing for projects, which can greatly help achieve your goal without the upfront cost!