Is it cheaper to buy privacy fence panels or build one from scratch?
Question:Ok.I have a nice chain link fenced in yard. Sadly, my neighbors kids are hanging over it (it's only 42" high) and they are teasing my older dog, and throwing trash in my yard for her to "Fetch". Then they brought their trampoline right up against my fence so they could get even further over the fence, (they're real little...5-7 yrs old). Plus I'm worried they're gonna miss on the trampoline and get hurt real bad on the chain link fence. They won't listen to me about staying away from my yard and the fence, and lets just say their parents aren't much of parents. So I have to take matters into my own hands.
I don't have much money, and certainly didn't plan on spending $ having to put up a fence when I already had a perfectly good one.
So is it cheaper to buy privacy fence panels, or make one from scratch? Could I make one from wooden pallets? I need it to be 5-6' tall. Or does anyone have any other ideas? I have bushes growing there but the frost slowed them down.
Answers:
Here in Central Florida 6' x 8' Pressure Treated Pine panels are between $35-$40 per section. If you were build your own you would pay about the same ($28-$32), but the quality will be much better doing it on your own. That's assuming you're handy at this sort of thing. It would be difficult at best to try to break up wooden pallets, not to mention the wood pieces are usually no more than 3 feet long. Good luck with your fence, whatever you decide.
http://www.fenceorlando.com
it is cheaper to build it yourself but consider that it takes about an hour to put a panel together, what is your time worth. the difference is usually less than $2.00 a panel difference between buying and building
some times cheaper isn't cheaper, I am not saying that to sound like I am picking a fight but I can buy the panel cheaper than make the fence my self, but my yard is not real flat and the panels would need to be redone to fit so why would I buy a panel to save a few bucks. The only panels that I have seen are pressure treated panels and the framing is 2x3. I used 2x4s and I spent a little bit more and used cedar. I am sure that if you looked you could find maybe a cedar panel, but I haven't seen any around here and I would much prefer that I have 2x4s and not 2x3s as my framing.
note; Cedar will last much longer than pressure treated. There is one thing that I failed to mention, panels are very heavy and will require two MEN to install them. By the way I own a Small ranch and have cedar fence posts that are over 100 years old.
plant some thorny bushes there lol---the thornier the better--trim off the lower ones so your dog doesn't get hurt lol. In the town I am in there are bylaws about how close you can have a trampoline to a fence/building. pull up your towns website & check out the bylaws---if there are none regarding trampolines then suggest it to your city councillor. safety first!
We had the same exact problem with the kids behind us. Surprisingly, you will find that it's cheaper to buy the pre-made panels since you will be working for about $1.00 per hour to build your own. As far as material I would go with treated pine for the fence.
More Related Questions & Answers...