Do you want to plan a fence? Our fence planner explains everything from A to Z that you need to know about the fence: From construction to greening, such as noise protection, costs to repairs and fence types – here you will find information on all aspects of planning your fence. Without a long foreword, we go straight into the topic of fence planning today – and start our fence planning ABC. Here we go!
Table of Contents
Construction
Once the decision has been made in favor of a fence, it must be set up. You can either do this yourself with good instructions and manual skill to save the set-up costs. Or you can leave the fence construction to a professional and pay them for their services.
Greening
Should your fence be greened, for example with climbing plants? Then the greening should be part of the fence planning, because the fence material plays a role in planting as well as the type of fence. Our contribution to the topic of Fence & Climbing Plants clarifies everything worth knowing and gives you many examples of plants climbing, writhing or climbing along the fence.
Computer programs
You will find numerous online fence planners on the Internet. These are practical configuration programs that you can use to plan your desired fence step by step. To do this, you usually have to select the desired fence model in the desired dimensions. Finally, the configurator “spits out” a fence package of individual components, which you only have to add to the shopping basket of the associated online shop and pay for.
Design
There are fences in numerous designs: from simple to ornate, from traditional to modern – you can choose from fences of different materials and designs.
Our tip: When buying a fence, pay attention to what purpose your fence should serve and choose a fence that also visually matches your garden or property. Take a comparative look at your neighbors and their fences to find out about the “local design” and ask the responsible building authority whether there are regulations for your fence project that not only the fence size (see under G) , but also affect the fence design.
Permit (building permit)
You should definitely contact the responsible building authority in your municipality as part of the fence planning process to inquire about the regulations you must observe when installing a fence. There you will also find out whether your fence is subject to approval.
Foundation
When planning the fence, keep in mind that the fence must be set up so that it stands securely. Depending on the version, a fence is a more or less large obstacle to the wind blowing around your corner. The forces with which wind and weather act on the fence must be derived without the fence being damaged. Knowledge of statics is required here. Particular attention is therefore paid to the foundation of the load-bearing fence posts, which give the structure strength.
Size
Depending on the purpose you want your fence to serve, you need to plan its size. The fence height in particular is a fence dimension that should be planned: Because a fence on your property is subject to local building regulations. Depending on the purpose of the fence, it may only have a certain height, otherwise you need a building permit (see E for permission). Here we give you general guidelines:
Height of garden and wicker fences: around 100 to 140 centimeters
Height of fences for symbolic demarcation: around 40 to 90 centimeters
Height of fences to protect against unauthorized entry: up to 80 centimeters (can still be climbed)
Height of fences to prevent falling: 110 to 120 centimeters
Height of fences to protect small children and protection from animals: 100 to 140 centimeters
Height of privacy fences (eye height 160 centimeters): 170 to 190 centimeters
Wooden fence
For fence planning, you should know that a wooden fence made of the natural building material wood rots under the influence of weather. Precipitation and UV light affect the fence wood and thus shorten the life of your wooden fence. This is remedied by a suitable wood protection that you regularly apply to your fence. When planning a wooden fence, you should take into account that its maintenance and care means regular effort: time and costs for the wood preservative.
Ideas
Sometimes you don’t see the fence for the fence slats. Therefore, you should take enough time to plan the fence and decide in peace for your desired fence. After all, such a fence has stood for decades! Walk through your location and take a look at what fences there are and which ones you like.
Art nouveau
Wrought iron fences from the Art Nouveau era (turn of the 19th and 20th centuries) are still popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The typical Art Nouveau fence often has curved struts that like to start out fan-like from one point and are decorated with stylized flowers, leaves and tendrils. Such fences are elaborately hand-forged and therefore have their price. They are particularly used as a front garden fence, also in the Art Nouveau quarters of the cities.
Costs
Due to the variety of fences, it is impossible to give you specific fence costs and prices. These depend on the type of fence as well as on the fence material, its processing and dimensions. For a first impression of fence prices and costs, we recommend that you look around in our online shop, where we offer you many fences and accessories for land and garden.
Noise protection
A fence can perform a variety of tasks, including fencing, confinement, security, privacy, and property protection. In our increasingly louder world, noise protection is becoming increasingly important as a task for the fence. For example, let your fence
against the noise of a sports facility (soccer field, swimming pool),
a street or
a noisy commercial company
protect that borders directly on your property? Then find out about the possibilities of noise protection fence constructions as part of your fence planning!
Metal fence
In addition to the wooden fence, the metal fence is very popular because it is particularly weatherproof and safe. There are metal fences in a wide variety of shapes for a wide variety of purposes – from simple wire mesh fences to bar mesh fences to elaborately hand-forged Art Nouveau fences (see J).
New
A good fence has stood for decades. In the case of components with such a long service life, there is now a good opportunity to buy and sell them second-hand. Take a look around the internet for component exchanges that specialize in buying and reselling if, for budgetary or environmental reasons, you want to buy a second-hand fence or sell an old one that does not live up to expectations, that you have on your fence.
Optics
Optics play a decisive role in fence planning. You can choose between a fence that stands out visually from the overall picture or one that blends harmoniously into it. Sometimes the optics are also subject to official regulations, for example, if it is a historical building complex that is a listed building.
Maintenance
The level of care you give your fence depends on the material and workmanship. Roughly speaking, the expense of fence maintenance is greatest with wooden fences, while fences made of plastic (WPC – see W) and metal (see M) hardly need any maintenance.
Quality
A fence is a construct of fence posts and fence fields, which are integrated in the door and / or the gate. All individual components must be perfectly coordinated and set up so that the construction as a whole is stable. Everyday use of the movable fence parts such as door and gate as well as the weather mechanically attack the fence. The better the quality of the fence material and its processing, the higher the likelihood of a long, damage-free fence life. Do not save money when planning a fence and do not buy at the wrong end: Those who choose cheap offers usually have to pay extra in the end. Instead, prefer fences whose manufacturers guarantee you high quality and good workmanship.
Repair
Your fence to be planned can also break. Whether you should do the repair yourself or leave the repair to a professional depends on what type of fence it is. In this way you can also choose the fence of your choice from the point of view of its repairability.
Privacy screen
Many fences are planned as privacy screens. It is designed to protect from prying eyes of neighbors or passers-by and to ensure privacy. Or the view from your house and garden is so ugly that you prefer to look at a beautiful fence that can also be landscaped (see B). A privacy fence should be about the height of a man, i.e. around 1.80 meters. You can get privacy fences in various designs: made of wood, stone, metal and plastic (WPC – see W).
Door & gate
Are you a parkour athlete? Then you can ignore this point, because you will take your fence safely in the jump. For everyone else, it is important to think about the door and gate when planning the fence. Also take long-term aspects into account: If you don’t yet have a car, you may be planning to buy one and need a correspondingly wide fence gate. Find out more about the security offered by the fence door and gate! Last but not least, doors and gates need to be easy to handle: are they easy to open? Do you need both hands to open? These are questions you should ask yourself when planning your fence.
Underground
Not every subsurface gives your fence the support it needs. Ask fence experts what to look out for when installing the fence posts. Depending on the surface, special foundation points are required to protect the wooden pillars from rising damp. You can find more on this in the article “Building the fence: Guide to building the fence yourself from wood, metal, plastic and stone””.
Galvanized
Galvanizing iron and steel is one way of protecting these metals from rust damage with a thin layer of zinc. Therefore, when buying metal fences (except aluminum, which is considered corrosion-resistant), pay attention to the quality feature “galvanized”.
WPC fence
WPC is a composite of wood and plastic fibers that looks like wood, but has the properties of plastic. For example, WPC is durable and easy to care for. Fences made of WPC are becoming increasingly popular, especially as a noise-reducing variant.
XS to XXXL
Fences are available in all imaginable sizes: as a mini version XS for delimiting beds or as a man-sized XXXL security fence around land. Opt for a fence that fits both visually (see O) and suitably to your property or garden. A fence that is too small will hardly be able to do its job, while a fence that is too big will unnecessarily cost money. Be sure to get advice on fence sizes – both from the fence specialist and ex officio.
Do it yourself (DIY)
The fence builder himself – or not? In addition to ready-made fences from the trade and fences specially made for you by fence experts, you can also plan a fence that you build yourself in a do-it-yourself manner. This requires a good degree of manual dexterity and often also helper hands. Plan time and costs for building your own!
Fence types
The whole fence-plan-ABC was already heard: There are different types of fences, and the type, type and purpose of the fence can be used for typing.
