4 Wood Fence Alternatives

Many classic pictures of the "American dream" include a white picket wood fence punctuating a perfectly manicured lawn. Of course, there are other types of restrictive barricades available, besides a wood fence; four of the most popular are concrete, chain link, barbed wire, and invisible fencing. Your choice is important to your family, pets, property, and neighborhood relationships.

1. Concrete

This solid wall-type surround offers the ultimate in privacy. It's also sturdy and leaves your yard invulnerable to intruders, human or otherwise. It would certainly allow your children and pets to play safely within its boundaries, as well. However, it also has its drawbacks. If you ever want to move or remove it, that process will be quite a costly and tedious endeavor. Another negative is that you may draw undue attention or scrutiny your way by what may appear to be an extreme dedication to privacy. Your neighbors may be offended or - worse - feel compelled to investigate what in the world your family is up to behind that concrete wall!

2. Chain Link

This material is commonly used to create a barrier along property lines because of its simplicity and budget-friendly price. It offers safety and restriction without privacy, though, and it’s usually restricted to the 4-foot standard height. While maintenance is not needed, attempting to alter its color or appearance usually results in either failure or an unsightly display of amateur creativity. In fact, the unsightliness of this fence type makes it anathema to most Homeowners’ Associations (or HOAs, for short).

3. Barbed Wire

If you really want to offend your neighbors and your HOA, in one decisive act, perhaps barbed wire is the material-of-choice for your yard’s boundaries. Of course, if that isn’t your goal, this threatening possibility probably wouldn’t occur to most homeowners seeking residential options. In addition to offences caused, this choice could prove potentially hazardous for both would-be intruders and your pets and children. For that reason, barbed wire should probably be reserved for agricultural fencing and other non-residential use.

4. Invisible

This electric wonder involves underground wiring and receivers for homeowners’ pets. For those wishing to erect a boundary that will serve to protect children as well, this option should not be considered, even if the collars provided do seem to fit snugly around a toddler’s neck. Where neither human escapees nor unwanted pests are of concern, this option may be helpful, and it will be seen - or unseen, actually - as acceptable to any HOA. However, power outages make its benefits null and void, and its technology makes it prone to lightening strikes. Even the smallest breach means that you need a visit from a technician, who will come with significant fees. Replacement batteries add to the related costs, and some dogs fail to respond to shocking altogether, anyway.

By choosing to install a wood fence, you’ll provide your family with safety and privacy while pleasing your HOA and your neighbors, too. Robert Frost may have said it best: "Good fences make good neighbors."