How To Choose The Best Fence Material For Your Home?

Choosing Your Fence Material

One of the toughest parts of installing a fence, unless your doing it yourself is choosing the right material and design to meet your needs and match your landscaping, hopefully the last chapter allowed you to put some thought into what benefits you hope to accomplish with your fence. In this chapter we will look at material choices

· Chain Link

· Wood

· Vinyl

· Wrought Iron

Take some time to look at your neighbor’s yard to get an idea, often you will be sharing a fence with them. Another source is looking online, a simple google or Pinterest search can provide great fencing options. You just may see a fence that you feel you can not do without. Do not forget to take a few other considerations when selecting the material besides just the aesthetic value. Also do not leave out the HOA guidelines, I will tell you that over and over to drive this point into the ground like I do a fence post.

Factors to Consider

1. Consider your purpose

2. Consider your style

3. Consider the onset and long-term cost

4. Consider Maintenance

5. Consider your homes resale value

Consider your purpose

When it comes to the purpose of your fence, consider your kids and animals, if your seeking security a wooden split rail will not suffice, and if you want privacy steer clean of chain link, if your purpose is to define and draw clear boundaries lines then you have more choices to choose from. Knowing your purpose will guide you in the material and height you want to choose.

Consider Your Style

Thankfully, your home builder has narrowed down your choices, can you imagine having a home in Galveston on the beach with an 8-foot privacy fence blocking your view of the water? Or a million-dollar home in Sugar Land that has a chain link fence? Your fence should be a direct reflection of your home.

Consider Cost/ Maintenance

If you want a fence that never needs fixing then rule out wood, have a large active dog or boisterous kids, the you may want to wait on a vinyl fence until things simmer down or choose a low maintenance wrought iron but comes with a hefty price tag, later we will cover maintenance in greater details.

Your Homes Resale Value

Wooden fences or other solid fences like wrought iron potentially net a homeowner 50% of the cost of materials and installation when you choose to sale your home. This is mainly due to the look of the fence as solid fences are considered more aesthetically pleasing than other options.

With these factors into focus, lets evaluate each material choice.