Fencing
 

Thinking about putting in some fencing in our backyard.
Two questions:
1. What do you think of vinyl fence?
2. Is it worth the expense to have it installed or is it an easy enough DIY job [I am not the handiest of people]?

Thanks!

1. vinyl fencing is just fine. Fairly low maintenance, and will last a long time barring catastrophe...

2. It will be expensive either way ... Most prefab fencing still requires the anchor posts to be dug in and cemented. Your biggest cost doing it yourself will therefore be time. (yay for post hole diggers you can rent:)) As far as difficulty, it's not bad at all, just alot of measuring and making sure your anchors are plumb and solid. Of course with any digging, call your utility company so they can mark out where your power, cable, gas and electric may be buried. (you might want to do this early to determine exactly where the fence will be)

Re: Fencing
 

It really all depends on the ground where you live. If you've got a lot of rocks, etc. or really old trees near where you want the fenceline, just contract it out. It'll be too much of a pain and you might take shortcuts that end up hurting you.

If it's smooth and the ground's not too bad - and you have a friend who can help you - give it a shot! :)

The vynil fencing is really good stuff but from what I here it could really be a catastrophe if you do it yourself. The measurements of the posts have to be exact to like 1/8 of an inch or something like that.

Anybody know how long the stuff would last? I live where we have winters as cold as -20 degrees F and summer as high as 110 degrees F. (Ah.. the lovely Midwest...) Most things around here made of vinyl get brittle after a few years in the elements and break. Vinyl siding is fine since it's very pliable to start with but the stuff made for fencing would need to be fairly rigid and that's the stuff that, in my mind, wouldn't last long.

Anybody have any data on this stuff?

Put up some vinyl fence last year---of coarse it does not get very cool here in deep south Texas....to give it some flexibility and make it easy to move, we bought a length of 6 inch water pipe, and cut it into two foot lenths---put the water pipe flush with the ground and leave it a little lose....now put the 4 inch post inside of this---it gives you a little room to move it. install the fence. Then pour dry sand between the post and water pipe.---put dirt around the water pipe, and water it down...it really locks up tight.---but you can get it out, if needed.