How the two differ in kind
A chain link fence works in TENSION. The mesh is stretched between straining posts at corners, ends and changes of direction, and the line posts in between exist only to hold the mesh at its height and stop it sagging. The load path runs along the fence to the straining posts, which is why they are heavier, braced or strutted, and set in substantial footings — and why a chain link fence with unbraced ends never looks tight again after its first year.
A timber fence works in BENDING. Each post is a cantilever standing out of the ground, resisting whatever pushes on the panel either side of it, and the moment at the base is the load times the height. The panels are cladding; the posts and their footings are the structure. That is why a timber fence's failure is almost always at ground level — either the post rots where end grain meets wet soil, or the footing is too small for the moment and the post levers itself loose.
The load that decides it is wind, and the difference between the two is enormous. Chain link is roughly ninety per cent open, so air passes through and very little pressure develops. A close-board fence is effectively solid, so it catches the full wind pressure over its whole area — and because wind force goes with the SQUARE of speed and the moment goes with the height, a tall solid fence in an exposed position is carrying a load that a mesh fence of the same height never sees.
The factors that actually differ
Show
| Chain link fence | Timber picket or close-board fence | |
|---|---|---|
| How it carries load | In tension, along the fence to braced straining posts. Line posts are secondary. | In bending, each post a cantilever from its own footing. Every post is structural. |
| Wind | Almost irrelevant — the mesh is open and the wind passes through. | The governing load. Solid area times pressure times height, and it is what blows fences over. |
| Where it fails | Slack mesh from unbraced ends, and eventually the coating at the cut ends and the bottom rail. | At ground level: rot at the post base, or a footing too small for the moment. |
| Privacy and appearance | None. It is a barrier you can see through, which is a security advantage and an amenity disadvantage. | Complete, and it is usually the reason it was chosen. |
| Maintenance | Essentially none if galvanised or plastic-coated. Decades. | Treatment, replacement of rails and boards, and eventually posts. A maintained asset rather than an installed one. |
| Repair | Localised: a damaged section of mesh is unpicked and replaced; posts rarely need touching. | Localised too, but the common repair — a rotted post — means taking out a footing and disturbing the panels either side. |
| Ground conditions | Tolerant. Line posts are light and the mesh follows undulations reasonably. | Demanding. Every post needs a footing sized for the moment, so soft ground or shallow rock is a real constraint. |
| Shape of the cost | Cheap per metre, with the cost concentrated in corners, ends and straining posts — so a fence with many direction changes costs disproportionately. | Roughly proportional to length, plus a footing at every post, plus a maintenance cycle for its life. |
Which one, and when
Choose chain link fence when…
- The requirement is a barrier rather than a screen: a boundary, a sports area, a site perimeter.
- The position is exposed, where a solid fence would be a sail.
- Long runs with few direction changes, where the tensioned system is at its cheapest per metre.
- Maintenance has to be near zero for decades.
Choose timber picket or close-board fence when…
- Privacy or screening is the point, which mesh cannot provide.
- The context is domestic and appearance matters as much as function.
- Runs are short with many corners, where the straining posts of a tensioned system would dominate the cost.
- It has to look like a garden boundary rather than a compound.
Now run your own numbers
This page holds no prices on purpose — a national average is wrong for almost every real project. Quantify both options with your dimensions and your local quotes.
Frequently asked questions
- Why did my fence blow down?
- Almost certainly because it was solid, tall and in an exposed position, and the posts and footings were sized for a fence rather than for the load the fence collects. Wind force grows with the SQUARE of speed, so the gust that took it down was delivering considerably more than the design breeze, and it acted over the whole solid area at a lever arm equal to roughly half the height. The moment at the base is what the footing has to resist, and it grows with the height twice over — more area and a longer lever. That is why a two-metre close-board fence is a fundamentally different structure from a one-metre one, and why the extra half metre somebody added on top is so often what preceded the failure.
- Can I add privacy slats to a chain link fence?
- You can buy them, and it is the trap this page exists to flag. Slats convert an open fence into an effectively solid one, and every post, every footing and every straining post was designed on the assumption that wind passes through. The wind load rises by close to an order of magnitude and arrives on a structure with light line posts and modest footings. The result is a fence that leans, then bends its posts, then goes over in the first real gale — and it does so having looked perfectly fine for a year or two. If privacy is wanted on a mesh fence, the honest answer is a different fence, or slats accepted only after the posts and footings have been assessed for the new load.
- Does every post need a concrete footing?
- For a timber fence, effectively yes, because every post is a cantilever and the footing is what resists the moment. What varies is size, and it grows with fence height sharply — a taller fence needs a deeper and wider footing, not just a longer post. For chain link, no: the LINE posts carry very little and can often be driven or set in modest footings, while the straining posts at corners, ends and changes of direction take the full tension and need substantial concrete plus a strut or brace. Concentrating the concrete where it does work is the whole efficiency of a tensioned fence, and a chain link fence with equal footings everywhere has spent money in the wrong places and skimped in the right ones.
- How deep should the posts go?
- Deep enough that the footing resists the overturning moment, which means the rule of thumb scales with height rather than being a fixed figure. Conventional practice puts something like a third of the above-ground height into the ground for a timber fence post, more in soft ground and more again for a tall solid fence. The important detail is what the post sits on and in: a post set on the bottom of a hole filled with concrete stands in a bowl that collects water against its end grain, which is why the traditional detail puts a bed of hardcore beneath for drainage, or uses a metal post shoe that keeps the timber out of the ground entirely. That detail decides the fence's life far more than the timber's treatment class does.
- Which lasts longer?
- Chain link, comfortably, and it is not close. A galvanised or polymer-coated mesh fence with properly braced straining posts will stand for decades with no attention beyond occasional re-tensioning, because there is nothing in it that rots and very little that fatigues. A timber fence has a timber post in the ground, which is a race between the treatment and the moisture, and the usual answer is fifteen to twenty years for the posts with rails and boards replaced sooner. Where a timber fence is wanted for its appearance and a long life is wanted too, the standard compromise is timber panels or boards on concrete or metal posts — which puts the rot-prone material out of the ground and changes the maintenance from structural to cosmetic.
- Whose side is the fence on?
- A legal question rather than a construction one, and it varies by jurisdiction and by the deeds — there is no universal rule that the posts face the owner, whatever custom says locally. What matters practically is that a fence built on a boundary affects the neighbour, that a fence built entirely on your own land is unambiguously yours, and that the difference of a few centimetres decides which of those you have done. Before either option on this page, the useful step is establishing where the boundary actually is and what the deeds say about responsibility. It costs nothing and it is considerably cheaper than moving a completed fence.