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With a comprehensive range of fence panels for you to choose from right here at Welch Fencing, we know that selecting your garden fencing isn’t always an easy or straightforward decision – as is so often the case with these sorts of things! There are a lot of factors that you’ll need to take into account, and a lot of choices you’ll need to settle on before you can get started on the actual replacement or installation process. To make things easier for you, we’ve summed up some 5 of the most pressing ones here!
1. Legal responsibilities and planning permission
This by far the most important one to iron out before you move on to anything else, otherwise you might end up spending a whole lot of money and time working on your fence, only to have to undo your hard work.
So, one of the first questions you might need answered is: whose responsibility is it to replace or repair a fence – yours, or your neighbour’s? You can normally find the answers in the property deeds, which will be confirm which boundaries fall within your legal responsibility. It should be easy enough to find the T-mark on the documents which signifies this, but the answer can also be supplied by the Land Registry, if you’re struggling for the answer.
Either way, it’s always a good idea to speak to your neighbours before beginning any kind of work which might affect their property, even superficially. It’s also prudent at this stage to find out whether your fence would require planning permission. Generally you should be safe, as the majority of fences which require planning permission are over 2 metres tall. Still worth checking though!
2. Privacy and security
OK, so this is technically a pair of considerations, but given that they’re so closely related, we thought it worth covering them both together. After planning permission, these are two of the most consistent top priorities for the majority of homeowners. That means it’s likely that they’ll be two of yours, especially if you live in an urban or suburban area.
If you live in a relatively quiet street or cul-de-sac with few passers-by, you might be happier with a more open and breezy style of fence panel, such as arched top pailing fence panels. However, if you live on a main road, or an area which gets a lot more foot traffic, or you just want protection from the potential curious gazes being thrown your way, you might instead want to consider traditional Close Board Fencing Panels, or Waney fence panels. These tightly-spaced panels leave no room for anyone to look through to inspect your garden, whether or not you happen to be in it at the time. They also provide some minor extra security benefits in that they’re more difficult to scale, too.
3. Aesthetics
Once you’re satisfied that the main practical concerns are being met, it makes sense to then move on to how your fence looks, and how well it will match the aesthetics of your property. Fences are not short-term investments – once your fence is installed, there’s a good chance that you’ll be looking at it for a very long time, so you’ll want to ensure that you’re happy with its appearance! Don’t forget that a well-chosen fence may even add value on to your property if you come to sell, so it’s definitely worth taking the time to be selective!
4. Safety for your pets
If you have any pets or livestock that might end up roaming outdoors, then you’ll need to account for that when you’re choosing your fence panels. It could end up being an absolute nightmare if they were to somehow able to injure themselves on – or even escape through – your garden fence panels. Small dogs in particular can be prone to this (let’s be honest, cats go where they want). If you keep any larger livestock, it might also be worth investing in additional fencing solutions for their safety and your convenience, like stock fencing.
5. The weather
We know what you’re about to say, and yes, all fences are already pretty weatherproof. They wouldn’t be much good if they weren’t! But when we talk about weather, we’re talking about the really heavy inclement conditions, like strong winds, heavy rain, and the occasional storm. If you live at higher altitudes, or in a coastal location – which can both be prone to more extreme weather conditions – then it’s a good idea to take that into account when choosing your fencing panels.
Certain panels may be better suited to areas which see a lot of heavy wind – you might want to think about trellis panels for example, as the wind can easily pass through these with much less chance of blowing the entire fence down. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to dismiss alternative fencing solutions out of hand – often, it’s just a matter of ensuring that you’ve got a solid foundation for your fence, and that you’ve got heavy-duty fence posts that are installed at the correct depth.
Happily, that’s exactly where we can help here at Welch Fencing. Along with a huge range of garden fence panels to choose from, we’ve also got a great range of concrete fence posts available for you to explore. Plus, as an experienced UK manufacturer of concrete fence posts and garden fence panels, we’re able to get your products right to your door with our very own fleet of delivery vehicles.
If you have any questions about any of our products, or you need any more detailed information, feel free to contact us on 01772 336 476, or fire us a quick email on sales@garden-fence-panels.co.uk.