What you need before you call: A fence checklist

By Catie Mafera, VP of Sales & Marketing

Whether you’re thinking of installing a new fence yourself or having us do the work, we can give you a ballpark idea on what it will cost. Here’s a checklist of information you could gather to help us better serve you before you call or stop by our showroom.

• What is the fence being used for? Pets, pool, children, property division, privacy, decoration, etc.?

• What type of fence are you looking for? Wood, vinyl, chain link, aluminum, steel or something else? Do you have a style in mind?

• What height will you be needing? Standard fence heights are typically 4’ and 6’, but there are a variety of heights available to suit your needs. Depending on what city or town you live in, there may be restrictions on how high you can go. You should call your building department for fence code and permit information. We can also give you an idea of what your town may require.

• What is the lineal footage your fence will cover? If you’re not sure, you can pace it off or give us a guess.

• Will you need any gates? A standard width single walk gate is 4’ wide. If you need to fit a ride-on lawn mower through, most will fit through a 5’ wide gate. Any gates over 5’ wide become a double swing gate. When dealing with wood or vinyl fences, the largest double gate we recommend is 10’ wide (two 5’ wide gate leafs) and with some styles we suggest nothing over 8’ wide. The wider you get, the more potential there is for sagging issues because of the heavy weight. If you need something larger than 10,’ there are steel frame options we can discuss with you.

• Do you have an idea of the fence layout? How many corner posts and end posts will you need? Pictures are always helpful. Feel free to email us a sketch along with the footage and gate placement like the sketch below. Our email is  info@americanfences.net or you can fill out this contact form: https://americanfences.net/contact.

• What is your budget? We can help you find a fence you’ll love at an affordable price.

If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, take a few minutes to browse our website and view the different styles we carry. If you have a different idea that you don’t see on our site, we can work with you to help make your designs a reality. We have done lots of custom work in the past. This applies more to wood styles than anything else.

Happy fencing!