Vinyl fence.

Heights, styles and gates

• 6 ft solid privacy is the standard, and what most of our vinyl work is
• Lattice or spindle top panels trade a little privacy for light and a softer line
• Picket and semi-privacy styles for a front yard or a boundary you want to see over
• Walk and double drive gates in matching panels, on a reinforced frame
• Self-closing, self-latching hinges on any gate that encloses a pool

Vinyl comes in fixed panel widths, so a run gets laid out in whole panels with the remainder cut at the end. Where that lands matters on a short run, and it is one of the things we work out on site rather than over the phone.

What moves the price

• Panel style: solid privacy, semi-privacy, lattice top, picket
• Every gate, and whether it is a walk gate or a double drive gate
• Tear-out and disposal of the existing fence
• Slope, because vinyl panels rack less than a wood fence does — a steep grade may need the run stepped down instead
• Rock, roots and hard digging on the post line
• Corners, ends and short runs, which need more posts per foot

Vinyl runs higher per foot than cedar up front. Whether it is cheaper over the life of the fence depends on how long you are staying and whether you were ever going to stain the cedar.

Life and upkeep

There is no stain, no sealer and no re-painting. It gets washed down with a hose and a brush when it looks like it needs it, which in this part of the country is usually once a year after the winter.

Vinyl does not rot and insects do not touch it. In the cold it gets more brittle than wood does, so the two things that actually damage a vinyl fence here are a plough throwing snow and ice into a panel, and a mower or a trimmer catching the bottom rail.

Worth knowing before you buy

A damaged vinyl picket cannot be sanded or patched the way a cedar board can. It is replaced — which is straightforward, but it means matching the profile and the colour, and both drift over the years as manufacturers change lines.

If long-term matching matters to you, raise it at the estimate and ask what we are quoting. Warranty terms come from whoever makes the panel, not from us, so we will point you at the actual document rather than repeat a number at you.