It’s a little known fact but not all timber panel fencing is the same. Almost 80% of residential homes in the United Kingdom use wooden panel fencing in their gardens and if your house is a new build I can guarantee that the panels used are low standard, untreated and very cheaply made at a cost so the developer can sell you a nice house with a nice garden and make a good profit, there is nothing wrong with the developer making a good profit it’s business at the end of the day but it you want your fencing to be strong, sturdy and last for many years then you really should consider replacing your budget fencing with higher quality panels.

Isn’t all panel fencing the same? most definitely not! you have the traditional cheap horizontal Waney Lap budget fence panel used in new builds and sold at DIY chains around the country and you have the Heavy Duty Vertical Boarded Fence panel that is manufactured by hand and sold and erected by professional fencing companies. Waney Lap budget fence panels are exactly what they say, ‘budget fencing’ and no amount of treatment can make them any stronger, they are very thin, lightweight, rattle in the wind and tend to blow out during storms and high winds, even when new as their lack of thickness makes them flexible, people have even reported panel fencing causing damage to windows and conservatories during storms and high winds making the need to get them replaced as soon as possible greater than ever especially with winter fast approaching.

Heavy Duty Vertical Boarded Fence panels are now becoming more and more popular, they are thicker so fit snugly between the fence posts, hence no rattling, no bending, so don’t blow out during storms, the vertical design adds even more strength so they tend to last up to 3 time as long as the budget option, this makes them very efficient and cost effective as the price of Heavy Duty Vertical Boarded Fence panels compared to the budget Waney Lap fence panel is only between 20% and 30% more so your fencing ends up being less expensive in the long run as it’s not replaced as often.

Treatment is also an important factor when replacing your fencing as a professional treated fence panel lasts up to twice as long as an untreated panel, and it’s all very we’ll treating your fencing each year with a branded fence treatment product but if the wood hasn’t been treated before it was assembled then it will still rot where you cant see and therefore can’t treat, so when choose a fencing company always make sure that the wood has been pressure treated with Tanatone or similar. They are a lot of fencing companies around so choosing the right one can seem a daunting task, but it shouldn’t, a professional fencing company will almost certainly have a company website where you can view their fencing and products and find out about the process they use to manufacture their fencing, you should avoid small advertisements in the local press with a mobile phone as the only point of contact as you’ll find that these are simply cowboys who will buy budget fencing and sell it onto you at a profit.

In summary, a fencing purchase should be treated exactly the same as any other large purchase you make for your home, do your research, consider all options, get quotes and go for a quality product rather than choosing a budget product that simply won’t last and will see you replacing your fencing again after just a couple of years.