How to choose the best security fence for home defense

Many homeowners install a fence around their property without giving much thought to it. After all, any fence is better than no fence, right?

Well, not really. As we’ve already discussed previously, some fences can actually make you a target for burglars, which is the opposite of what you want

So how do you get a good security fence that will actually help protect your home from burglars?

In general, you want a fence that:

Doesn’t provide hiding places

Is hard to climb over

Cannot be easily bypassed

Let’s look at those in a little more detail…

Doesn’t provide a hiding place

When shopping for a security fence for your backyard, think see-through. You want to be able to see people on the other side of it.

Hard to climb over

For a fence that’s hard to climb over, get one that:

Is at least 8 feet tall. Really, the taller the better here, but most cities and homeowners associations (HOAs) have rules about how high a fence can be. Check with yours before installing.

Has few horizontal rails. Horizontal rails can literally give burglars a leg up when trying to scale your fence.

Is spiked or pointed at the top. You have options here. You can get a fence like the one above with a spear top. Or you can install razor wire or anti-climb spikes on the top of a flat-topped fence.

Not easily bypassed

A security fence is no good if a burglar can easily go around it, under it or cut through it. So to make sure that doesn’t happen, get a fence that:

Is secured into the ground with concrete. Concrete footings along the whole length of the fence are your best bet here. But that can get expensive. So at least make sure posts are all secured in concrete.

Cannot be cut through. Some common fence types, like chainlink, are actually relatively easy to cut through with bolt cutters.

Includes secure gates. A fence is only as secure as its weakest point. So make sure your new security fence also has heavy-duty gates that match the security of the fence panel. You’ll also want to padlock the gates.

Our recommendations: metal or wire mesh fencing

The above 3 security requirements are met by these 2 types of security fences:

Metal security fencing

Wire mesh fencing

Metal security fences

These fences consist of tall, thin metal rods spaced evenly. They are stylish and low-maintenance. Here are a couple examples.

Wire mesh fencing

Wire mesh fencing is a tightly woven grid of wire. It usually comes in panels that are hung between metal poles.

Wire mesh has some of the benefits of chain link fences, without the cons (easy to cut and climb). Check out this video from a wire mesh fence manufacturer on the downfalls of chain link.