Fence advice?

[k3am]

Our fence was destroyed a couple weeks ago. The replacement process is proving to be annoying. We live on a corner lot. The destroyed fence is the our back fence. Our fence that faces the street is in good shape (although old and weathered). Our fence shared with the other neighbor needs to be replaced, but it's not urgent. Back neighbor also has a fence shared with another neighbor that needs to be replaced, and that neighbor wants to replace all of their fencing so that it all looks the same.

None of this was expected or budgeted for (although we do have money set aside for home improvement, so it will be okay), and insurance is paying $3800 for our portion of the downed fence. 

What started as a "we have one downed fence that needs to be replaced" has now turned into a more complicated we have a total of 4 houses/neighbors involved. 

Two of us don't care much about the fence other than it needs to be functional and sturdy. One, I'm not sure where they stand. One is very particular and, from what I understand, only wants to do it if it meets certain standards. We don't know that neighbor at all, but we do know/are friendly with both neighbors we share fences with. Back neighbor is coordinating a meeting with all 4 families this weekend... hoping to arrive prepared. 

TL;DR: We need advice on replacing fences and there are too many cooks in the kitchen, so I'd like to be somewhat prepared. 

So questions.. 

• Redwood or composite? (Google tells me composite is more money up front, but likely to last longer without maintenance. I also can't figure out how to get any cost comparison - we've gotten quotes on redwood, but not composite)
• If wood, is there any advantage to getting a special type that doesn't have knots? (I'm told it's on the "must have" list of the neighbor whose house doesn't share any fences with me, but does share with my neighbors. I would imagine this is more expensive, but I don't want to shoot the idea down if there's some practical reason for it as well. But if it's just for aesthetics, I have zero desire to pay additional for it.)
  
• Would you let yourself get talked into spending more to keep the peace?

[mccallister84]

No real advice but I can’t tell if you all have the same fencing type now. Our backyard has two fencing types - one is ours and one is a number of neighbors.

If you do I would push hard to just replace with the same.

If you don’t I would work hard to get on board with the back neighbor before the meeting so you two can present a united front.

I would like to say that I would not spend more to keep the peace but we have definitely done that in the past. Maybe you could go in and say our budget is “x” we are happy to do what others wants within that parameter but we unfortunately cannot exceed x dollars and then just keep repeating as necessary.

[sandandsea]

I like the idea of saying our budget is $x and sticking to it. You don’t need more and if they need fancier stuff, they can pay for it if they really care.

Knots vs no knots doesn’t matter much on quality or durability but is better for appearances and not having knotholes where you could see through the fence.

Redwood vs composite is complicated. If everything else is redwood, it could look weird to have a partial composite fence. Redwood will last 25+ years so it likely wouldn’t have to be redone while you own the house. Our last fence was the original from 1993 and was 3/4 in great shape before we redid it all last year. We also didn’t want to take into account neighbors opinions too much so we paid for it all and I would expect of one neighbor is very particular and and cares a lot they may offer to pay more to get their way.

[sandandsea]

Oh one more thing on knot holes. At our last house the fence had a regular sized knot hole in It. Our dog and the dog in the other side of the fence would both shove their muzzles in it and bite/lick the wood around the edges and expanded the knothole to be the size of a fist over 7 years. So if your dog likes to eat wood or is extra curious as to what the neighbors are doing maybe no knots could be better.

[k3am]

mccallister84, I don’t think anyone has matching fences right now. Our fence that faces the street and our back fence (that’s down) are very similar, but not the same. Our side fence is entirely different.

sandandsea, good to know. I had no idea how long redwood fences last. The composites look so pretty once I started googling, but yeah.. this is not where we’ll retire, so 25 years is probably close enough. (Zero desire to move within this town, but no plans to retire here.)

[deadwing]

I put in a new privacy fence last year. I quoted composite and cedar from multiple contractors. The price difference wasn't that significant at the time because the cost of wood was through the roof. I'm not sure if that's changed. I ended up going with composite. I hope it lasts as long as advertised. It looks nice and it's sturdy enough that my dog can literally bounce off of it.

[k3am]

The fence meeting went okay. Neighbor with the expensive tastes will do whatever he wants to do, but said he’ll pay for any additional costs associated with it. The two neighbors we share fences with basically just want the fence to be redwood, to look like our fence that will remain, and no upgrades, and are okay with all of their fences not being exactly the same, so it’s a win for everyone.

Just two months or so until we can potentially get someone to actually do the work.

[treedimensional]

Please don't use redwood or any endangered species.

[k3am]

treedimensional, what do you recommend? Redwood is the only type of fence anyone has recommended.

[treedimensional]

Apr 10, 2023 15:00:12 GMT -5 k3am said:

treedimensional , what do you recommend? Redwood is the only type of fence anyone has recommended.

Where is it sold? I don't know what part of the world you live in, but panel fences are made of pine, and most builder-grade lumber is pine because it grows fast and is relatively straight and smooth grained. You can buy oak or cherry in lumberyards, but it is much more expensive and usually just used for furniture and cabinets. I have never seen redwood fencing. Would you have to special order it from a wholesaler?

[k3am]

Apr 10, 2023 20:24:37 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

Apr 10, 2023 15:00:12 GMT -5 k3am said:

treedimensional , what do you recommend? Redwood is the only type of fence anyone has recommended.

Where is it sold? I don't know what part of the world you live in, but panel fences are made of pine, and most builder-grade lumber is pine because it grows fast and is relatively straight and smooth grained. You can buy oak or cherry in lumberyards, but it is much more expensive and usually just used for furniture and cabinets. I have never seen redwood fencing. Would you have to special order it from a wholesaler?

You can buy redwood fencing at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Here’s what I found on a Bob Villa page…

“Redwood is the material of choice for fencing in California,” says Charlie Jourdain, manager of business development for Mendocino Forest Products / Humboldt Redwood. “It is widely available here because this is where it is sustainably grown and manufactured. It is naturally resistant to termites and decay, easy to work with and has a pleasing appearance.”

[mrspez07]

Is it maybe cedar instead of redwood? I’ve seen the terms used interchangeably, even though they’re not the same.
Cedar used to be a more common fence material in CO, but most are now pine.

[deadwing]

Cedar is the most common wood fence option in my area (New England). I'm surprised I haven't heard of pine fences if it's a good alternative. Pine is prevalent here.

[treedimensional]

Apr 10, 2023 22:16:58 GMT -5 k3am said:

Apr 10, 2023 20:24:37 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

Where is it sold? I don't know what part of the world you live in, but panel fences are made of pine, and most builder-grade lumber is pine because it grows fast and is relatively straight and smooth grained. You can buy oak or cherry in lumberyards, but it is much more expensive and usually just used for furniture and cabinets. I have never seen redwood fencing. Would you have to special order it from a wholesaler?

You can buy redwood fencing at Home Depot or Lowe’s. 

 Where is this?

[k3am]

Apr 11, 2023 12:02:49 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

Apr 10, 2023 22:16:58 GMT -5 k3am said:

You can buy redwood fencing at Home Depot or Lowe’s. 

 Where is this?

California. 

[k3am]

Apr 11, 2023 10:09:09 GMT -5 deadwing said:

Cedar is the most common wood fence option in my area (New England). I'm surprised I haven't heard of pine fences if it's a good alternative. Pine is prevalent here.

Google tells me pine would be terrible for us based on termites. 

[lessel]

Is it red cedar that is recommended?

I'm from the south, where pine decking and fencing is abundant... so maybe this is #regional?

[mpm]

I’m in the south and cedar and pine were the only wood options presented to us, both pressure treated wood because we have termites and other wood-dwelling pests here. We went with pine because it was half the cost of cedar and have no regrets 7 years later.

[redheadk]

Apr 11, 2023 12:18:40 GMT -5 k3am said:

Apr 11, 2023 10:09:09 GMT -5 deadwing said:

Cedar is the most common wood fence option in my area (New England). I'm surprised I haven't heard of pine fences if it's a good alternative. Pine is prevalent here.

Google tells me pine would be terrible for us based on termites. 

I'm in Houston, cedar and pine are the 2 common fence types for wood fencing. We have a high quality cedar. The pine fences need to be replaced more frequently and don't age as well.

[treedimensional]

I've officially gone down the rabbit hole of wood species used for fences. It's definitely a highly regional thing.

[k3am]

treedimensional, it totally is and you've send me down my own rabbit hole. I've looked up whether it's environmentally friendly/sustainable or not to use redwood in CA, and the general consensus is that the redwood that they're generally using for fences is sustainably produced and harvested and, in general, keeping planted land from become housing land.

We have one existing fence that will remain that's redwood and the particularly finicky neighbor (that shares fences with the neighbors we share with that need to be replaced) won't be swayed from his choice, so we're going for redwood. I did notice that the insurance reimbursed us for redwood "as typical for area."