fencing

Anybody know anything about wood for privacy fencing? As some of you may remember I am fencing in my yard on the house I just bought. I have gotten 3 different estimates and all 3 seem to have different opinions...
Rather interesting.
When I asked about chain linked one guy said that the cost of metals have gotten so high that it is just as expensive as wood. When I asked another about the chain link price he said that was bs, its still less expensive.
One guy recomended cedar, the other guy said cedar was a bad way to go. Asked one guy about pvc fencing he said he wouldnt even put that in his yard. Way to expensive and not worth it.

So that leads me to what type of wood is better? cedar, pine what?

For now, I have more questions than answers. Tell us more.

What are your requirements for this fence?
Privacy
Keep dogs in (or the neighbors out)
...

What's the neighborhood like? Is it a country setting, suburban... (Basically, what kinds of fence would fit in, or not)?

What do you want to look at? In most areas, fences (mainly wood) that have the face (nice looking part) and back (not as nice as you see the posts and such) require you to put the nice side outward, towards the neighbors. You have to look at the bad side.

How big of an area is it? What's behind your house (woods, fields, more houses...).

Do you want it to look wide open or do you like a private area (do you sunbathe naked)?

How many gates/openings will you need? Will any meter readers need access?

bczoom said:

For now, I have more questions than answers. Tell us more.

What are your requirements for this fence?
Privacy
Keep dogs in (or the neighbors out)
...

What's the neighborhood like? Is it a country setting, suburban... (Basically, what kinds of fence would fit in, or not)?

What do you want to look at? In most areas, fences (mainly wood) that have the face (nice looking part) and back (not as nice as you see the posts and such) require you to put the nice side outward, towards the neighbors. You have to look at the bad side.

How big of an area is it? What's behind your house (woods, fields, more houses...).

Do you want it to look wide open or do you like a private area (do you sunbathe naked)?

How many gates/openings will you need? Will any meter readers need access?

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main reason for the fence is to keep the dogs in. I can get away with a 4 ft high fence. Which my neighbor to the right of me has. I only have to add one side of a fence. Both neighbors have fencing (as well as the neighbor behind my yard) Both neighbors have given me permission to back up to their fence. The Part that I am adding onto the neighborhood will see it, and when I look out my back windows or door I will see it.
Another reason I want the wood is so my dogs dont bark at everything that goes by.
It is a surban setting.
So in answer to your question I want something that is going to be "attractive" but a good wood that is going to withstand the elements over time

A pic is worth a thousand words... Didn't you post one before? I can't find it.

Is 4' enough for your dogs? I know it wasn't for mine, and they would hop right over it

What kind of fencing do your neighbors have? My initial thoughts (pending seeing the pic of your yard) is to do something that'll match theirs if possible.

Of the choices you mentioned so far (chain link, PVC or cedar), I'd probably go with the cedar. It's long lasting and probably less expensive than the others.

working woman said:

Another reason I want the wood is so my dogs dont bark at everything that goes by.

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How are your dogs now? Do they bark on sight or sound? If the latter, a fencing that allows them to see through to then know it's not worth barking about may be worth considering.

bczoom said:

A pic is worth a thousand words... Didn't you post one before? I can't find it.

Is 4' enough for your dogs? I know it wasn't for mine, and they would hop right over it

What kind of fencing do your neighbors have? My initial thoughts (pending seeing the pic of your yard) is to do something that'll match theirs if possible.

Of the choices you mentioned so far (chain link, PVC or cedar), I'd probably go with the cedar. It's long lasting and probably less expensive than the others.


How are your dogs now? Do they bark on sight or sound? If the latter, a fencing that allows them to see through to then know it's not worth barking about may be worth considering.

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I did post a picture but it was of the front of the house, so you cant see what I'm talking about.
So far my dogs have not been able to jump a 4 ft fence. chain link anyway.
The one neighbor has a cedar fence the other cahin link,(which he is suppose to be replacing with a privacy)
So is cedar better than pine?

working woman said:

So is cedar better than pine?

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Yes, much better.
Unless pressure treated, pine will rot in a pretty short time unless constantly sealed. Cedar should easily last 20-30 years if you don't do anything with it. Longer if maintained.

thank you. Will be glad when this is behind me!

Be advised that untreated cedar over time normally turns gray.

If you like/want it to remain either light colored (like when new) or brown, you'll want/need to seal/stain it. It's a pretty easy process with fencing and something you can do yourself. Most just use a couple gallon pump sprayer and hit it that way.

Do a search on the forum for cedar and you'll find a couple threads about cedar and staining/maintenance. I think BigDog just re-did his cedar siding. A few others (guessing here, but I think BigAl, PBinWA, Bonehead) also have done some recent cedar work.

A search for Deckscapes may be a fast way to find info on cedar stain. It's the stain I like to use on outside wood so any thread that has that word is talking about staining outdoor wood

ok , will chek it out. I was kind of toying with painting part of it white( right outsiede my back door where the gate will be)

If you don't mind me butting in, if the fence is for the dogs you should look into invisible fence. There is no maintenance( painting, staining, or replacing wood later) and the beauty of it is that it does your entire yard. If you investigate the underground fencing, make sure you call invisible fence brand and not the bad knock offs. My dogs were getting out of my physical fence and this fixed my problem! They come out and help you train the dogs and give you a one year money back guarantee. Also now my dogs hang out in the front yard without running into the street or at the neighbors that walk there dogs on the sidewalk.

Cedar is by far one of the best fencing wood available. Its naturally rot resistant even when under ground. Redwood is also excellent but way to pricey. Up here they use Cedar as fence posts and they are still good after 30 years of being in the ground. Your typical fence is now built with pressure treated 4x4 posts, cedar 1x6 slats and pressure treated 2x4 for the horizontal nailers. For gates posts and such I use a 4x6 Pressure treated posts. This gives you a much better gate support and helps prevent the post from bending with a swinging gate. For longer gates say 4 plus feet long (driveway) I use 8x8 pressure treated posts on each side and divide the gate between the two. If built right your fence should last you 30 years and more. I use screws instead of nails for the fencing part or slats (1x6 cedar). Nails will vibrate loose over years of repeated vibration from the ultra violate rays. Not sure how that works but thats what I was told by someone who would know such things. Most contractors will use a nail gun to nail up the 1x6 because its easier, cheaper and more importantly to him alot faster than screwing the slats in. Also a minimum of 1-90lbs bag of high quality bag crete or ready mix should be used per post (dont let them buy that cheap shit packaged in Mexico! You better off just using dirt than that CRAP). Also make sure its premixed in a barrel and not just poured around the post in a dry solution then wetted. Thats again a way they save time. Also, I always nail some 16 penny nails on each side of the post (2 per side). These will stick out about 1 to 2 inches. Then spray the post with undercoating. You can get this at any automotive store. Its a tar like substance. I spray the end of the post going into the ground and no higher than 1 inch above the concrete level of the finished post footing. This keeps the post from absorbing moisture through the concrete for decades. The nails keep the post from being able to move up at anytime in the concrete. No contractor will do this for you. He doesnt care how long the fence lasts, just that he gets paid! They also now make gate hinges that lag bolt to the post and carry across the gate. These I have found are the best for gate hindges. They last a long time and are much stronger! Oh yes for gate posts use 2 bags of concrete (180 lbs). Try and build a slight hill of concrete from the post to the edge of the concrete. This helps water run away from the post. Thats how I build my fences on my property. I will have several sections I will be tearing down and rebuilding this next year. They have lasted 30 years. My new ones should last longer than that.

crums said:

If you don't mind me butting in, if the fence is for the dogs you should look into invisible fence. There is no maintenance( painting, staining, or replacing wood later) and the beauty of it is that it does your entire yard. If you investigte the underground fencing, make sure you call invisible fence brand and not the bad knock offs. My dogs were getting out of my physical fence and this fixed my problem! They come out and help you train the dogs and give you a one year money back garuntee. Also now my dogs hang out in the frontyard without running into the street or at the nieghbors that walk there dogs on the sidewalk.

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Some dogs will take the shock and get out of the yard (I've seen this with three dogs already). Then the issue is if they (the dogs) want to take the shock to get back into the yard, which they usually don't. Knew one dog that would bark to let his owners know that he wanted back into the yard.

The fence will not keep animals out of your yard as well, particularly those that may be interested in your dog.

dzalphakilo said:

Some dogs will take the shock and get out of the yard (I've seen this with three dogs already). Then the issue is if they (the dogs) want to take the shock to get back into the yard, which they usually don't. Knew one dog that would bark to let his owners know that he wanted back into the yard.

The fence will not keep animals out of your yard as well, particularly those that may be interested in your dog.

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That is usually a non Invisible Fence brand (the bad knock offs I was refering to) I know that all of those dyi systems don't work from experience. The fact that you have a professional trainer that comes out and customizes the training to your dog makes all the difference! I know Invisible Fence brand has a 99.5% success ratio and a 1 year performance garuntee, if your doesn't stay in your yard you get your money back. It worked for my dog's 100%.

Not for my nieghbors dog in California.. AND it WAS the Invisable fence brand. He had a chow (which was a vicouse dog) and I would watch the dog back up to the house and then run as fast as it could. It would get through the "Shock" zone in a few nano seconds. LOL. I didnt think the dog was smart but it sure learned how to defeat the the fence when ever it wanted to get away for ahwhile.

I have an idea? Maybe we can use an invisable fence on our border with Mexico. But how can we get them to wear a collar? Oh well. Nothing works better than a real fence anyway!

Snowcat Operations said:

<snip>
Oh well. Nothing works better than a real fence anyway!

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Real landmines?