Chain link fence / garden fence / link fence / metal fence

 Chain link fencing, perfect for pet compounds, security, tennis courts, land separation and many other uses. It is widely used around swimming pools to prevent misuse or children falling in to the pool, it is used as security for airports, factories, prisons zoo's etc. But, before you decide on calling in the fencers, you need to know a few things that you should expect from them, or you may have problems further down the line.

All posts and supports should be made with galvanised steel, this helps keep the rust away, although rust is unavoidable, you should get years out of a galvanised fence. The metal posts should be placed apart to a maximum of 3.3 m, this allows for a tighter fence and helps support it against winds. Supports are used on corner posts, end posts, gates and in long runs they should be on at least on every fourth post. Posts and supports are usually placed in concrete, and allowed to dry for a few days before the rest of the fence is put up. Tensioners are the wind up "thingies" on the posts with the supports, these will wind the fence tight, and are actually strong enough to pull a small elephant. With corner posts and end posts, when they are positioned, they should be leaning slightly out of straight, this is so when you tighten the fence, they come back into line, because if you look at a lot of fencing, the end posts are leaning in and are not straight. If you have a long run in a field which is prone to strong winds, ask the fencer to install a few supports coming away from the fence, every little helps. And when you do have your fence installed, ensure that it is put on your insurance as a separate entity, because if something happens, 9 times out of ten, it is not covered on normal house insurance.

Professionalism is one thing, if he has a smart vehicle or a dirty van, remember the type of work he does. When asking for a quote, they should be able to inform you of what they propose to do, look out for some of the pointers from the first paragraph and see if they are in the quote. Try and get everything in writing, if they tell you that they will do it one way, you agree to this, then they do something totally different which you do not like, what happens then? Problems, animosity, get it all in writing, that way you have something to fall back on. Never hand money over without a receipt, signed if possible, bank transfer or paypal is also good. So many people have given a person money and not received the goods, we have all heard the stories. If in a quote it is stated that the price is fully inclusive, then that is what it is, fully inclusive of electricity, water, removal of shrubbery etc, if the fencer plugs into your utilities for his supplies, you charge him, unless it has already been stated, because it just raises your bills and he has probably already charged you for it already. If something goes wrong with the fence once it has been completed, he should come out and fix it, but with all types of building work, problems can happen, its a good company if they come out to fix it with no hassle.

Fencing should be accompanied by planning permission, which in Spain can take between 2 days and 2 years depending on the town hall. If your fence is to run parallel to a road, even if it looks like a goat track, your fence has to be 5m from the centre of the road, because if you get a pompous official or receive a complaint, you will have to take it down. You have to also allow a 1m walkway between your land and your neighbours, this does no apply in urban or built up areas. The highest standard fence is 2m, anything higher than this will take longer in the planning permissions department. If you do not have a fence around your country house or the little metal signs with half painted black and the other half white, showing the boundary of your land, anybody can can walk up to your house and peer into your windows, and there is not alot you can do about it.