I'm purchasing a privacy fence, which wood should I go with, cypress, cedar, or treated?

Question

One company in the area sells cypress, the rest sell cedar or pressure treated.

Answer 1

i will diffently have to say treated because treated will help your fence live for a long time under weather conditions such as rain. treated will protect it from rotting so you don't have to replace it after a couple of years. my neighbor made the same mistake of not getting treated and now he has to replace everything that is rotting. if you go with something else you can get some spray that acts as a treatment. the best thing to do is ask somebody that is at the place where you are buying the product from. The best place is lowes, they know what they are doing. good luck

Answer 2

Treated should run you a lot less than cedar or cypress.
The fence will last 15 yrs or more. You can always stain it to the colour you want.
Cedar is also excellent and when new looks awesome. The only problem with cedar is after several years of staining it will darken.

Never use untreated wood for a fence or you'll end up replacing it 5 years down the road.

Another tip is creosote the bottom of the 4x4 posts you use in the grounds. Creosote is what they use on railway ties (Black but it's only the portion in the ground and approx 2" above the earth). This will Preserve your posts for many years.

Also if using concrete for the posts don't forget crushed stone in each hole to allow for water drainage. With the privacy fence you can pre-build each section and the mount it between each post using an "L" shape clamp. I also prefer using screws over nails but that's more of a preference
Good luck

Answer 3

Do not get treated. I dont' know much about cypress but CEDAR is long lasting (longer than treated) and beautiful. It also deters various insects as well.

I have recently purchased over 300 linear feet of a privacy fence and I used CEDAR. I am very happy with it. I have had it almost a year now. One thing you have to do after about 4 weeks is stain it to your liking. If you like the natural color of CEDAR just use a clear stain.

Answer 4

6X8 foot treated fence panels (pre-built) with 5/8 inch thickness are about $36 at Home Depot or Lowes. They are a good choice for general application and generally less expensive than cedar. Cedar has a few advantages in that it looks nicer and is pretty much insect and rot resistant - but not that much more so than treated wood. The 1 inch thick panels are roughly $10 more expensive and probably a better choice if you have pets (or other animals trying to get in). If you have uneven terrain, you'll be stuck building the fence yourself since obviously the pre-built panels are only good for flat ground, but the cost will be about the same. Don't forget to use galvanized nails so they don't rust.

Answer 5

If you can afford it, go with the white vinyl fencing! We made the mistake and went with the pressure treated the first time. It needs to be treated once every 1-2 years to keep it looking nice. If you don't mind it looking shabby then yes it will last and not rot. The vinyl costs alot more but now that we have it it's fantastic! Up it went and its been 3 years now and still looks as good as new! The only thing we do to it is hose it down every once in awhile.

Answer 6

No doubt about it - go with cypress. It weathers to a beautiful grey patina. Termites avoid it. It takes forever to rot (it lives, roots submerged, in swamps, for heavens sake!) It is very natural. Pressure treated will not last half as long as cypress. There are cypress homes, abandoned, in Louisiana, that were built in the 1800's and are still standing!

Answer 7

Treated

Answer 8

I agree with pamomof4- vinyl is a bit more expensive but by far ends up lasting/looking nice the longest. My parents had one installed about 11 years ago, and the fencing still looks new. Maintanence consists of spraying it with a hose when it gets dirty/dusty.