OT: - Fencing (not the sport; having a privacy fence installed) | The Boneyard

OT: Fencing (not the sport; having a privacy fence installed)

8893

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We are finally getting around to having a fence installed to provide greater privacy between our house and that of our backyard neighbor. We have sought three quotes; one guy didn't show twice so we may be choosing between two, or we may solicit another quote.

It looks like we need around 80' to 100' of fencing.

I thought all along that we would be getting a wooden fence of some sort, and I have some ideas based on other fences I have seen in town. But the two guys who have come out could not be more adamant about using PVC fencing instead of wood. One of them won't even do a wood fence; he only provided quotes for PVC. Still waiting on quotes from the other one, but both insist that wood is more expensive to install and more expensive in the long run because it will need to be replaced in around ten years.

I'm still leaning towards a wood fence because I like the look. I'm not sure I've ever even seen a PVC fence.

Anyone here have any recent experience, insights, thoughts, etc.? I am especially interested if anyone has a PVC fence (and if so, in pictures of the same if possible).

TIA
 
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I imagine maintaining a wood fence is more than a pvc cleaning staining trying to preserve the wood etc I would never buy wood
 
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I don't have a fence but I would check some samples and see if they have any that gives the appearance of being wood. Maintenance would consist of the same pressure washer that you use for your deck. Good luck either way.
 

8893

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I don't have a fence but I would check some samples and see if they have any that gives the appearance of being wood. Maintenance would consist of the same pressure washer that you use for your deck. Good luck either way.
They do have wood grain styles--of course they are more expensive still. I'll have to see how much more.

Unlike a deck, where people are close enough to notice, I don't think anyone will generally be within around 30 yards of the fence, so I don't know if I or anyone else would be able to tell from that distance.
 

CL82

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What kind of fence? Picket? Privacy? Stockade?
 

CL82

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Privacy
I think I would go with the PVC just for maintenance reasons. Especially if it is going to be at a distance from most people. The picture below is PVC. If you were going to do a white one I think I’d lean even more toward it.
1596491801202.png
 
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We are finally getting around to having a fence installed to provide greater privacy between our house and that of our backyard neighbor. We have sought three quotes; one guy didn't show twice so we may be choosing between two, or we may solicit another quote.

It looks like we need around 80' to 100' of fencing.

I thought all along that we would be getting a wooden fence of some sort, and I have some ideas based on other fences I have seen in town. But the two guys who have come out could not be more adamant about using PVC fencing instead of wood. One of them won't even do a wood fence; he only provided quotes for PVC. Still waiting on quotes from the other one, but both insist that wood is more expensive to install and more expensive in the long run because it will need to be replaced in around ten years.

I'm still leaning towards a wood fence because I like the look. I'm not sure I've ever even seen a PVC fence.

Anyone here have any recent experience, insights, thoughts, etc.? I am especially interested if anyone has a PVC fence (and if so, in pictures of the same if possible).

TIA
Green is not an option?
 
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We are finally getting around to having a fence installed to provide greater privacy between our house and that of our backyard neighbor. We have sought three quotes; one guy didn't show twice so we may be choosing between two, or we may solicit another quote.

It looks like we need around 80' to 100' of fencing.

I thought all along that we would be getting a wooden fence of some sort, and I have some ideas based on other fences I have seen in town. But the two guys who have come out could not be more adamant about using PVC fencing instead of wood. One of them won't even do a wood fence; he only provided quotes for PVC. Still waiting on quotes from the other one, but both insist that wood is more expensive to install and more expensive in the long run because it will need to be replaced in around ten years.

I'm still leaning towards a wood fence because I like the look. I'm not sure I've ever even seen a PVC fence.

Anyone here have any recent experience, insights, thoughts, etc.? I am especially interested if anyone has a PVC fence (and if so, in pictures of the same if possible).

TIA
Did some of both. We have a pool (inground) that came with the house. We finally replaced it about 3-4 years ago, just before it fell down. We have a fairly unique situation and they ended up needing sonotubes for every post. They also had to find a place they could dig that didn’t have huge rocks a foot underground, or nothing a foot underground (overhanging a drainage ditch for road runoff).
We lost 3-6’ of land from where the old fence was. It also has almost 10’ of drop in 75’.

Is your land level, with no huge rocks? If so either would work. The vinyl piece has the gate to the world, but there are 2 gates in the wood part too. The vinyl was to match the vinyl fence that is between us and the next door neighbor, as each house has a pool. We split the cost of the fence between us, but they wanted vinyl for the rest, so we obliged.
 

8893

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Green is not an option?
If you mean trees/shrubbery (cue Monty Python), the prior owners tried a wall of Arborvitae, but they didn’t keep the deer away from them, so they are bare for around the bottom four to five feet. That’s what the fence will be covering.

We tried to fill the gap with Mountain Laurels when we first moved it around 17 years ago but only some of them took (a few Mountain Fire varieties that we put along the side).

So, we’re done with that option. New neighbors just moved in and the situation has been elevated to a priority (read: they are louder than the two prior occupants of that house).

We figure we’ll put the fence on our side of the trees, so the neighbors look at the bare bottoms, and we’ll have the tops rising from the fence line.

The fence guys are even more against using the wood grain PVC than they are against using wood. They say it jacks the price too high and they don’t recommend it. I want to see a quote nonetheless because now I’m curious.

My sense is that wood vs. PVC is close to a wash for installation, but they tell me I’ll be replacing the wood in eight to ten years no matter what I do to it (probably in large part because the conditions are prime for decay there). But wood grain PVC may be close to twice the price.
 
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If you mean trees/shrubbery (cue Monty Python), the prior owners tried a wall of Arborvitae, but they didn’t keep the deer away from them, so they are bare for around the bottom four to five feet. That’s what the fence will be covering.

We tried to fill the gap with Mountain Laurels when we first moved it around 17 years ago but only some of them took (a few Mountain Fire varieties that we put along the side).

So, we’re done with that option. New neighbors just moved in and the situation has been elevated to a priority (read: they are louder than the two prior occupants of that house).

We figure we’ll put the fence on our side of the trees, so the neighbors look at the bare bottoms, and we’ll have the tops rising from the fence line.

The fence guys are even more against using the wood grain PVC than they are against using wood. They say it jacks the price too high and they don’t recommend it. I want to see a quote nonetheless because now I’m curious.

My sense is that wood vs. PVC is close to a wash for installation, but they tell me I’ll be replacing the wood in eight to ten years no matter what I do to it (probably in large part because the conditions are prime for decay there). But wood grain PVC may be close to twice the price.
My wood fence was there in 1999, and not sure how long before that. Lasted over 15 years with maybe 2 stainings. It was only 4’ and the wife wanted 6’. A small landscaper outfit took it on. They did a good job considering all the problems. No place for heavy equipment... all done manually.
 
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People in our neighborhood have the PVC (white). It looks nice. I like wood, but after a few years the wood looks crappy, and a few years after that it rots and maybe falls down. Seems like a no-brainer.
 

CL82

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Play it smart. Get your neighbor to build the fence. A couple of backyard barbecues in the raw should do the trick. ( I’m assuming that’s why you want the fence.)
P.S. If it is, count me in.
This post is both genius and disconcerting.
 

8893

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People in our neighborhood have the PVC (white). It looks nice. I like wood, but after a few years the wood looks crappy, and a few years after that it rots and maybe falls down. Seems like a no-brainer.
It seems like the wood would be a bad idea in the long run because the area where it will be is shady and prone to moss/moisture.

It will not be white. That's the least-expensive option, but it would be too jarring for our setting. The fence guy suggests "clay," which is like a darker beige. It's not much more expensive than white, but it's much less expensive than darker colors like brown, dark green and grey (to the tune of around $1,000 for our job); and wayyy less expensive than the wood grain.

His point about the clay is that it is used as the base color for the wood grain, and as the wood grain fades over time you're basically left with something that looks like the clay anyway, except you've paid a lot more for it.

We were considering brown, which would look nice now; but he notes that it will look more noticeable in the winter when the leaves are gone from many of the surrounding trees.

I think I need to go to a showroom and see and touch the product.
 

Dove

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We are finally getting around to having a fence installed to provide greater privacy between our house and that of our backyard neighbor. We have sought three quotes; one guy didn't show twice so we may be choosing between two, or we may solicit another quote.

It looks like we need around 80' to 100' of fencing.

I thought all along that we would be getting a wooden fence of some sort, and I have some ideas based on other fences I have seen in town. But the two guys who have come out could not be more adamant about using PVC fencing instead of wood. One of them won't even do a wood fence; he only provided quotes for PVC. Still waiting on quotes from the other one, but both insist that wood is more expensive to install and more expensive in the long run because it will need to be replaced in around ten years.

I'm still leaning towards a wood fence because I like the look. I'm not sure I've ever even seen a PVC fence.

Anyone here have any recent experience, insights, thoughts, etc.? I am especially interested if anyone has a PVC fence (and if so, in pictures of the same if possible).

TIA

...posting first, reading thread next...


White PVC fences are the worst. The glare alone.

We didn't need privacy and went with a split rail with mesh.

Lucarelli Fence from Deep River does a quality job and works quick. I know he prefers working with wood.
 

CL82

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It seems like the wood would be a bad idea in the long run because the area where it will be is shady and prone to moss/moisture.

It will not be white. That's the least-expensive option, but it would be too jarring for our setting. The fence guy suggests "clay," which is like a darker beige. It's not much more expensive than white, but it's much less expensive than darker colors like brown, dark green and grey (to the tune of around $1,000 for our job); and wayyy less expensive than the wood grain.

His point about the clay is that it is used as the base color for the wood grain, and as the wood grain fades over time you're basically left with something that looks like the clay anyway, except you've paid a lot more for it.

We were considering brown, which would look nice now; but he notes that it will look more noticeable in the winter when the leaves are gone from many of the surrounding trees.

I think I need to go to a showroom and see and touch the product.
Post a picture when you are done. I think some plantings on your side will go a long way toward breaking up the view.
 
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1) get an accurate survey of your property;
2) don't place it directly on the property line unless you want a "boundary fence"
3) if it is directly on the line, then the entirety of the fence needs to be exactly on the line, not just part of it.
4) boundary fences are unique under state law- you don't want to deal with any of the headaches that might arise with your neighbor(s)
5) in other words, i'd erect the fence a couple inches onto your property
 

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