What kind of backyard fence?

Okay, brain extension (a.k.a. "the GRM forum"), what kind of fence should we have put in around our small back yard?

We have a smallish back yard; not as much as we'd like to have for our dog to run around in when we don't have time to go to a park, but better than nothing. Also hoping we can convince her to just go out back to take care of business when it's 35 degrees, drizzling, and dark before work. But I digress...

Our contractor seems to have a basic inclination toward cedar. Not that we have any objection to that. We think we want something about 6' tall in order to provide some privacy (we share a driveway, and while we actually like our neighbors a lot, it would be nice to be able to hang out out back without having to say hi...)

The primary job is dog containment (35 lb lab/shar-pei, with as far as we know no particular inclination toward jumping or digging, though we haven't really put her in a position to show such an inclination).

What looks good, is reasonably priced, and lasts/weathers well? What is anybody's favorite fence construction for any reason, no reason, just personal preference? What considerations am I not considering?

I like chain link for dog stuff, but you can see through it, so that's probably not what you're looking for. It's still my preference. I don't like living in a box.

In reply to mazdeuce:

It's a tough choice; the "box" feeling isn't great. OTOH, except for two 20' runs of the fence, a 6' solid fence wouldn't be blotting out anything but the East neighbor's garage, the South neighbor's garage, and our own garage's East face...

We were also considering a wooden frame with coarse wire a bit like this (but obviously going all the way to the ground, and probably a bit taller):

Wood (cedar,redwood) planks is probably the most cost effective. Any wood will last if it is properly treated.

Get some really good wood finish, the darker the more UV protection. I no longer waste my money on redwood though, especially since it's going to get stained anyway, you can make it any color you want.

We just went through this and decided on using plants against the existing chain link fence, it will take a few years for what we planted to grow up to the 5-6' range (Red Tip Photinias and Crepe Myrtles)

But we are also trying to cover about 210 linear feet of fence line.

Vinyl fence is the way to go. It is less maintenance than wood and will last longer. No need to maintain it on a yearly basis. The price is comparable to wood as well.

We did 4 foot tall cedar 1x4 board pickets on the sides and 6' cedar stockade on the back property line. That was mainly to keep the kids in.

I then added a radio fence for the dog with the wire attached to the runner of the cedar fence. It keeps the dog from digging under or peeing on the fence.

7 years without stain in central New England and no issues. A nice grayish silver weathered look and zero maintenance. Only damage has been due to falling tree branches.

The water table is really high on my property, and some of the post holes had water in them at 6" deep. Because of that I used pressure treated posts set 3-4 feet deep and cemented.

I have a cedar fence in my back yard like this one:

The pickets are called dog ear, you can see the tops are clipped at a 45 degree angle. I like it. It looks the same on both sides as well. so you aren't looking at the 'back side' all the time.

My backyard neighbor put in a hideous dog eared cedar fence that has big 2' tall waves along its top. Its hideous and she put the ugly side towards our yard because she is a bad person. Thankfully there is no gate and she is quite short and never really comes out so I don't have to interact with her anymore. It is untreated cedar and looks OK 2 years later.

I think wire fences are real ugly and sort of trashy, so if I was your neighbor I would wish against one of those. Although I quite like the coarse wire one with the wooden frame. It doesnt look like cheap wire fence and it isnt a 6 foot wall of wood to block everyone out. I understand privacy but it also seems rude to just put up a wall.

nocones wrote: Its hideous and she put the ugly side towards our yard because she is a bad person.

I had a fellow who used to live next door do that a few years ago. Fortunately there is a city ordinance that prohibits that (the good side must face out). So he had a choice of tearing it down and doing over or putting boards on my side. He decided to pay the extra $400 to put boards on my side.

ransom wrote: We were also considering a wooden frame with coarse wire a bit like this (but obviously going all the way to the ground, and probably a bit taller):

That's rather pretty. Almost like it's not there, but very effective at restraint. Using cattle panels and such, you would eliminate the unrolling and games of the normal fence wire rolls.

I did mine and my neighbors 6 foot cedar fencing. It's not hard, but take your time and make sure you get it level in height and length. Nothing worse than a wavey fence

I have a section of fence on my property that was done MANY moons ago. The guy who built it poured a "footing" in concrete that ran the full length of the fence, underneath the fence boards. Zero rot, since the grass cannot reach the fence boards.

I hate chain fences for the mere reason that they eat weedwacker line for breakfast.

I agree with the footing idea, because that makes grass cutting that much easier.