Are Vinyl Fences The Best Value in Fencing Today

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Are Vinyl Fences The Best Value in Fencing
Today?Have you been paging through the flyers in
Sundays newspaper looking at all the options for
fencing your yard? Most of the options in the
flyer are made from a variety of different woods.
Some are pressure treated, some are listed as
weatherproof, and others are a little less
defined. Vinyl fences may not even be an option
showing up in the flyer, which is a bit tragic.
Vinyl fencing may be the best value you can
find.Do You Want Value or Low Price?This is
where people really get trapped. They see the
slightly lower cost of installing a wood fence
and assume it means a greater value. They forgot
to figure the added cost of painting or sealing
the fence. They probably ignored the difference
in time required for cutting pieces. It is
almost without doubt anyone believing a wood
fence is the best value ignored future
maintenance needs. The lowest price option over
a couple years suddenly becomes the highest
priced option.How Could Vinyl Fences Be Lower
Cost than Wood?Do a quick search and check the
latest price for a gallon of wood sealer. Figure
out how many gallons you will need to coat your
entire fence. Now read the can carefully. How
often does it say to repeat the application?
Most times it is a minimum of annually, sometimes
twice per year. Multiply your original cost of
sealant times 5 years. How much did you just add
to your cost?Now, the next step in figuring the
real cost of your fence starts with slat
replacement. How many boards are going to rot,
be damaged by insects, or be broken by over
aggressive children playing? Figure replacing
about 5 to 10 percent of your boards over the
course of 5 years. Add that to your cost of the
sealant.For the last step, how many hours will
you spend painting the sealant on the fence? How
many hours to replace damaged wood once or twice
per year? Take your estimate and multiply it by
20. You are worth at least 20/hour. Total
this figure along with the wood and sealant.
Suddenly you have a very big number.
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Vinyl Fences Require Almost Zero
MaintenanceSuddenly we can see the big
difference maker. Vinyl fences do not require
sealant. They do not rot, get attacked by
insects, suffer from weather damage, and are
tough as steel. In five years your maintenance
will consist of using a garden hose to rinse off
the dust. Are you beginning to understand why
vinyl fences are the greatest value in fences
today? Cost and Value Are Not the Only
Criteria If it came down to only cost and value
then your choice might already be tilting towards
vinyl, but there is another factor at play, the
beauty of your fencing project. Did your mind
just say Ah ha, wood does have an advantage?
If you thought this, you may have just made one
more mistake. A vinyl fence is almost
indistinguishable from a wood fence. Step a few
feet away and you will be confident you are
looking at a beautiful wood fence. The only
difference is next year or five years from now
the vinyl fences will look the same. The wood
fence will be weathered, damaged, and ready for
replacement. The choice is yours, long term
beauty and value, or the wooden alternative.