Picket Fencing: What You Need to Know About Timber and Metallic Options

Posted on: 19 July 2016

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Picket fences help to give your residential property a traditional appearance. You may have to choose between two common materials (wood and metal) from which the picket fence that you wish to install should be made. This article discusses those two materials so that you can easily choose which one would be better for you.

Metallic Picket Fences 

Metallic picket fences are usually made from aluminium, steel or wrought iron. These materials are usually more expensive to buy when compared to the initial cost of other fencing materials, such as wood. However, the durability of the fence may compensate for its high upfront cost. Metallic picket fences differ in terms of their ongoing maintenance costs. For instance, a powder coated steel fence may need less ongoing maintenance when compared to a steel picket fence that was painted. This is because the powder coat is more resilient to weather damage when compared to paint. Another downside that you need to consider before you choose to install a metallic picket fence is the relatively limited variety of styles available. The limited options may make the different picket fences to have little to differentiate them from one another.

Wooden Picket Fences

Wooden picket fences are the most common kind of picket fences due to the relatively low price at which you can buy the fencing materials. The ongoing maintenance of wooden picket fences also provides a window of opportunity of the homeowner to give the fence a new lease of life regularly. For instance, you can choose to paint the pickets a different colour each year. Such flexibility can allow you to make your picket fence to look unique when compared to other picket fences in your area. It is also easy to remove and replace a damaged picket.

The downside of this type of fence is that its service life may be limited by the impact of the weather and biological agents, such as insects. The pickets can warp or break after undergoing several freeze-thaw cycles. Insect activity can also destroy the fence. The ongoing maintenance needed to reduce the impact of the weather and insects may considerably increase the total cost of owning a picket fence made from wood.

As you can see, each material has its own benefits and drawbacks. You need to compare those pros and cons so that you can make an informed decision. You may also need to compare picket fences to other kinds of fences so that you choose the types that will address your needs.