General Article

Is a Fence a Fence?

If you are contemplating the purchase of a fence you might ask: What kind of fence should I buy? Before you can answer that I suppose there are a few other questions to ask first. For example one might ask, what is the purpose of this fence, why do I want to install it? There are many reasons for a fence: security, privacy, safety, aesthetic value, keep your dog in or the neighbor’s dog out, to hide your neighbors junk, or your junk from your neighbors, and the list goes on. Whatever your reasons are for purchasing a fence, here are a few observations to help you distinguish the differences of a few available fence types.

Block Fence

A true block fence 6″ or 8″ is a good choice and solves almost all of the reasons for a fence. Although you better get your pocket book out because a well built block fence is going to cost you big time and if you don’t do it right then don’t bother, it will not last. Block fences have a reputation of being poorly constructed unless you pay the big bucks to have it done right. Not convinced? Go try and shake the top section of a cheap block wall installed by a track home builder, I bet you’ll find a couple of loose blocks there at the top just waiting to pop out.

Wood Fence

If you have a very limited budget, don’t care how your fence looks and don’t mind replacing it down the road, which is a pretty short road, go ahead and purchase the wood fence. However, don’t forget about the detours in your journey of sanding, painting and staining with the choice of a wood fence.

Iron Fence

Iron fence solves many of the above reasons for a fence except of course the privacy issue. You should also plan on repainting and replacing it down that same road as the wood fence, sooner if you are in a high moister area or it is subject to lawn sprinklers. Why you ask? A little thing called rust and corrosion, no matter how much its powder coated or whatever else, your iron fence will eventually rust.

Chain Link Fence

Chain link fence is not worth discussing, if you are considering chain link you are probably in charge of a lot of people wearing uniforms with strips, or you probably can’t read this at all. Although there may be some of you out there who just don’t care about what it looks like and in that case chain link would be a good choice.

Vinyl Fence

A vinyl fence is a good choice for any of the above reasons for a fence. You have your privacy fence, view fence, pool fence, 3 rail, and picket fence. You can solve all your issues without the maintenance issues with the other types of fences. You also have the advantage of building pergolas and arbors and gazebos all out of the same material that complement each other.

Is a fence a fence? Actually a fence is really a fence no matter what it’s made of, but there are certainly advantages and disadvantages of one type over the other. The choice is yours. Please do your own research and find out for yourself which one would be best for you and your family. A good way to find information on a particular fence your interested in is to present your questions to someone who owns that type. Ask about maintenance and cost, along with what they like or dislike about their choice and experience.…

Choose Wood Privacy Fence – Why?

Wood privacy fence is a major contributor to the “curb appeal” factor of a home, esp. in an urban community. They are the traditional compliment to any home. A well-chosen and appropriately designed, fence gives homeowners the pleasure of enjoying their private space without necessarily giving the impression of being an unfriendly neighbor. The color shape and ultimate design, frames the first impression of the passers-by eyes. Wood privacy fence popularity is mainly due to its gorgeous, classic look. After new fence home owners see their fence installed, they automatically know they made the right choice.

The wood fence has become an icon within American culture. Don’t think that your fence has to be cookie-cut, as there are many styles of wood fencing available.

A wood fence has many more benefits than just its beautiful appearance. New processes help decrease the commonly known problems in wood, such as rotting, decay, and insect damage. Wood fences are the least expensive on the market. Many experts consider them to be the most cost-effective fencing material. The initial cost of a wood fence is significantly less the other fence types. It is also easy and cheap to repair. Plus, there’s an abundance of choice concerning wood privacy fence options. To provide a unique sense of selection styles, there have been several innovations as far as form, stain, and finish options that alter the appearance of the fence woods.

That’s all for now. Throughout the next few articles, we’ll review some specifics of the topics mentioned above. Bye the time you are ready to get your wood privacy fence there will be nothing left to do but kick back with a glass of lemonade and watch the wood fly! Thanks for stopping in! Come back soon ya hear!…

How to Build a Maintenance Free Wood Privacy Fence

The title of this article may seem like an oxymoron to some people. It is often assumed that a wood fence requires constant upkeep. But that does not need to be the case. The key to building a wood fence that never needs maintenance is the color gray. Cedar will turn a beautiful shade of gray as it weathers. People often stain a cedar fence to keep it from turning gray. And yet this same gray color is desirable in two other so-called maintenance free products: composite decking and vinyl fencing.

Composite decking has become the material of choice for many homeowners. One of the most popular composite deck colors is gray. Composite deck manufacturers sell decking with names like Cape Cod Gray, Weathered Wood, Natural Cedar and others. These colors are meant to mimic the beautiful cedar fences so common in the northeastern United States. Vinyl fencing is very popular as it is assumed to be maintenance free. Vinyl fences are most often white or tan. Gray vinyl fencing costs more and is also more difficult to obtain. Gray vinyl fencing goes by the names Weathered Cedar, Cedar Tone and others. Once again, these products are designed to look like cedar that has been exposed to the elements. Two popular products that are intended to be maintenance free are in fact designed to look like weathered cedar. This leads to an interesting question. When building a privacy fence why not just use real cedar and get the same effect for less money?

A properly built privacy fence requires high quality materials. The cedar pickets need be at least 3/4″ thick. The thin pickets found at the box stores should not be used as they will warp over time. The best stringers are rough-cut cedar 2 x 4 x 8’s. Never use treated wood as it will twist and warp as it dries. The only part of a wood privacy fence that should not be cedar are the posts. A wood fence will last only as long as the posts do. Cedar posts look nice initially and will also turn gray. But wood posts eventually rot because they are in constant contact with the ground. Steel posts will never rot. Always use a steel post that can be covered to look like wood.

Cedar is a naturally rot resistant material that never requires any maintenance. The only time that a cedar fence needs to be stained or painted is when trying to keep the wood from weathering naturally. An unstained cedar fence will last just as long as a stained one does. Building a maintenance free wood privacy fence is really very simple. Use high quality cedar materials and then just leave it alone. By using covered steel posts you can have a beautiful, and maintenance free, wood privacy fence that will last a lifetime.…

Cheap Window Blinds – Where to Find Affordable Bamboo Window Shades

Bamboo Window shades are fast rising in popularity due to their affordability, versatility as well as ability to re decorate the home with their varied types of designs, colors and texture. They come in roman style, roller types with interwoven bamboo materials, giving your space a brand new warmth and tropical look and feel never before experienced. You can use these quality yet cheap window blinds either indoors or outdoors, at patios and decks with a natural look.

These bamboo window shades can be easily found on the internet, at your local retailers, stock clearance sales, flea markets. And if you are looking of used ones, you can also find them at yard sales. However, there are certain guidelines which you need to know in order to make the best purchase.

A lot of us nowadays tend to log on to the internet to search for things we need before we physically visit the shops to buy them, or better still, buy them online. You can do the same with bamboo window shades as well. Online auction sites are your easiest and most convenient product and pricing guide. But before you visit them, check out most popular and reputed manufacturer sites to research for your blinds for windows.

Local retailers are the most convenient places to search for bamboo window shades. Some even advertise on weekends for stock clearance and weekend sales. While you may get great bargains at the sales, be extra careful to check out the quality and warranties that come with them.

Flea markets are the best places to get your bargain bamboo window shades but they are also not the most organized places to find them. Hence, you will need to have some idea before you proceed with your shopping at the flea markets. Yards sales are similar to flea markets and you will need to know your decor needs before you decide to buy.

In fact, in order to expedite the shopping for your bamboo window shades, make a list of your decor needs and arm your shopping sprees which with it. And know that you will need a lot of perseverance to get your hands on great bargains for quality yet cheap window blinds.…

A Few Facts About Wood Fence Panels

In choosing fence materials, wood fence panels are more favored by people for three reasons: it looks more natural than plastic or metal fences, it is easily repaired, and it can protect against the elements for a cheaper price.

Wood panels are made from among several types of wood, with each having many styles. The panels may either be untreated or chemically treated to resist weathering and insects. But even when treated, wood fence panels are not as durable as aluminum or vinyl.

Cedar, spruce, pine and cypress are common materials used to make wood fence panels. Once they are made, they are usually cut in 8-foot long sections. However, they can easily be made shorter if needed. The panels can be pre-styled in several ways – dog-eared, Gothic top, lattice, split-rail, among others.

Wood fences are usually pre-made, but may also be assembled on site. The panels may be joined in one of three ways – privacy, picket or post and rail. Privacy fences are about 6 feet tall or higher, and the panels are arranged adjacent to each other. Picket fences are shorter, about 4 feet tall, with the panels spaced apart. Post and rail fences are also short, and have 2-4 horizontal beams (the rails), with the posts at regular intervals.

Wood panels may be treated to make them last longer. Using a combination of pressure and preservatives, wood can be treated to better resist termites and fungi. Among the wood varieties, spruce and pine readily accepts treatment, while cedar does not normally need any treatment.

Wood fence panels are more suitable for suburban or countryside areas. In choosing a wood panel, one needs to consider the cost of wood and the overall design. Cedar is more expensive but also more durable, while pine is among the cheapest. A post-and-rail fence requires the least wood and is one of the cheapest designs, while privacy fences are the most expensive.…

Where to Find the Best Deals on Discount Window Treatments

If you’re looking for discount window treatments, you’ve got several places you can look. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately it will depend on exactly what you’re looking for. Let’s look at where to get the best deals on your window treatments.

The first place you can get discounted window coverings is your local home center, like Home Depot or Lowe’s. They generally don’t have as large a selection as a shop that specializes in window coverings, but what they do have will often be less expensive than in a dedicated shop. And they generally carry the bigger name brands, like Levolor and Hunter Douglas, so you’ll still get good quality.

Another good option for cheap window blinds is your local specialty shop. The catch here is that you’ll have to be a little bit flexible in your schedule for having them installed. Most of these shops offer sales at various times throughout the year – often the slowest season, to try to generate more business – or when a manufacturer releases new designs or models and they clear out the old ones.

The third, and often the best, place to find discount window treatments is on the internet. You can buy almost anything online these days, and window coverings are no different.

You can often find a better selection, at a lower price on the internet than you would at any of your local suppliers. The catch is that you can’t touch and feel the treatments – you have to rely on pictures on the website to know how they’re going to look. These pictures are always made to look as good as possible, so it’s not always easy to determine how they really look until you get them installed.

Whichever source you choose for your discount window treatments, you can save quite a bit of money by doing a little research and possibly being a bit patient.…

Cheap Window Blinds – Discount Window Treatments Catering to All Types of Needs

There are countless types of quality yet cheap window blinds that cater to all types of interior decorating needs. Discount window treatments are affordable and are of varied designs. They have become the new advant garde trend with their creative use of color and design to give a house owner a sense of home.

There are a wide array of discount window blinds, all made with different types of materials and mechanisms. The most common of discount window treatments is non other than venetian blinds which were made popular as far back as the late nineteenth century. They are easily recognizable from their overlapping slats, with the versatility of being opened or closed in varying degrees by using a simple side cord mechanism. The venetians are still the best for sunlight and heat control. The main reason is that the overlapping slats gives better blockage from the sun when used as sun control and the amount of sun entering your room would determine the amount of heat passes through the blinds into your room as well.

Woven Bamboo is an alternative materials used by discount window blinds which are evergreens for a leisurely look and feel, and are often used to block sun at patios, kitchen or relaxation corner of the home. Also, in the last 10 years, cellular materials also debut as a bid to energy conservation. They are oddly shaped like honeycombs and are specifically designed for maximum energy efficiency.

Your blinds can come in either horizontal or vertical in design. The most common ones are horizontal, as they are easy for interior designing purposes, more popular with home makers due to their ease of cleaning. They are best for regular or smaller sized windows. However, should you have large windows or long stretches of windows along the hallway or high windows that stretches up all the way to the ceiling, you will need vertical blinds for greater versatility. They make better choices with used with large windows as well as sliding glass doors.

As you can see, you are indeed spoilt for choice when it comes to discount window treatments. There will surely be a few, if not more, types of quality but cheap window blinds that suit your decorating purpose and theme.…