What are the Common Fencing materials?

What are the common Fencing materials?

Welded wire mesh

Welded wire mesh, or welded wire fabric, or "weldmesh" is an electric fusion welded prefabricated joined grid consisting of a series of parallel longitudinal wires with accurate spacing welded to cross wires at the required spacing.

Barbed wire

Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, or, in the southeastern United States, bobbed wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand.

Chicken wire

Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence in fowl, such as chickens, in a run or coop. It is made of thin, flexible, galvanized steel wire with hexagonal gaps.

Gabion

A gabion is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping. For erosion control, caged riprap is used.

Wattle

Wattle is a lightweight construction material made by weaving thin branches or slats between upright stakes to form a woven lattice. It has commonly been used to make fences and hurdles for enclosing ground or handling livestock.

Barbed tape

Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products.

Composite lumber

Composite lumber is a material that is a mixture of wood fiber, plastic, and some type of binding agent. These ingredients are put together to form a material that is denser, stronger, and heavier than wood alone, a wood-plastic composite.

Common Wood and Wood-like Fencing materials?

Western Red Cedar

Like many of the woods on this list, western red cedar is naturally resistant to many of the ills that your average pine is likely to succumb to. Its beautiful appearance is prized by many homeowners, and its natural resistance to moisture, rot, and insect infestation make it a great choice for pickets as well as posts.

White Oak

A tough, hardy wood, white oak weathers well and stays strong when exposed to the elements. Many folks who keep horses choose white oak for its strength and the fact that some horses enjoy chewing on pine (though pine is usually cheaper). Oak does have a tendency to warp or bow, however, so this should be taken into consideration when the fence is planned.

Black Locust

Another favorite for those who keep horses, black locust is one of the toughest woods found north of the equator. Championed in particular for being an excellent material for posts, black locust fences can last for decades and decades without any significant maintenance needs.

Tropical Hardwoods

Some of the most durable and beautiful fence, deck, and outdoor woods of any kind come from South America. Woods like Ipe, Tigerwood, and Brazilian Cherry are extremely hard, heavy, and dense--so dense, in fact, that they must be pre-drilled (a hammer and nails just don't cut it with tropical hardwood). The most obvious drawback to these species is their price, which is significantly higher than other fence options.

The use of tropical hardwood has been criticized by some for being less-than-friendly to the environment. While it is true that these woods are harvested in tropical regions and then shipped to the U.S., the fact that tropical hardwoods are available from responsible sources and will need to be replaced far less frequently than many domestic kinds of wood provides a sound argument that they are actually a greener choice than many others on the market.

Pressure Treated Pine

Less expensive than the preceding types of wood, pressure-treated pine gets its durability and moisture resistance not from Mother Nature, but through chemical treatments and physical processes performed by people. Though once championed as the very best in outdoor building materials, pressure-treated pine is losing popularity among some sections of the population. More expensive and much more resistant to rot and insect activity than untreated pine, the chemical used to make it so hardy (as well as the energy use involved in the pressure treating) have raised a few eyeballs among environmentally-focused homeowners and contractors. This material's practicality should not, however, be ignored by any prospective fence-builder.

Plastic Lumber

While not technically a wood, the look of synthetic fencing materials is now closer than ever to true wood. PVC fencing can last a long time - many put its estimated lifespan at 100 years or more - and will require only minimal maintenance. Bugs don't eat it, fungus won't harm it, and it won't check or develop cracks due to moisture issues. PVC fencing is pricey (though not as pricey as some tropical hardwoods), and it's not actually lumber, but investing in it will give you a practically worry-free fence for decades and decades to come.