Fence Repair Needs and Various Options
When a home owner or business owner needs to have fence repair performed, it is often an urgent matter. Fences are erected for good reasons such as keeping pets or children safe, keeping intruders off one’s property, containing livestock inside or restricting wild animals outside. Since there are lots of materials to build fences from, the type of material will also mandate what sort of fence repair might be required. Sometimes it’s not the corral itself but rather the gate that needs work. Here are some things to think about regarding reparation of this integral structure.
- Materials: There are many different products with which to build an enclosure. Chain link is a woven metal product that comes in aluminum color or toned with a more attractive brown,
green, blue or black coating. Chain link is a durable and inexpensive type of product. Although it’s not great for privacy due to the open-weave design, slats may be woven through in order to make it more private. Wooden pickets and slats are another material which is commonly used for fencing.
This can be in the form of a simple picket style painted white or a 6 foot tall redwood variety. Block walls are another style which is popular in certain regions of the country such as the Southwest. Masons stack and cement rows of bricks together to form this sturdy structure. Many times, a layer of stucco coats the entire unit to create an attractive appearance. Some other options are barbed wire or chicken wire which aren’t extremely sturdy but can do in a pinch. Wrought iron fences are strong and attractive as an option and are often chosen to secure a swimming pool.
- Gates: Many gates have automatic closing apparatuses so that an accident doesn’t occur in the case of a swimming pool or animal enclosure. Gates must be functional as well as strong. Since this portion of an enclosure has moving parts, it will need a bit more maintenance than the other portions. Homeowners can perform some preventative maintenance on a gate in order to keep it functioning even longer. Examples of maintenance tasks include lubing moving parts, tightening up loose screws and replacing bolts, latches and openers as needed.
- Who owns the fence: When a portion needs to be repaired that is shared by two neighbors, there may be some confusion about whose responsibility it is to fix the breakage. The neighbor who erected the structure in the first place is likely to be the responsible party.
If the structure was put up by the original builders of the neighborhood, it may be a joint ownership and both parties should chip in to pay for any reparations. Since it’s not a perfect world, this isn’t always the way it goes, however. Sometimes one person cares more about it than the other. Sometimes one person doesn’t have the financial resources to pay for a fence repair. In this case, in the name of community, hopefully the issue can be resolved peacefully.Fence repair needs to happen quickly when a breakage occurs. These enclosures keep pets, children, property and gardens safe.
