Benefits of Building a Fence on Your Property
A good garden fence is as much a part of the traditional British garden as a well-manicured lawn and a bed of roses. If you don’t have one already, you may well be considering getting one – if for no other reason than that’s just what is done!
However, things generally become popular and established for a reason. You may not have given the matter much thought before, but there are actually a few very good reasons for building a fence on your property. Let’s take a look at some of those benefits:
Establish property boundaries
Probably the main reason that fences are a good idea is that they mark out the extent of your property. Apart from anything else, that means you’ll know that you’re not spending time doing weeding and other gardening chores for your neighbour.
Of course, if you’re putting up a new fence on the boundary of your property, you need to make sure that it’s in exactly the right place and that you’re not accidentally encroaching on your neighbour’s land. Talk to them before you start work to make sure they are happy with where you are planning on putting it.
Privacy
Many homes used to have garden fences that were only waist height, which meant that sociable neighbours could spend hours chatting over them. Whether it’s for the better or not is a matter for debate, but times have changed and these days people generally prefer to maintain greater privacy in their back gardens.
As a result, most gardens now have fences that are roughly head height. That means that you and your family can get on with your outdoor activities without being watched over or otherwise disturbed by nosey neighbours.
Security
Another advantage to those higher fences is that it makes it a lot harder for potential intruders to get in. That’s a key consideration, as housebreakers usually prefer to try and get in at the rear of a property where there’s less of a chance of being spotted in the act. While you don’t need to go over the top and start adding barbed wire and sentry towers to your security, thieves will generally target properties that they can access quickly and without drawing attention to themselves.
As well as keeping intruders out, fencing has a useful benefit for pet-owners in that it can help keep curious animals in. Cats, of course, will always find a way, but dogs especially will be much safer if they can’t escape to roam the streets at will.
Aesthetics
While rewilding has become one of the most fashionable gardening trends in recent times, that doesn’t mean that your garden has to be messy. Fencing adds neatness and order to your outside space. And don’t feel restricted by the colour of the fencing that you buy. You can now get garden fence paint in a wide range of colours that can help turn your outdoor space into somewhere truly individual and attractive.
Does a fence improve property value?
Any home ‘improvements’ generally need to meet at least one of two criteria: do they make the property more pleasant to live in and do they add value? In the case of garden fencing, it’s a ‘yes’ on both counts. We’ve already established that it has a number of useful advantages for when you’re actually living there, but you may be surprised to discover that good garden fencing can actually make your home worth more money!
A 2016 survey by The Daily Telegraph suggested that quality fencing, combined with other external features such as a well-maintained garden and sheds, can add as much as 20% to your property’s value. While fencing won’t add that much on its own, you won’t get anything like that kind of appeal without it, so it follows that if you’re looking to sell, it really is something to think about adding to your garden.
Here at Neil Sullivan & Sons, we can help you with many of the basics you’ll need to not only build a new garden fence, but also other projects to make your back garden the envy of your neighbours and add value to your home. That means things like aggregates, cement bags, high-quality turf and topsoil.
Call or contact our friendly team today to find out more.