Fencing options? What do you think is the best bet?

[winnietucker]

I have about 4/5 of an acre in a suburb of Seattle. I need some kind of fencing done next year. Way too many loose dogs have roamed onto my property and some of the neighbors in a rental duplex down the street have let their dog into our yard to do their business.

We were thinking either a “green fence” with t-posts and wire as an additional barrier. The pros are this is DIY territory for us because it’s essentially gardening and I love that.

Another option is a cedar privacy fence We got some quotes and to do 2 sides (one side has fencing already and my husband and I can’t agree on what to do with the front) and that will cost about $16k. My husband refuses to DIY this.

I’m leaning toward green fence but am not really a fan of the arborvitaes I’ve seen used. Can I get opinions? My main goal is to keep my dogs in our yard and to keep other dogs/ people out of it.

 

[winnietucker]

I’d also like to start free ranging my chickens if anyone has suggestions on how to safely do that. We surprisingly have coyotes in our area as well as raccoons and other animals I’m sure.

 

[rockysalamander]

Chain link is great in that repairs are easy to make. But, if you want to keep dogs out of any fence, you'll have to bury it or run a concrete base.

 

[winnietucker]

Chain link is great in that repairs are easy to make. But, if you want to keep dogs out of any fence, you'll have to bury it or run a concrete base.

When I tried to get quotes for chain link I was either told they didn’t do it or it would be about the same price. And for that much I’d prefer wood.

 

[rockysalamander]

When I tried to get quotes for chain link I was either told they didn’t do it or it would be about the same price. And for that much I’d prefer wood.

Its not so much the installation cost that you save, but the repair costs. With wood, you have to repair the whole affected panels and its a big pain. We had 5 panels with damage and it was not easy to repair. My inlaws have chainlink any can easily repair the damage without moving or changing the poles. With chain link, the panels hand on the fence posts. With wood, the panels are between the posts. I agree its not the prettiest, but for a large space with a lot of vegetation, it fades into the background.

 

[winnietucker]

Its not so much the installation cost that you save, but the repair costs. With wood, you have to repair the whole affected panels and its a big pain. We had 5 panels with damage and it was not easy to repair. My inlaws have chainlink any can easily repair the damage without moving or changing the poles. With chain link, the panels hand on the fence posts. With wood, the panels are between the posts. I agree its not the prettiest, but for a large space with a lot of vegetation, it fades into the background.

That is a solid point. And part of the yard is fenced with chain link so it would match.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

We have an acre and chose a cedar privacy fence for the backyard. I like it for the beauty and privacy.

 

[jasper]

The standard designs for cedar privacy fences are only designed to last 7-10 years. These designs have a more-or-less solid wall of slats (which catch the wind), and bury the bottom of the treated wood post in concrete (which is straight-forward to install, but hard to remove, and encourages the post to rot through at ground level).

Instead of having a solid wall of slats, you could have gaps between the slats. This would let light, air, and small animals through, but keep out all but the tiniest of dogs. It would be much less likely to blow down during a windstorm. Of course, it would not be a privacy fence. The cost would be about the same as a regular privacy fence, because most of the cost is to install the posts.

Instead of burying the fenceposts in concrete, you could attach "Fence Fins", and bury them in gravel. This lets water drain, preventing the posts from rotting at ground level. Unfortunately, the COVID fiasco has interrupted shipments of "Fence Fins" to the United States.

Or you could install metal hardware in a concrete bases, and attach each fencepost to a metal piece. In the best case, this is very durable. Even in the not-so-good case, it makes it much easier to replace fenceposts later.

Or you could take @rockysalamander's suggestion, and use a design that includes metal fenceposts. Some of these designs wrap the fenceposts in vinyl, to look like wood fenceposts.

 

[winnietucker]

The standard designs for cedar privacy fences are only designed to last 7-10 years. These designs have a more-or-less solid wall of slats (which catch the wind), and bury the bottom of the treated wood post in concrete (which is straight-forward to install, but hard to remove, and encourages the post to rot through at ground level).

Instead of having a solid wall of slats, you could have gaps between the slats. This would let light, air, and small animals through, but keep out all but the tiniest of dogs. It would be much less likely to blow down during a windstorm. Of course, it would not be a privacy fence. The cost would be about the same as a regular privacy fence, because most of the cost is to install the posts.

Instead of burying the fenceposts in concrete, you could attach "Fence Fins", and bury them in gravel. This lets water drain, preventing the posts from rotting at ground level. Unfortunately, the COVID fiasco has interrupted shipments of "Fence Fins" to the United States.

Or you could install metal hardware in a concrete bases, and attach each fencepost to a metal piece. In the best case, this is very durable. Even in the not-so-good case, it makes it much easier to replace fenceposts later.

Or you could take @rockysalamander's suggestion, and use a design that includes metal fenceposts. Some of these designs wrap the fenceposts in vinyl, to look like wood fenceposts.

We did metal fence posts! Love red cedar.

 

[Karl_K]

When I tried to get quotes for chain link I was either told they didn’t do it or it would be about the same price. And for that much I’d prefer wood.

Contact an industrial/agriculture fence contractor its the same fence or better for about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost.

 

[winnietucker]

Contact an industrial/agriculture fence contractor its the same fence or better for about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost.

I like this kind of fencing and we have something similar at our old house. We ended up with cedar privacy cause we don’t want to see our neighbors.

 

[Polabowla]

We used to have chain link but neighborhood kids climbed over it & it sagged badly and looked awful.
What about a white vinyl fence? Not cheap but solid privacy for sure.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

We did a franken fence. Here is a picture of a couple sections of it. The front is the hybrid and the back of the property is a privacy fence.
We(I mean DH, DIY'd)
It is 48 inch cedar and we took some panels we had left over from the privacy in the back and made a fence that the dogs couldn't get over but hopefully wouldn't look too much like a prison compound from the outside. And yes we added another brace because the gate listed slightly shortly after finishing because of the weight. It's really pretty and you can grow all kinds of flowering vines on it. Which I always meant to do and haven't actually done in the seven or so years it's been up.


* Oops, didn't see this post was from last year but hey show and tell anyways

 

[TooPatient]

I like this kind of fencing and we have something similar at our old house. We ended up with cedar privacy cause we don’t want to see our neighbors.

Make sure to seal it regularly to keep it solid. We had a new cedar fence put in around 6 years ago and it is already weathering and may need replaced. (Weathering strength not just appearance.)

 

[winnietucker]

Make sure to seal it regularly to keep it solid. We had a new cedar fence put in around 6 years ago and it is already weathering and may need replaced. (Weathering strength not just appearance.)

I took a few days off to do that this September. Not looking forward to maintaining it. But cedar fencing is the nicest so I guess it’ll be worth it.