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When thinking about what to build a fence from, first of all, decide on the most important characteristic for you. For example, if the fence should close the yard from prying eyes, forged or sparse wooden ones will no longer work. If reliability is important to you in the first place, then wooden ones disappear. If the budget is very limited, then you will need to choose from the most inexpensive materials, and this is wood, corrugated board and slate. Further, you choose fences and fences for the house from the remaining options for aesthetic or practical reasons.
legal requirements
The installation of fences and barriers in Russia is regulated by a number of regulatory documents: these are SNiPs 30-02-97 and 31-02-2001, SN 30-102-99, 441-72, Federal Law 66-F3. Some of the recommendations regarding the location of a private house and plantings on your site are advisory in nature, those related to interaction with neighbors are mandatory.
So between adjacent sections, the fence should be no higher than 1,5 meters, and it should be transparent or translucent. Those fences that face the street can be opaque and have a height of 1,5 to 2,5 meters. With the number of storeys of the house from 3 and above, in agreement with the local authorities and neighbors, it is possible to build higher fences.
Types of fences for private houses: description and photo
First, let’s talk about the quality of the material. Regardless of which type of fence you choose, you need to buy the best quality materials. After all, it will be operated in the most severe conditions. If you simultaneously line the house and the fence with the same material, from the same batch, in a couple of years the house will be like new, and the fence can turn into a destructive structure. This is because it is exposed to weather influences from all sides.
In order to somehow minimize the destructive effect, on all horizontal surfaces – pillars and the upper parts of the sections, it is desirable to cover covers that remove precipitation and prevent moisture from being absorbed. And in order to extend the life of the fence, they take the most dense and high-quality materials and be sure to cover them with a good protective compound that will repel moisture, preventing destruction. This measure is especially relevant in the spring-autumn period, when wet weather during the day gives way to night frosts.
Wooden fences
In most of our country, wood is a relatively inexpensive building material. Therefore, wooden fences are considered inexpensive. They can be translucent (boards are nailed after some distance) and deaf. The supports are made of a bar, a log of small diameter or a metal pipe of round and square section. They can be on the foundation or without.
Advantages: quickly built, well combined and easily interacts with all other materials, blind fences protect from wind, dirt, prying eyes. The disadvantages are no less serious. Firstly, a wooden fence requires regular updating of the paintwork (every 1-3 years, depending on the type of paintwork). Secondly, they have a small service stock of the order of 5-7 years. Another drawback: it is easy to damage it: break it, set it on fire, cut it, chop it. Still, it’s a good option, but not if you need to protect yourself from intrusion.
Wooden fences are also different:
- Boardwalk. The boards are stuffed close to one another, in a checkerboard pattern, with access to the one located below (according to the principle of a cone). Can be positioned vertically or horizontally. There are many options for a wooden fence. Some are very simple, some are very beautiful.
- Palisade. A fence made of logs of small diameter, arranged vertically. Tops are often sharpened at an angle of 30° or 45°, sometimes made flat. Either way, it’s a solid build.
Palisade – logs placed upright - From logs. During construction, logs are also used, but they are not placed, but laid horizontally. For connection, a beam with quarters taken out is used, and the edges of the log are cut off so that they enter the quarter. A log fence, like a palisade, is an expensive pleasure that requires no less expensive maintenance: regular painting is necessary to maintain a presentable appearance.
From logs – reliable and expensive - Fence. Relatively low fences consist of vertical slats, stuffed to the crossbars, mounted on poles. This is more of a decorative fence than a real defense against any serious encroachment. It can protect your site from some animals, but not from humans. Often used for indoor fences – you can fence off a playground, vegetable garden or garden.
Picket fence – an option rather for a garden or internal fences - Wattle. The cheapest possible option is if there is a forest nearby, you can cut young trees and, until they dry out, weave a fence. If you make strong enough and reliable poles, such as metal pipes, then the fence will turn out to be quite reliable. It, of course, can be broken, but competently woven, it is in no way inferior in strength to a picket fence, and in some cases even a plank one.
Wattle is one of the cheapest fences, especially if young shoots can be cut in a nearby forest
Any of the wooden fences consists of spans that are supported by supporting pillars. The poles themselves can also be made of wood – from a bar, a log of small diameter. Metal pipes or screw supports are also installed, as well as reinforced concrete poles. When choosing the type of support, it is necessary to take into account the type of soil: on heaving soils (clay and loam) it can simply be pushed out during winter heaving. Therefore, for such soils, a more powerful base is made by welding reinforcement bars sticking out to the side. So there is more chance that the pillars will be in place in the spring. The second option for heaving soils is a tape shallow foundation. It will “walk” in height, but in its entirety (if the reinforcement is sufficient).
Stone and brick fences
Fences and fences for a brick house are perhaps the most expensive. As mentioned, the material must be chosen high quality, high density, and best of all – clinker brick or very high quality facing. It costs a lot – tens of rubles for one piece. Thousands of pieces will go to the fence. The exact amount depends on the height and length of the fence. And also work: a highly qualified master is required here, because the seams must be even, and the masonry must be perfect: everything is in sight, both the front and back.
But the price, and even the construction time, are perhaps the only drawbacks. In terms of reliability, he is one of the leaders. In terms of aesthetics, if it is designed in the same style as the house, there are no questions either. Someone may be annoyed by excessive monumentality, but you can “dilute” it with color or texture, and some do it in the upper or lower part of the “openwork” – they move the bricks, leaving holes.
Almost the same can be said about the stone fence. But here you need to understand that a stone fence can be rubble, and its laying is not an easy task, or it can be lined with flagstone – hard rock sawn into slabs. This is a completely different structure and only a stone finish, but inside there can be used brick, cinder block, shell rock and other materials. In any case, a stone fence, with proper execution, serves well and looks the same. In terms of reliability, it is not inferior to brick.
There is another type of stone fence, but it should be called – stone-metal. A mesh is boiled from a rod, into which boulders fall asleep. It turns out a very reliable fence, which can not be knocked down by any bulldozer.
Any type of stone or brick fence requires a foundation: the structure is heavy, and the foundation needs to be solid.
Reinforced concrete fences
Technologies in the construction field are developing rapidly. New materials and additives appear almost daily. Thanks to this, reinforced concrete products can have a surface similar to stone, brick and other natural and expensive materials. Concrete fences made of such material are no longer the same miserable gray slabs that they were a few years ago.
If you need a reliable, opaque, quickly erected and at the same time inexpensive fence, pay attention to concrete fences. With their device, you can do without a foundation. It will be necessary to evenly set up and concrete the pillars well, into the slots of which the slabs are then lowered. If the sections of the fence are not as large as in the photo above, but smaller, you can handle it manually, without special equipment. And such large ones can be lifted by a loader or a winch.
If concrete is used of good quality, the technology is sustained, then such a structure will stand for several decades. Concrete, unlike other materials, loves moisture and only becomes stronger over time.
Metal fences
Fences and railings for a house made of metal can be welded, forged, cast or from a profiled sheet. They are manufactured using different technologies, have different costs, but all have a long service life. Frost, wind and sun are not terrible for normal metal. Moisture, with good painting, too. That is why people sometimes spend a lot of money on forged or cast fences. They look great and last a long time.
The disadvantage of forging, casting and a welded metal fence made of a bar can be considered almost complete transparency: they do not protect against wind, dirt and dust, and they cannot cover them from the eyes of passers-by. This problem is solved with the help of modern materials: a sheet of opaque or semi-transparent polycarbonate is attached to a forged, cast or welded fence. This combination of materials is very harmonious. Polycarbonate, contrary to popular belief, is durable: some types of glazing are made in jars. So they are afraid that there is nothing to break it. Choose a reinforced structure and it will stand for a long time.
If you need a cheap fence, it is usually made from a profiled sheet. The poles are installed at a distance of a meter and a half, choosing so that there is as little waste as possible. Crossbars are attached to the posts, and sheets of corrugated metal are attached to them.
Coloring can be very different – plain, camouflage, stone, brick, etc. It makes sense to put a fence in the same color as the roof of the house. If the roof is neutral, the most popular option is green. In summer, it merges with plantings, and in winter, on a white background, it also looks good.
If a solid wall is not very happy, you can make a combined fence. For example, a common option is: brick columns, between which sheets of corrugated board are installed. The view is quite presentable. Of course, it requires more expenses, but the view, you see, is much better. Although, everything is a matter of taste.
from slate
Another economical option for the fence is from slate. Usually they dig in metal poles with clips or crossbars welded to them, as is the case with corrugated fencing. Sheets of slate are attached to them, and any. It can be flat, wave made of asbestos, non-asbestos or polymer.
To make the slate last longer and look better, it can be painted. This simple operation doubles the service life. Naturally, the coating will need to be monitored – periodically painted. If you don’t like the idea of painting the fence and want it to be non-gray, look for already painted sheets. There are some. But they cost 40-50% more. Another option – put polymer slate – based on fiberglass or fiberglass.
It is not as hard as asbestos, more flexible, therefore it requires frequent crates. Under it, guides are welded to the posts in increments of 50-60 cm, or the frame is generally welded “in a cage” with approximately the same distance.
Combined fences
For some reason, the most beautiful fences and railings for a home are obtained by using several materials. Most often, stone or brick pillars are made, and forged elements, wooden or even concrete, are already installed between them. It turns out very well.
Lighting
Solid fences and fences for the house protect privacy, but also make it impossible to observe what is happening near your yard. If someone calls at your gate, you do not know who is there. Surveillance cameras are installed in certain places to correct the situation. During the day they work fine, but at night without lighting they are useless (except for those that have infrared mode, but they are expensive). There is little hope for street lighting, so most often lanterns are installed on poles, which are controlled from the shield from the house. This, too, should not be forgotten when planning and building a fence: when building poles, it is necessary to lay wires inside that will supply power to the lanterns. It is also necessary to install a separate machine for street lighting on the shield.