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Cost to Install an Invisible Dog Fence

Cost to Install an Invisible Dog Fence

By Gene and Katie Hamilton

Most everyone we know who has an electric or "invisible" fence for their dog agrees that it’s a good way to keep them safe and within their property. Today’s containment systems can give their pet the freedom to roam while their owners can feel assured the dog is safe in the yard. An added benefit is the ability to create boundaries and a barrier within the property to restrain the dog from flower beds and shrubs and confine them to specific areas. And the fence eliminates the chore and cost of maintaining a hard fence that requires paint or stain. An in-ground fence system includes antenna wire, a transmitter, and a battery-powered receiver and collar. When the pet approaches the buried wire, the receiver delivers a warning sound and mild correction or shock if the pet crosses the boundary. It doesn’t hurt, and it usually happens only during the training period.

Here's the numbers: An electronic fence for a 1/4-acre lot, or approximately 600 linear feet of wire, with a second electronic boundary within the yard say, near a garden bed, costs about $977. You can buy a kit for about $300 and save 69 percent by installing it yourself. The job involves digging holes, laying wire, mounting a transformer, installing the receiver and connecting it all together. For an additional cost, you can rent a power lawn edger to eliminate digging.

You'll find do-it-yourself kits and installation information at Web sites like www.dogfencediy.com with detailed instructions on how to install and train a dog on an invisible fence.

A good time to add an invisible fence is when you’re planning to change the landscape of your yard so you can incorporate its placement in the design.

Since you're a dog lover you may be interested in the Jen Reviews post about the size of dog crates. Here's a link What Size Dog Crate Do You Need?

Wrapping up, given the average cost to install an invisible dog fence you can compare the price of a contractor’s bid with doing it yourself. For a local cost input your ZIP Code.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2019

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.  

How to Decide When to DIY and When to Hire a Professional

How to Decide When to DIY and When to Hire a Professional

Last fall, my husband and I had a new fence installed in the backyard. It’s white cedar and the wood has dried out enough since it was installed that it’s time for us to stain and seal it before the weather starts to take its toll. The thing is, we really don’t want to do it.

Every time we discuss it, we both get whiny and groaning about it; our weekends are so busy already and the rain is a constant factor. Mostly, though, our hesitation is the fact that one large portion of the fence sits six inches from our neighbors’ tall white vinyl fence/wall (twin-home-living for the win). We can’t figure out how to effectively stain the back side of that portion of the fence, and we’re really sick of debating the best possible method.

We just want to hire someone, but it seems so silly to do that. It’s not that big of a job. It’s pretty low in the “skills necessary” department. And, as one acquaintance helpfully pointed out, we can probably just uninstall that portion of the fence, stain it and reinstall (hahahaha that’s not happening).

There are some home improvement projects you could do. But just because you could, does it mean you should? And how do you know the difference?

Consider the equipment and materials you’ll need

Lots of home improvement projects require just a few basic supplies. If you want to repaint a bedroom, you know you’ll need the paint, some brushes and rollers, a tray, maybe some blue painter’s tape and a few drop cloths. You probably already have some of those items from previous projects, so purchasing a few updated supplies isn’t a big deal.

Installing a backsplash in your kitchen, though, might require tools (such as a trowel and a tile saw) that you don’t already have and that you may never use again. If you don’t have a lot of storage area for tools, the amount of money and space you devote to rarely used items might factor in.

Also, if it’s a project for which you need to borrow and operate a large piece of equipment for the first time, identify your comfort level. Borrowing your neighbor’s power-washer to clear off your deck in the spring is one thing; renting an excavator to move some earth is another. If you’re naturally handy and good at maneuvering heavy equipment, then have at it. If you’re not... proceed with caution.

Consider the complexity

I have a general rule about DIY projects: if I watch a YouTube tutorial or two and find myself more confused or overwhelmed than when I started out, it’s time to place a phone call to a professional. If something is pretty easy or straightforward, a good tutorial will make you feel confident about the task ahead. If it doesn’t look easy, chances are it’s not.

Consider the consequences

Before you pick up that sledgehammer or shut off the water line to begin whatever you’re about to do, ask yourself this: How bad could it be? If I do this wrong, if I screw this up, what’s the worst that could happen?

My home has one bathroom, so you better believe if we ever have a major issue with our toilet (*knocks on wood*), I’m calling in help immediately. I can’t afford to mess around with that situation. Also, anything dealing with electricity is a hard no for me because I’ve never been shocked and don’t intend to start now. But maybe you don’t mind a little jolt now and then; to each their own.

Consider the manpower required

When freelance journalist Tove Danovich was trying to decide whether to jack-hammer up a portion of her driveway herself, she got a lot of advice from folks who said they’d never pay someone to do such an “easy” job. She writes for Curbed that in the end, she did choose to hand this cakewalk over to the professionals, which proved to be a good decision:

There were five men in safety-orange vests. They held jackhammers and pickaxes. They wielded a contraption roughly the size of my lab-mutt that looked like a chainsaw attached to a row of knives. Another machine was so big it came with an enclosed seat for its driver. It took them three hours to finish this “small” job.

If I think a project is going to require a “crew” of construction workers, I’m hiring it out.

Consider your budget

It usually comes down to this in the end, doesn’t it? You might not have the right equipment or knowledge or time or desire to retile your shower, but if you don’t have the money to hire someone, you might not have a choice. You do it or it doesn’t get done. In that case, watch extra tutorials and be ready for multiple trips to the hardware store.

If you do have the money, though, and you just don’t wanna mess with it, it’s okay to hire someone. You don’t need to feel guilty about “wasting” money on something you technically could do yourself. Sometimes your time and energy is worth more than it would cost to pay someone and they’re almost always going to do a better job than you could have anyway.

With all of this in mind, I don’t care how lazy the neighbors think I am; I’m hiring someone to stain my fence.

For more from Lifehacker, be sure to follow us on Instagram @lifehackerdotcom.

Homeowner on hook for fence repair after Niagara Regional Police cruiser crashes through backyard

Homeowner on hook for fence repair after Niagara Regional Police cruiser crashes through backyard

A St. Catharines homeowner fears he could be left paying thousands of dollars to repair damage caused when a Niagara Regional Police cruiser skidded to a stop in his backyard a week ago.

Bassam Faraj was at work when his terrified children contacted him last Friday evening. “My daughter called me. She was really screaming.

She was crying,” he said. “I thought something very dangerous happened.” Faraj raced home to find a cruiser in his backyard on Valour Way, amidst wreckage that had been his wire mesh fence. His neighbour Manny Poulos said he watched as the police SUV left the road, tore through a row of cedar trees and fence along Welland Canals Parkway, continued across his backyard and through a fence that divided his property from Faraj’s. He said he ran outside to help, and was relieved to learn that no one was hurt — including the officer and the police dog who were in the SUV, or the 22-year-old driver of a grey 2012 Chevrolet that was also involved in the collision.

Const. Phil Gavin said the crash occurred at about 6:26 p.m. April 26, when an officer was responding to a call for service with lights activated.

The driver of the other vehicle turned left from Rockwood Avenue into the path of the police vehicle. Gavin said the officer collided with the rear driver side of the car before leaving the roadway, striking the fence and coming to rest in Faraj’s backyard.

He said the crash caused about $10,000 to each of the two vehicles. Gavin said police have since determined that the driver of the Chevrolet was at fault in the crash, and he was charged with “turn not in safety.”

Now, Faraj is primarily concerned about the cost of repairing the damage. He said police assured him that they “we’re going to fix everything, and everything would be done by next week,” but it has been a week since the incident and muddy tire tracks still mar his property, along with debris from the ruined fence and trees.

“I called police and they said they’re not going to issue any payment,” Faraj said. Gavin said “damage of this nature and this potential value would be directed through respective insurance companies.”

But Faraj said his insurance company told him he would have to pay a $2,000 house insurance deductible to start his claim — and that’s likely more than the cost of repairing the damage

Allan.Benner@niagaradailies.com

Fencing choices can help define look of home

Fencing choices can help define look of home

Do you believe good fences make good neighbors? Or are you with Gene Autry, looking for wide open country? If you live in close quarters with your neighbors, you're probably in the former camp — whether it's a fence to keep a dog at home, an aluminum barrier around your pool for safety or a privacy fence to shield naked sunbathing, there are a lot of options and local fence contractors to choose from. And just like light fixtures, backsplash tile and color schemes, fence is subject to trends.

Melissa and Jerry Haley founded their Colonie business, Backyard Fence, in 1997. Back then, wood ruled the day, both the spaced pickets that call Tom Sawyer to mind, and the panels that create both a barrier and a privacy shield. Melissa Haley said she rarely quoted vinyl in those days because it was so expensive, compared to spruce and cedar options. Now, the reverse is true. Vinyl has come down in price, Haley said, and the price of wood has skyrocketed because of supply issues when it comes to importing lumber. Wood and vinyl are frequently close in price, and customers often go with vinyl because it is low-maintenance and long-lasting, Haley said, and the material now comes in a variety of colors, not just white.

"There are places where only wood will do, because the property is heavily wooded and vinyl would look out of place," Haley said.

Fencing falls into four categories — in order of cost, it's chain link, aluminum, vinyl and wood. Installation labor costs depend on location, Haley said — the digging is easy in Rotterdam, where it's sandy, but trickier in Altamont or Cohoes, where the soil is different.

While chain link is cheapest, you can spend as much as a new car on fancy fence options — vinyl with aluminum on top to create a decorative element or aluminum fence with decorative panel inserts. Haley said a combination of styles is common — at her house, she has chain link around the backyard and decorative vinyl in the front facing the street.

Kyle Stevens, manager of the Queensbury branch of AFSCO Fence & Deck, has also seen a shift away from wood and toward vinyl. New recycling initiatives make it more appealing. Stevens said he works with a company that takes broken, leftover and unused pieces and grinds them down to create new PVC products.

Matt Rogers, the residential manager at Siena Fence in Clifton Park, said vinyl is easier to install than wood — many contractors avoid concrete footings because it accelerates rot in the wooden posts. Rogers said he still gets a lot of requests from customers for wood. A wood fence will last 12 to 14 years if left untreated; up to 20 if you stain it every two years, said Eric Reyome, also a Siena Fence employee.

lhornbeck@timesunion.com • 518-454-5352 • @leighhornbeck

Matt Gonyea, left, and Nick Lettus, right, with AFSCO Fence & Deck, measure a piece of aluminum fence before cutting it to size on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Wilton, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Matt Gonyea, left, and Nick Lettus, right, with AFSCO Fence & Deck, measure a piece of aluminum fence before cutting it to size on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Wilton, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Photo: Will Waldron

Matt Gonyea, left, and Nick Lettus, right, with AFSCO Fence & Deck, measure a piece of aluminum fence before cutting it to size on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Wilton, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Matt Gonyea, left, and Nick Lettus, right, with AFSCO Fence & Deck, measure a piece of aluminum fence before cutting it to size on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Wilton, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Photo: Will Waldron

Fencing choices can help define look of home

Choosing the Right Fence for Your Home

Choosing the Right Fence for Your Home

If you are in the Dallas area, there are many options when it comes to fences for your home (and fence contractors). No wonder, given the many different styles of homes in the area. But how do you choose what will add the most beauty and value to your home? In truth, there’s no better source than a reputable Dallas fence company.

What the Fencing Experts Say About Home Fences

Here at Ameristain, we’ve been hiring and training industry experts for over a decade. Here are some of the things our experts tell homeowners who are planning a new fence:

Think about what your fence needs to do.Do you need to keep pets or children (or both) safe in your yard? Is privacy important? Is the fence meant to be a barrier between your property and the next, or is it more for style?

Consider the total cost to you. Fencing installation is just part of the cost of ownership. For example, with a wood fence, painting and staining will cost money over time. So will repairs and eventual replacement. The cost is much, much less with maintenance free material as you would find in a vinyl fence, ornamental steel fence, or simulated stone fence.

Look at the styles before you judge. We’ve had some customers who never would have dreamed of installing a vinyl fence, only to fall in love with a modern style that simulates the look of natural wood. So don’t discount a fence right off the bat. Look at some different styles and see what you like.

Plan it out with a reputable fencing company. A good fencing company will help you plan layout and other details of your fence with you, helping to anticipate any challenges, to meet municipality and subdivision requirements and find a style that works for your home. (If you are looking for a St. Louis fence company specifically, we can help!)

A Style for Every Home

Every home is different, and everyone home should have a fence to match. Here are some ideas of what to look for:

#1: The Traditional Wood Look

If a yard fence to you means a white picket fence, then the traditional look in vinyl might be for you. Colonial or older style homes tend to look best with this traditional look.

Vinyl fences that are made to look like painted wood fences are a great option for this look. They also have the benefit of being maintenance-free and pest-free.

#2: The Classic Metal Look

Homes in more dense urban areas often have a character of their own. Arches, brick walkways, and ornamental iron gates and fences are common, lending an elegant yet lively feel. Federal style and “stick style” homes fit this look, as do many townhouses.

Ornamental iron, however, has issues when it comes to rust and deterioration. An ornamental steel fence or aluminum fence, on the other hand, can be sculpted to look like wrought iron, but without the need to repair or replace it every few years. (You can compare all three here.)

#3: The Backyard Oasis

More modern homes (contemporary, post-modern, Northwest style, etc.) are trending towards making the backyard a quiet oasis where you can rest, read, or share an evening with friends. That means privacy combined with a more “natural” look.

For this, simulated stone (“faux stone”) can provide the ultimate backyard oasis. Not only do the panels provide privacy and nice sound-dampening properties, but it also has a realistic stone appearance.

#4: Sheer Privacy

Many vinyl fences come in larger panels between widely spaced posts. The effect is a vinyl fence that looks more like an outside wall or barrier than a more traditional fence.

This option is great if you want to keep pets and kids in—and peeping eyes out. We’ve seen this style on everything from larger estates to small suburban homes and places of business.

Contact us now for answers to your questions, or to arrange a meeting with one of our fencing experts. We offer free at-home estimates and will make sure that you get a fence that works with your home’s style—and your budget.

Lattice Fence Ideas

Vines trained on lattice soften the vertical or diagonal lines.

Due to its low price point and some haphazard installation, lattice gets a bad reputation as a cheap, inferior material to use around the home -- but lattice can look appealing when installed with attention to detail. Lattice sheets are quite flimsy and do not make good fencing material alone, but they can make a sturdy and attractive fence when installed with strong posts and horizontal rails.

Solid Lattice Fencing

A fence using solid lattice sheets as fencing panels is one of the cheapest wooden fencing options because lattice costs considerably less than fence pickets. The spacing between the intersecting wood or plastic strips -- usually measuring about 2 inches across -- provides partial privacy while still allowing sunlight and a view through the holes. The resulting fence with diamond- or square-shaped holes serves the same function as see-though chain-link fencing, but the wooden cross strips provide a more natural look. In order to increase the sturdiness of the fence, you should install horizontal top and bottom rails and attach a sheet of lattice on each side of the rails with the holes lined up to give the look of a single, thick panel.

Privacy Extender

Stockade fences with solid panels that let no light pass through are intended to provide complete privacy to your yard, but your existing fence might be too short to block your neighbor's view, especially if your house sits downhill from your neighbors'. Instead of replacing the fence with longer pickets, you only need to extend the height of the fence posts, add horizontal rails, and attach a short lattice pieces to extend the height of the fence. Stagger the joints of the two lattice pieces to better block the view.

Living Fence

Lattice might be more affordable than alternative fencing options, but the look might not be for everyone. After installing a fence of solid lattice panels, you can plant vigorous flowering vines along the fence row so they can climb on the fence and conceal the lattice. Similarly, you can plant vines to fill in lattice installed above a stockade fence. Try star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), a tropical vine hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 11, which features star-shaped flowers with a fragrance similar to true jasmines (Jasminum spp.) If you prefer bright colors, try "Jackmann" clematis (Clematis "Jackmanii"), which features 5 to 7 inch diameter, deep-purple flowers. "Jackmanii" clematis grows in USDA zones 4 through 8. There are many fruiting and flowering vine options to cover a lattice fence.

Low Border Fence

Low border fences define the boundary of flower beds and can help protect them from accidental trampling or destructive mowing. You can use lattice to construct a border fence at a fraction of the price of pre-fabricated options. The border fence should measure about 6 to 12 inches long, depending on the plant height within the garden. You can easily cut a 4-by-8-foot lattice panel down to the desired height, using a circular saw for precision cutting. The lattice must be attached to wooden stakes measuring 12 inches longer than the desired fence height. After driving the stakes 12 inches in the ground -- using a rubber mallet or hammer -- you can attach the lattice to the stakes with wood staples.

About the Author

A former cake decorator and competitive horticulturist, Amelia Allonsy is most at home in the kitchen or with her hands in the dirt. She received her Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University. Her work has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle and on other websites.

Photo Credits

Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

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Allonsy, Amelia. "Lattice Fence Ideas." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/lattice-fence-ideas-75479.html. Accessed 05 May 2019.

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