fencing or panels

catwoman

Our back fence has blown down which is no suprise as its rotten so we need to replace it. its approx 10 m long and needs to be approx 5ft high but should be get fence panels or get someone to make a fence? what sort of price difference will there be between the 2 options? we don't have much to spend but want a good job done that will last.

maninthestreet

catwoman wrote: »

we don't have much to spend but want a good job done that will last.

You appear to have mutually exclusive requirments.
The longest lasting fence will be a close board (feather edge) type, with concrete posts (they don't rot like the wooden ones) and top rail. I had a 20m run of this plus a gate, all done by a professional fencing company, and it cost almost £2,000 two years ago.

catwoman

Thanks, I just want a good job for as little money as possible (doesn't everyone!)

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Fact of life. The cheaper you pay for a fence, the quick it rots and needs replacing. You can get cheap fences / panels as cheap as £10-£20. Most people will tell you that decent treat fence will start at £50-£100. The quality in thickness which can be seen in the featherboard, demonstrates this partially.

As for making up your own fence? I would'nt bother. Just a big pain in the back side. Try and borrow a van somewhere, or rent it cheaply, and buy a panel!
Alternatively look on the internet.

If the particular region is always windy, I would suggest you buy a hit and miss fence.

Look at this website for reference:

http://www.fencestore.co.uk/itemclas.php/findclas/Hit_And_Miss_Vertical/showalll/1

Ebe_Scrooge

If you're comfortable with a bit of DIY, your best option is probably slotted concrete posts with relatively cheap panels. This is the way I've done it in the past. It's a bit of a pain to get the posts in correctly, but more of a fiddle than anything actually difficult ( an extra pair of hands will come in VERY useful ! ) Once they're in place, you can just slot in the panels. In the future, if a panel breaks you can just slide it out and slide in a new one.

In my experience it's nearly always the posts that get rotten / snapped. So a bit of time spent initially in putting in concrete posts will pay dividends in the future. If you want to do the job properly you should also use concrete gravel boards. Hope this helps.