What type of Fence is best for your Property?

 What type of Fence is best for your Property?
Choosing a fence is not as easy as it used to be. In the days when choice was more limited,
the most popular option was the simple white picket fence: clean and traditional, it looked
great with almost any style home. These days you have dozens of choices in terms of style,
height, material, and color. Choosing a good combination of style elements adds appeal and
value to your property, so it's not a decision to take lightly.

What's the Purpose of the Fence?
Why do you want a fence? The answer to that question is one of the most important factors that
will determine the type of fence you need. Just as important, it is going to dictate more
practical factors such as the height of the fence, and where and how large the openings in the
fence will be.

In most cases, your fence will have several different purposes, which might include one or more
of the following:
Defining your property line
Ornamental
Provide privacy
Keeping children or pets on the property
Keeping neighboring animals out (depending on where you live, this might be dogs, cattle,
deer, or other species)
Block wind or sunlight
Act as a sound barrier
Act as a support for plants

At this point it's best to establish some other important aspects of the fence, such as how high
you need it to be. This is going to depend partly on aesthetic factors and partly on the function
you have in mind. If privacy is the goal, for example, you will likely want a higher fence than
you might if it's purely ornamental.
Another thing that is important to keep in mind at this stage is that if you have a large yard,
or one that has several different purposes, you may want to consider using two or more different
fence styles.
Finally, when deciding things such as how high the fence will be, do not forget to consider
building codes and how they might affect the type of fence you can build. It is also a good idea
to check where your boundaries lie, so you don't inadvertently build a fence that's lying on your
neighbor's property.

What's your Property's Personality?
The next decision is a simple one that involves looking at the architectural style of your home
and making some basic choices about what to consider and what to eliminate.

The key here is thinking about what's going to look good on your property based on what's already
there. Your fence needs will likely be different depending on whether your home is rural, suburban
or urban, older or modern, brick or stone, wood or stucco. You might prefer a rugged, rustic look
with a rough wooden fence, or a neat and tidy fence with clean lines made from stain-resistant
materials.

Choosing Materials
You have three main choices, here: wood, metal, and vinyl. Depending on the fence's purpose you
can sometimes rule out one or more of these three choices right away. Metal and vinyl, for example,
are not always suitable privacy fences, as metal fences tend to be more open, and vinyl fences
do not yet offer the wider range that wood does.
When choosing materials your primary consideration (apart from your budget) will probably be
aesthetic, but there are some other important factors to keep in mind.
One of these is how much time you are willing to spend on maintenance. Are you willing to spend a
day or so every few years repainting a wooden fence, or rust-proofing an iron fence? Do you live
in a neighborhood where graffiti is a problem? If so, you may want to choose materials that do not
lend themselves well to being spray-painted, or spend some extra money on paint that can be cleaned
easily.
The materials you choose are also going to depend on the function of your fence, of course.
If privacy or noise reduction is the most important consideration, you will likely prefer a higher
fence that completely encloses the area. On the other hand, if you just want to prevent your
younger children from wandering off the property, a lower fence that's partially open may suit
you better.
All the choices you make in terms of material should be bound by the style decisions you made
earlier, when thinking about your property's personality. Do not be tempted to change your mind,
here. You might have fallen in love with the idea of a wrought-iron fence, but if you live in an
ultra-modern urban home, that style is more than likely not suited to your property's personality.
This article was writen by Stephanie Larkin.

To see some types of panels, pictures and fitting click here