Concrete or wooden fencing?

[RabbitWeb6]

I need to have about 30 metres of fencing replaced. One fencer is really keen on Jacksons fencing and their 25 year guarantee looks great. However it's all timber - posts, gravel boards.

I had thought of going with concrete posts and gravel boards for longevity. The existing fence has timber posts and gravel boards and has lasted twenty years (with some concrete spurs on the posts a few years back).

Everyone seems to be going for concrete - is this an environmental and aesthetic disaster? Are some posts (eg Jacksons) genuinely almost as good as concrete, but look nicer as wooden?

Which would you choose?

Concrete. Being able to slide new panels in and out has been a god send. Mine is a small garden and most years something has over grown rotting a panel (either mine or neighbours side) or one blows down in the winter.

I prefer concrete posts and gravel boards due to water and soil, I think they last longer. All of my concrete posts, and many of the boards, have been in nearly 30 years, I doubt wood would last that long.

I would agree with @Overhaul54 .

It makes subsequent maintence so much easier (and so cheaper).

I don't think concrete posts look particularly nice but if you choise to paint the fence you can do the posts as well, or just do the posts.

If you live in a windy area don't waste your time/money on anything but concrete.

My property has had concrete fencing for 40 years, so it lasts well !

Whatever you get, make sure it has a couple of hedgehog highway holes in it. I think you can get specific gravel boards for this. Or you can cut a hole in a wooden panel.

I have concrete one side, and wood the other. The advantage of wood is that you can choose the height you want. Our garden slopes, so on the side with neighbours, we have evened up the height for a better aesthetic.

Much more expensive to do but concrete posts and gravel boards will last so much longer. Timber doesn't last as long as it used to due to changes in H&S on wood preservatives.

Wood in the ground will rot over time. There are many youtube videos showing the products like post sleeves etc to try to save them from rotting.

As fence panels are wood and more likely to be the item you need to replace, concrete posts and gravel boards will withstand a lot more weather and any sort of pressure from soil on the other side of the fence. You can easily slot a panel in or out too.

My sister painted her fence and concrete posts and boards black, looks really good against all the greenery of the garden. Plus it blended it all in so no grey concrete on display.

@HappiestSleeping you can get 10ft concrete posts which would give an 8ft fence (2ft in the ground) so you can always look into that. You can also stack a concrete gravel board on top of a concrete gravel board to raise a panel height. That was from a quick google, we lived in a very hilly area previously where it was the norm to even out the fence height agreed between neighbours.

Seems that concrete is more popular! I see it everywhere too. Interestingly the price of the timber is comparable to concrete, perhaps because it's branded (Jacksons) and has a 25 year guarantee.

The only other consideration is that we want to attach cat proofing, which would need to be drilled into posts. I think its easier/safer to drill into timber vs concrete which may be weakened?

It was more the weight to be honest, I couldnt lift the longer concrete posts. If you're careful about how the wooden posts are installed, rot can be minimised. It will last longer than I am likely to be in the house.

Concrete posts and gravel boards. Without a doubt the better longer term solution vs a full wood structure.

Wood does indeed rot. The major problem is replacement.

Often it rots and then the wind blows against the fence that makes the wooden post snap off. If the post is in the dirt, fine. If it is concreted in (like many are) then getting the stump of the post out is very difficult.

The advantage of wood is that it is lighter and normally cheaper. You can attach things to it more easily and it is easier to do as a DIY job on your own (try lifting a concrete post by yourself).

The advantage of concrete is once you do it, it is pretty much done forever. Slotting in old panels is relatively easy and the posts will not rot.

Concrete is often more expensive than wood. My feeling as to whether I would want to choose concrete over wood would be i) whether I was doing the job on my own and ii) whether I was going to stay in the house a long time maybe 20 years or so. If I was staying in the house long term I would go for concrete. And if I was only intending to stay less than 5 years or so, I would go for wood, which would be far cheaper as I could DIY it.

I was in a similar position when I needed to replace my fence – everyone seemed to be going for concrete, but I decided to stick with from Jacksons Fencing, and I’m really glad I did. If you're worried about longevity their products are guaranteed against rot plus wood fences look so much better than concrete (sorry not sorry).

Hi @WalshSall thanks, I did decide on Jacksons in the end, I've had timber fences last 20 years and Jacksons 25 year guarantee seems good. I liked the look as well, glad you're pleased with yours.

Definitely concrete. It will last forever. If any panels ever need replacing then it’s very simple to slot a new one in.

i recently moved into a new house. The previous owner had wooden fence posts installed some time ago. Then more recently they’d had to install concrete repair spurs on all the posts where they had rotted. Seems silly not to just do it properly with concrete in the first place.

I had the same debate last year and ended up using concrete posts with wooden panels. Looks smart and should last ages.

For anyone thinking of mixing their own postcrete or concrete, I found steelemixer.com really handy, they’ve got a mixing tool that saved loads of time and mess.