Any unusual terrain on your residential or commercial property will affect your fence installation, which can often mean the project will cost more. You might want to modify your fence design or materials to accommodate irregular terrain.
As you learn more about terrain issues and options for dealing with them, you’ll be more likely to experience a successful fence installation project.
What Terrain Traits Will Affect Your Fence Installation?
Whether you want to install a fence on your residential or commercial property, the contour and shape of your property will affect the process. Here are a few things to consider.
Sloped Terrain
If there’s a hill on your property, you have a couple of options with your fence design. You can either fill in the land to reduce the steepness of the property or you can plan for a sloped fence. In this situation, a horizontal fence creates a better design by eliminating the need to use a variety of different-sized panels or slats.
Hilltop Properties
If your property is on a hilltop, you might not have to deal with a sloped contour, but you’ll still have to consider the installation process. Delivering the fence materials to the top of a hill may present more challenges for your installation contractor. Heavier materials will cost more to transport in both fuel consumption and labor.
If your property is on a hill, consider choosing a lighter material like vinyl instead of wood. The lighter material will reduce labor for your contractor and allow for a faster or easier installation process.
Rocky or Sandy Ground
It’s also important to consider the type of ground you have on your commercial or residential property. For example, rocky land will cost more to excavate when digging holes for fence posts. However, there’s the advantage of the greater stability that rocky land will provide for your fence once it’s installed.
Land that is primarily composed of sand will also present a challenge. While the excavation process will be easier and faster, keep in mind that sand erodes more quickly. To combat this faster erosion, your contractor may need to dig deeper holes for the fence posts.
Expect Unseen Challenges
Finally, you should expect hidden obstacles to create issues with your fence installation. Even your fencing contractor can’t predict when an underground boulder or tree root will interfere with installation. Talk to your contractor to determine how to deal with these obstacles once they start the installation.
Fencing Options for Irregular Land
Even though your property’s terrain might present challenges, there are plenty of ways to deal with these issues. In fact, irregular terrain can provide an opportunity to create a unique and creative design.
Install a Retaining Wall
A retaining wall is a short one to three feet wall installed at the base of a slope. It will keep the soil from eroding on one side of the wall. Once the retaining wall is installed, you can build a fence on top of it or plant a flower garden on one side of the wall.
Add a Partial Retaining Wall
If you have a modest slope on your property, don’t feel as though you can’t use a traditional fence with vertical slats or panels. You can keep the fence’s top even by adding a short retaining wall to the sections of the fence where the slope is the smallest.
Consider a Stepped Height Fence
Another option for a property with an incline is to use a stepped-height fence. This involves installing deliberately uneven fence panels. Each panel gets installed to step down the property’s slope gradually. It also means installing deeper posts as the fence proceeds along the decline of the slope.
A stepped-height fence is a great option for properties that have steeper slopes.
Match the Land’s Contour with a Sloped Height Fence
A sloped fence might be a better alternative if your land has a series of slopes and hills. It involves sloping the fence’s top to match the contour or shape of the ground.
Kickboards can help adjust for deeper dips in the slope. This type of fence involves more labor and a more customized design, so it will cost more.
Talk to the Fence Installation Pros
The best way to learn how the characteristics of your property will affect a fence installation is to ask the pros at Fence Installers. We’ll come out to your property and evaluate the terrain to determine the best design for your land. To get started, contact us today.