A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage (though the definitions overlap somewhat). Some Wood panel fencing

Types of Fencing

Fencing is most often associated with marking the boundaries for the gardens of houses. However there are many types of fencing, some of which are listed below.

  • Barbed wire fencing
  • Cactus fencing
  • Chain link fencing
  • Dry-stone wall or rock fencing, often agricultural
  • Electric fencing
  • Hedgerows of intertwined, living shrubs (constructed by hedge laying)
  • Pet fence Underground Fence for pet containment
  • Picket fences, generally a waist-high, painted, partially decorative fence
  • Post-and-rail fencing
  • Stake-and-wire fencing
  • Turf mounds in semiarid grasslands such as the western United States or Russian steppes
  • Temporary fencing
  • Wire netting or wire gauze between posts
  • Wood panel fencing
  • Wrought iron fencing, Made from tube steel, also known as ornamental iron.

Farmland Fencing

Another major use for fencing is to surround farmland and is most often in the form of a hedge, or bush to separate fields and areas of arable or pastoral land.

As well as creating a boundary these Farmland Fencing does a good job of supplying protection for crops, in some cases, and for animals in the sense that containing animals can be tricky and expensive.

Wood panel fencing in the Garden

Using a hedge fence is cheap, requires very little, if any, maintenance and is safe for the animals.

Balustrades

A balustrade or railing is a kind of fence to prevent people from falling over the edge, for example, on a balcony, stairway (see railing system), roof, bridge, or elsewhere near a body of water, places where people stand or walk and the terrain goes steeply down, and so on.

Fencing Legislation

In the UK the laws differ to USA in respect of legal issues of dividing fences. Looking out of the back of your house, the fence to left of you is the one you own in common law and are responsible for.

If you wish to make changes to the opposite fence you must get permission from the owners of that fence. It is normal to put the fence cladding on the neighbours side, away from you, giving the neighbour a nicer view of the construction and giving you access to the posts and rails for easy maintenance.