Fencing Lessons

Sometimes it ain't easy to come up with the green to build green. Other times green is so hideous it's like a conspiracy against ecological consciousness - take the Smart car for example. Ok, excuse the aside...

Although green building is supported by many federal, state and local tax incentives sometimes it's difficult to find out to which agency you must apply or send evidence of your greenness. And sometimes, there just isn't a tax break for certain projects. Replacing the fence is a tough one. I wanted to get LEED points, but I couldn't reclaim any of the few pieces of wood from the original circus tent-cum-psychedelic rusty-nail-nightmare-fence that originally ensconced the home. So I have to purchase wood.

There are more varieties of sustainably farmed, reclaimed and faux wood than you can imagine. The variety, coupled with the myriad of finishes and astronomical cha ching, left me half blind with ears ringing. The labels are tough to decipher when purchasing sustainably forested wood. Many companies don’t tell you what that means – is each felled tree replaced with 3 or 10 new trees? Are they fast-growing tree types? Is the factory that fells the trees conscious of water conservation and their own carbon footprint? Only 10 percent of the world’s forests are certified sustainable. There's huge concern about illegal logging and forest destruction in other countries. Lots of people are concerned about older trees in certified forests being felled and replaced by young and degraded tree types. Choosing which wood to buy for a fence is like trying to figure out whether you should buy a non-organic, locally grown apple or choose the organic one that comes from a different country.

Price is often the determining factor. I knew I could save if I opted for a non tongue and groove fence. This means that each vertical plank of wood is not fitted together perfectly with the next plank. On the other hand, tongue and groove planks fit so snugly that they offer more privacy with their ability to prevent light to shine through the spaces between planks. Some homeowners are quite picky about their fences and consider a tongue and groove fence an absolute necessity in terms of aesthetics and privacy. Other people are less persnickety and don't mind raw cut wood that hasn't been planed. Considering the craftsman style - which highlights the connection between artisan and simple materials - I figured I could make any choice in material work. I went with sustainable redwood. I initially wanted the fence to have a typical craftsman ratio of 1:3 in terms of horizontal planks capping vertical planks. Again, I had to consider price. In order to create this look of 1 3/4 feet of horizontal planks perched atop 4 1/2 feet of vertical planks, the materials and installation would cost $1,300 or 35%% more. This just wasn’t feasible since an actual roof, floors and doors are higher on the priority list for the finished home. Now that I made that sacrifice, I figured having a more rustic look could also keep a few more coins in the ole coffer. Rather than choosing smoothly planed wood, I selected rough sawn planks with a simple horizontal cap. Smooth, tongue and groove planks were $6.50 per plank and rough sawn planks were $2.80. This is a substantial difference in price.

At the end of the day, my grand total for 100 feet of fence was $2,455. My friends at Westhills Fence Company gave me a great deal. I'm sure they will do the same for you. Give them a call at (310) 313-2254.