When the Focus is Function
There are special circumstances in which wood fences, despite their beauty, may not be your best choice for fencing. Maybe someone is looking for a low maintenance fence. Cedar Fencing is anything but low maintenance. Between staining and power washing the cost for maintenance is incredible. Many look for low maintenance fencing like Fortress Ornamental. However, ornamental fencing is not conducive to privacy. Many times there are trade offs when selecting a functional fence.
Security is another practical function many homeowners demand from fencing, a function for which, as mentioned above, metal fencing is generally considered superior to wood fences.
But wood fences are an excellent choice for privacy fencing, whether it be in terms of noise barriers or, more commonly, visual barriers. Wood fences provide some of the most attractive fencing options available when your chief concern is creating a backyard sanctuary.
The stockade style offers an example of a wood fence design that can afford a solid visual barrier between your yard and your neighbor’s, resulting in almost total privacy. While masonry work such as brick can do the same, it costs significantly more than does a wood fence.
Others prefer a compromise on privacy, choosing wood fences with a certain amount of airiness to them, to avoid fencing out the outer world altogether. Tall picket fencing, for example, can afford partial privacy, as can lattice fencing.
A popular alternative to these privacy-fencing options is a hybrid wood fence design: i.e., a solid barrier for the bottom three-quarters of the fencing, with lattice on top to inject an element of airiness and decoration.
As noted above, one factor in choosing between the different types of wood fences is their potential for compatibility with one’s landscape design. Solid wood fences can provide compelling backdrops for plantings, while the airier wood fence designs (e.g., split-rail and picket-style wood fences) can serve either as foregrounds or backgrounds for planting beds
Other types of fencing which are not mentioned in this article that are gaining great popularity are composite fences such as Trex Seclusion Fencing and SimTek a simulated rock wall.
