Is a privacy fence worth it?

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

We do not have a fenced in yard and are now thinking about putting in a privacy fence. This will be a big investment for us in a house that we don't plan on living in for more than the next 5-10 years. I need the opinion of all you fence lovers. How worth it are fences? Especially in a house that we won't be in forever? Will it add value to our home? We've lived without one (with a doodle) for almost 4 years. Would you or wouldn't you put one in?  I'm thinking of the PVC ones.

[F, Calla & Luca]

If you meant mine, thanks.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Kendra,

I am old as dog dirt and my husband and I put in 365 feet of fence ourselves last year. It was 2/3 less installing it ourselves. Yes, each post went down 3 feet.  It took us 2 weeks. That's all.  No, it was not the PVC which was twice the price. Yes, every two years we will have to stain the fence but everyday I say, " Thank You, Thank You, Thank You-Fence" No joke, every day I look at the fence and know how much our lives have changed.

When Spud wakes from his nap, I will post a video of how Spud worships his yard now. Each time he leaves the door, you can see him JUMP FOR JOY.  He certainly remembers the days of tie out.  My husband and I often say, " Look how happy he is because of the fence"  We know. We can read his mind.

Our backyard has become our Stay Cation.  And our neighbors--well we just don't see them anymore. Thank goodness  :) So, for all of us it has been a win-win.

So, you ask is it worth it for 10 -15 years?  Well is is worth NOT having a fence for 10-15 years?

The neighbors squirrel.

One other thing--Spud has free reign of the yard, but the deer, coyote, raccoon, possum, all seem to stay out.  That was a lot of Peace of mind. 

We do have chain-link across the back yard where there is woods. It adds ventilation and takes away from the closed in feeling, but on the sides--I can run around naked if I wanted to--of course, I don't :)

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Worth every penny!  I think it is a huge selling point when it is time to sell also.  I know when we were looking at houses 8 years ago we really wanted a house with a fence and we didn't even have a dog yet.

Joanne, your fence is beautiful!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Yes, Wilson.  I really wish you were on the  other side of my fence--HANDSOME  

Thank you

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Joanne..are you also keeping vampires out?  Is that garlic?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

LOL!  Good eyes. Yes, we harvested 6 types of garlic Saturday.  87 heads!  We reek.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

LOL, that was my thought as well. By the way, you did a great job on the fence, Joanne.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Great job on the install.  Looks really really nice.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I can see it now : )

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Joanne, you have a great fence.  I would love to have the kind of fence that keeps the critters out.  BTW, is that onion or garlic tied to the fence posts for drying purposes or for keeping out the neighbors???....LOL

Now I just read below that it is garlic, 87 heads!!!  I love garlic, what a bumper crop:)

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

Your last comment made me chuckle! LOL!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Not sure exactly what you mean by privacy fence.  Are you talking about one that physically blocks others views into your yard, or just a physical barrier type so the dogs can't get out?  We started at our house with an e-fence, but it just didn't work for me.  I didn't trust the girls not to break the barrier and I didn't trust myself to stay on top of replacing the batteries so they didn't become ineffective.  We after about 6 months decided to go ahead with a regular fence.  There are all sorts of fences.  We could have done a split rail fence with a wire backing to keep the dogs in for maybe about $3000.  However, I just did not feel like it was going to work on our lot visually.  Just didn't fit in.  The neighborhood that we are in is very picky about things like that, so we opted to go with a black aluminum type fencing that was more than double the cost.  However, it visually added a lot to the property and we plan to be here pretty much forever, so for us it was worth the extra expense.  With the way home values have been lately in most of the Country I think that for me it would be a matter of is having it worth the expense if I don't recoup the cost when I sell the house.  The other thing to think about is you don't have to fence in the entire back yard.  If I had it to do over again, I might not fence such a large area.  Even after we put our fence in we still took the girls out on leash until about 3 months ago.  Until then their "COME" wasn't what it needed to be and it took to long to get them back in when we let them out so it was  just easier to take them out.  Also, our yard was very wet until last summer when we had some work done.  So, I didn't want them going in the wetter parts of the yard so we took them on leash.  Now it is dry and their come is good so I let them out to potty but never take my eyes off them when they are out there.  Bottom line, for me it would be worth it to be able to give them space to run free, but it also comes with a whole other set of problems ... like making sure they aren't eating the bushes or digging etc.