Fence Type Comparison

How to read this table

The cost column is installed price per linear foot, which is the only figure worth comparing across materials. A quote for boards alone and a quote for a finished fence can differ by a factor of three for the same fence, and the difference is labour, posts, concrete and gates rather than anything you can see.

Lifespan assumes the fence gets the maintenance its material actually needs. A wood fence cleaned and refinished every two to three years reaches the top of its range; the same fence left alone reaches the bottom or less. Vinyl and aluminium are largely maintenance-indifferent, which is what you are paying the premium for.

What usually decides it

• How long you will own the house. Under about a decade, wood is almost always the better value. Past that, the maintenance cycle on wood starts to close the gap with vinyl and composite.
• Whether you need privacy. Chain link and ornamental aluminium give none. That single requirement removes the two cheapest options from the list for most back gardens.
• Wind exposure. A solid 6 ft fence is a sail. On an exposed site, something the wind passes through — chain link, split rail, shadow box, spaced picket — puts far less load on the posts and footings.
• Slope. Stick-built wood racks to follow a grade easily. Panel systems in vinyl and composite generally have to step down, which leaves triangular gaps under each panel unless the system is sold as rackable.
• Whether the neighbours see it. A fence on a shared line has a good side and a rail side. Shadow box and board-on-board exist to solve that, and it is worth settling before the posts go in.

The comparisons people actually search for

Each of these has its own page with the numbers worked through: chain link vs wood, vinyl vs aluminium and composite vs wood. For the two wood styles that get confused most often, see the shadow box calculator and the board-on-board calculator — they use the same number of boards for a given overlap, and differ on privacy and which faces match.

Price a specific fence

A table gives you the band; your own fence gives you the number. Run your run length through the wood, vinyl, chain link, aluminium or composite calculator, or use the cost per foot calculator to normalise a contractor's quote so you can compare bids on the same basis.