Why do people install chain-link fences?

[Tifababy]

We have rather small lots in our neighborhood (between 0.17 and 0.25 acres) but all our neighbors are installing chain-link fences which not only make the yards feel smaller, but they're ugly!

New neighbors moved in a few weeks ago and the first nice day of the year I see the husband surveying the lot lines. A few days later they have a new playset delivered so I figured he just wanted to make sure it was not over the lot line. Then last night I see someone installing fence posts! They now have a 4-5ft high chain-link fence around their entire yard!

Now I know they have a small dog, but they can't they buy a freakin' leash? It's much cheaper and not as much of an eye sore. Now we only have 1 side of our backyard not covered by a fence (not surprisingly the one side without the fence is the neighbor we get along with the most, have hardly met the others).

I wish our neighborhood had a covenant against chain-link fences, they're so ugly!

/end stupid rant

 

[broon]

Chain link is about half the price of wooden. Plus, if you have a dog, you need a fence.

 

[bradruth]

So go build your own wood fence along their chain-link fence and you'll never have to see it.

 

[Tifababy]

Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

 

[Amused]

Because dead dogs and kids laying bloodied and smooshed in the road are uglier.

 

[Tifababy]

Originally posted by: bradruth
So go build your own wood fence along their chain-link fence and you'll never have to see it.

Wife and I plan go to go the nursery this weekend and buy lots of bushes/trees/trellises to cover the eye sores our neighbors are creating.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: Tifababy

Originally posted by: bradruth
So go build your own wood fence along their chain-link fence and you'll never have to see it.

Wife and I plan go to go the nursery this weekend and buy lots of bushes/trees/trellises to cover the eye sores our neighbors are creating.

There you go.

 

[eelw]

You pay the extra cost of it's that much an eyesore for you.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Amused
Because dead dogs and kids laying bloodied and smooshed in the road are uglier.

Yes, I remember being a kid...we'd come across a chain-link fence, and think "Damn, guess we have to turn back. It's impossible to get past these." Then I'd play "chicken" on the freeway.

 

[Phoenix86]

Since you have so much $ move to an area with a HOA. Also, mind your own business.

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Amused
Because dead dogs and kids laying bloodied and smooshed in the road are uglier.

Yes, I remember being a kid...we'd come across a chain-link fence, and think "Damn, guess we have to turn back. It's impossible to get past these." Then I'd play "chicken" on the freeway.

I think he's talking about a time in your past where you weren't able to think such things. Like say, 3-4 years old

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Amused
Because dead dogs and kids laying bloodied and smooshed in the road are uglier.

Yes, I remember being a kid...we'd come across a chain-link fence, and think "Damn, guess we have to turn back. It's impossible to get past these." Then I'd play "chicken" on the freeway.

I think he's talking about kids too young to realize the danger. If you're old enough to know better and you still Darwin yourself, nobody has a problem with that.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

I think he's talking about kids too young to realize the danger. If you're old enough to know better and you still Darwin yourself, nobody has a problem with that.

Fair enough...I agree with the OP that putting up a wooden fence is worth the extra $$$, though. If puke green was the cheapest color at Home Depot, would you paint your house with it, or spring for a better option?

 

[destrekor]

umm.. having a dog on a leash versus a fence? hmmm
never recommend putting a dog on a leash in a yard, thats like... horrible.. they deserve some roaming abilities.

 

[pontifex]

its also to keep people out or away from the dog.

 

[Number1]

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

My neibour has an invisible fence. I get a visit from his dog a couple of times a week. Here it's safe for his dog and he might get a complain but in an urban setting it would not be safe for a dog.

 

[1sikbITCH]

It's my yard, my fence. Up yours!

Edit- seriously, in my neighborhood nobody has a fence in the front yard and I would not be the first. In the back yards, you can see clear up and down the row of houses, and even though it's in the city, there is a lot of nature (trees, birds, rabbits, squirrels, even the occasional fox).
If I had put up a 6 foot wooden fence it would have broken up the view and continuity. The chain link fence isn't nearly as obstructive and in your face.

 

[Patt]

I'd recommend planting some climbing vines or carrigana (sp?) that grows through and around the fence. If you keep it under some semblance of control it doesn't destroy the fence, and you have a secure, private yard. The house we bought has chain link on 2 sides, and unless you know it is there it just looks like a big hedge

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
Since you have so much $ move to an area with a HOA. Also, mind your own business.

Pretty much. If you don't have a HOA, then you just kind of have to suck it up. Now, if there's a HOA and they violated any terms, they can sometimes actually be forced to take it down.

In my area we're not allowed to have chain link fences. You have to have any exterior work to your home approved by the HOA and they'll only allow earth-tone paint on the house. Decks must be natural or match the trim of the home.

All kinds of rules. Can be kind of nazi-istic, but neighborhoods that are consistent from house-to-house tend to look very nice and appreciate much quicker.

But as to why people put up chain fences, it's because they're dirt cheap.

 

[datalink7]

Originally posted by: Number1

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

My neibour has an invisible fence. I get a visit from his dog a couple of times a week. Here it's safe for his dog and he might get a complain but in an urban setting it would not be safe for a dog.

Invisible fences only work on some dogs. I knew a German Shepherd who figured out that the shock only lasted a second if she got a running start and ran as fast as she could through it. She outsmarted it, and so do a lot of dogs.

 

[Number1]

Originally posted by: datalink7

Originally posted by: Number1

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

My neibour has an invisible fence. I get a visit from his dog a couple of times a week. Here it's safe for his dog and he might get a complain but in an urban setting it would not be safe for a dog.

Invisible fences only work on some dogs. I knew a German Shepherd who figured out that the shock only lasted a second if she got a running start and ran as fast as she could through it. She outsmarted it, and so do a lot of dogs.

Exactly, I own 3 dogs (2 Jacks and a Lab) and the only way to keep them in the yard is with my chain link fence. Ho the irony. Hope the OP dosen't hate me for that.

 

[Accipiter22]

Originally posted by: Amused
Because dead dogs and kids laying bloodied and smooshed in the road are uglier.

that's your opinion

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

Those don't always work...Maybe they are more concerned about their dog and kids than your aesthetics.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

Invisible fences are VERY expensive. My neighbor put one in a yard that is about 80x50...which isn't very big at all, and it was around $2,000. Not to mention that they can easily be "broken" by the underground wires getting snapped or severed and the fact that it's not that humane to put the shock collar they require on your kids

 

[dawnbug]

My parents have a chain link fence all around the backyard to keep the dog and the kids from running around the neighborhood. I think they like the chain link because it's low and not obstructive, so they can still chat with their neighbors.

Their backyard connects to a dead end, and the lady who lives behind them in the dead end didn't like the chain link fence, so she put up a wooden fence on her side of the property that covers up the chain link fence. She was really obsessive about the aesthetics of her yard, though.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: Tifababy
Neighbor across the street had invisible fence installed...much nicer and not ugly. Probably similar cost or less than a chain-link fence.

Invisible fences are VERY expensive. My neighbor put one in a yard that is about 80x50...which isn't very big at all, and it was around $2,000. Not to mention that they can easily be "broken" by the underground wires getting snapped or severed and the fact that it's not that humane to put the shock collar they require on your kids

Rotted 2"x4"s and chicken wire!