Chain link fences in Detroit, built with the right wire and framework

Wire gauge: why the number shrinks as the wire gets thicker

Chain link wire is sized by gauge, and the scale runs backward. A lower number means thicker wire. Nine gauge is the usual pick for a home fence that will see real use from dogs, kids and snow. Eleven and eleven-and-a-half gauge are lighter, cheaper and easier to bend, which is why they show up on big-box rolls. Six gauge is heavy commercial wire that most yards never need.

One catch trips people up. Vinyl-coated fabric is sometimes described by its finished thickness with the coating included, and sometimes by the steel core underneath. Ask which number a quote is using, because those are not the same wire.

Mesh size and what it means for climbing and small dogs

Mesh size is the distance across each diamond. Two-inch mesh is the everyday residential pattern and the one most people picture. Smaller mesh, somewhere between one inch and one and three-quarter inches, is harder to climb and harder for a small animal to push its head through. It gets chosen around play areas and sometimes around pools, where the adopted code for the address decides what opening is allowed.

Galvanized, aluminized or black vinyl-coated fabric

Uncoated wire would not survive many Michigan winters before rusting out, which is why all chain link fabric ships with some protective layer. Galvanized fabric is coated in zinc. Some is galvanized before weaving and some after; fabric galvanized after weaving carries zinc over the cut ends of each diamond too, and the zinc coating weight printed on the spec sheet is the number worth comparing between two quotes.

Vinyl-coated fabric adds a layer of PVC over galvanized steel, most often in black, with green and brown also sold. It looks quieter against a lawn and adds one more layer against salt. The framework should be coated to match, or the silver posts become the first thing anyone notices.

• Galvanized: the lowest material cost, dulling from silver to flat gray.
• Black vinyl-coated: the most popular upgrade on street-facing runs.
• Green or brown vinyl-coated: picked where a fence backs onto trees, hedges or a wooded lot line.
• Matching coated framework: posts, rail and fittings finished in one color so the fence reads as a single piece.

Road salt, heavy clay and the Michigan winter

Two things wear chain link down in this region faster than anything else. One is salt. Fences along a busy street or wrapping a corner lot take spray and slush from plows all winter, and the zinc closest to the ground is spent first. That explains why old fences rust from the bottom up and why coating weight matters most on the runs nearest the road. Alley fences in older neighborhoods such as Dearborn show this constantly.

The other is the ground. The heavy lake-plain clay under much of Wayne and Oakland County holds water, freezes hard and lifts anything set too shallow. Post depth and setting methods are covered on the fence installation page; in short, the hole has to reach below the frost, and the local building department sets how deep that is for your address.

The framework: terminal posts, line posts, top rail and fittings

Chain link framework is a system of parts that each do one job. Knowing the names makes a quote easier to read. Check post wall thickness as well as diameter, since two posts that look identical can hide very different amounts of steel.

• Terminal posts: the stouter uprights placed wherever the line ends, turns or meets a gate, which resist all of the tension the tightened mesh puts on the line.
• Line posts: the lighter posts between terminals, holding the fabric upright without carrying the tension.
• Top rail: horizontal tubing joined with sleeves and seated in rail end cups at the terminals, so the fabric cannot fold over.
• Tension bars and tension bands: a flat strip threaded down the last row of mesh and clamped onto the terminal so the stretch stays put.
• Brace bands, brace rails and truss rods: a short rail and rod tied back to the terminal on long or tall runs, so corners stay plumb.
• Bottom tension wire: a heavy coiled wire along the base that keeps the bottom edge from curling out where a dog pushes.
• Ties and caps: wire ties fasten fabric to line posts and rail, dome caps close the terminal posts, and loop caps carry the top rail over each line post.

Fabric height and how the top and bottom edges are finished

Fabric comes in rolls of standard heights, from low garden fencing up through the four-foot backyard favorite and on to five, six and taller. Taller fabric needs longer, heavier posts and more bracing. How tall you are allowed to go is a separate question answered by the city, village or township zoning code and, in many subdivisions, the homeowner association. Check both before material is ordered, especially in a front yard or near a corner where drivers need to see around the fence.

Each roll also has finished edges, called selvage. Knuckled selvage bends the wire ends back into a smooth loop and is the right choice on a home, where hands, kids and pets touch the top and bottom. Twisted selvage leaves sharp points and belongs on industrial jobs, not along a backyard.

Stretching the fabric so it stays tight for years

A well-built chain link fence looks taut from end to end, and that tension is set on the day the fabric goes up. The installer hangs the roll on the first terminal post with a tension bar, unrolls it along the line, then pulls it toward the far terminal with a fence stretcher or come-along hooked to a second bar. The target is fabric that gives only slightly under a hand push. Too little tension and it bellies between posts; too much can pull a terminal off plumb in wet clay. The usual order of work:

1. Set the terminal posts and let the concrete cure so they can take the pull.
2. Install line posts to a string line, then the top rail and any corner braces.
3. Hang the fabric on the first terminal with a tension bar and bands.
4. Stretch toward the next terminal, check the top edge, and cut the roll to length.
5. Fit the second tension bar, band it off, then tie the fabric to every line post and along the rail.
6. Run and tighten the bottom wire, fit the caps, and test every gate swing and latch.

Privacy slats: what they hide and what they ask of the frame

Slats slide vertically or diagonally through the diamonds to block the view. Flat slats with a top-locking channel give a clean, banded look. Winged or fin-style slats fill each diamond more fully. Hedge-style slats imitate foliage and hide more than either. None of them turns chain link into a solid screen, and anyone after full privacy should compare against wood or vinyl before committing.

The trade-off rarely mentioned is wind. Open fabric lets air through; slatted fabric behaves more like a sail. That load goes straight into the posts and footings, so a fence planned for slats should be designed for them from the start, with heavier posts and closer post spacing.

Keeping dogs in: jumpers, climbers and diggers

Chain link is the most common dog fence around Metro Detroit: strong, easy to extend, and the dog can see out. The weak points depend on the dog. Jumpers need height. Climbers use the diamonds as a ladder, which smaller mesh helps with. Diggers go under, and a fence that simply stops at the grass is only a suggestion to them.

• A bottom tension wire, or a full bottom rail for bigger dogs, so the edge cannot be nosed outward.
• Dig defense: a strip of fabric or welded wire buried in an L-shape along the inside face, or a narrow concrete mow strip under the bottom edge.
• Tight gate clearance: a gate that rides well above the ground is the usual escape route, so the gap should be set for the dog, not only for the slope.
• Self-closing hinges and a latch the dog cannot nudge open, so a guest who forgets the gate does not lose the animal.

Walk gates, wide drive gates and the hinges and latches behind them

Gates are where chain link fails first, because they move. A walk gate's hinge post carries the leaf's weight on top of the fabric tension, so it should be a heavy terminal set firmly. Double drive gates across a driveway or alley opening add a center drop rod that sinks into a ground sleeve, keeping both leaves from swinging loose in the wind.

Gate frames are either welded at the corners or assembled with fittings. Fork latches are common and take a padlock, gravity latches catch on their own when the gate swings shut, and wide openings on a sloping drive may call for a rolling or cantilever gate instead of a swing gate. If an existing gate already drags or refuses to latch, that is a job for fence repair.

What drives the cost of a chain link fence

Chain link is priced by the contractor after walking the line, and the total depends less on raw footage than people expect. A complete written proposal lists gauge, mesh, coating, post sizes, rail, fittings and gate hardware item by item. The biggest drivers:

• How many terminal posts the layout needs, since every corner, end and gate adds a heavy post and its fittings.
• Wire gauge, mesh size and coating, with heavier galvanized or vinyl-coated fabric costing more than light stock wire.
• Fabric height, which changes post length, bracing and the amount of wire on the roll.
• Gates, especially double drive gates, rolling gates and upgraded self-closing hardware.
• Slats and dig-defense features added to the base fence.
• Removing and hauling away an old fence, and how easily the line can be reached from the street or alley.
• Ground conditions, buried obstructions and any grade change along the run.

Chain link fences in Detroit — common questions

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