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
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