There’s plenty of people that love the feel and look of wood for their fence. Yet, the majority of those same people don’t like the effort that’s involved with maintaining wood.
That’s why some people choose a composite fence instead, which boasts the same feel and look of a wide variety of woods, including pine, cedar, redwood and walnut.
As with everything in life, there’s benefits and drawbacks for both options. In this article we’ll go over the main important factors to guide your decision making process.
Installation Costs
One of the biggest factors in the choice of composite fencing vs. wood is your budget. Since wood fences will typically cost around $15 per foot, they’re initially cheaper than composite wood fences, which cost around $25 per foot.
With regards to labor costs, composite fence materials can be bought as pre-fab sheets that will lower the installation time and the overall labor cost. If the material isn’t bought as pre-fab sheets, then the labor time will be the same for both kinds of fence.
Maintaining Composite
This is the key influencing factor in why people choose composite fencing – you don’t need to look after it aside from the occasional hose down! There’s also the added benefit of most of these types of fences having a 20 year+ warranty.
This kind of fence isn’t affected by insect populations and it’s weather resistant. Most of the dirt is easily removed with a high powered washer or just water. Mold or smoke stains can simply be removed with a cleanser.
Maintaining Wood
Wood is taken from living trees and has to be processed. That means that the natural decomposing process is unstoppable if you don’t look after the wood. To do this, you should be prepared to treat the wood against termites and other insects.
You’ll also need to repair or replace areas of the wood that have rotted. You’ve got to stain and paint the wood in a finish that will withstand the elements.
In most climates you’ll have to do this annually to preserve the life of the fence, but in harsher climates it’ll have to be done more frequently. The average cost of maintenance for a wooden fence is $20 per foot.
Style
The fact that so many people love the look and feel of wood, but not the amount of work that’s involved with its care is what prompted the creation of composite fencing materials.
Since it’s got the ability to look like a large selection of types of wood, you can get almost any look that you want without the hefty workload involved with a real wood fence. It does limit you though, because you can’t change the look over time.
If you’ve got a real wood fence then you can change the finish or the paint in order to achieve a different effect. If you’re the kind of person that changes their tastes over time, it might be worth looking in to getting a wood fence.
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