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Question about choosing between a blackout and a privacy fence for my backyard
Tbh, I had to pick between a 6 foot blackout fence and a standard privacy fence for my place in Austin. The blackout one was $800 more for the same 40 foot run, but it blocks 100% of light. I went with the privacy fence because my neighbor's dog kept barking at shadows through the gaps. It's been 3 weeks now and the dog still barks at sounds, so I'm wondering if I made the wrong call. Has anyone else dealt with this trade off between cost and actual noise reduction?
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fionafoster15d ago
Blackout fences are for blocking light, not noise, so you would have been disappointed either way. Tbh, the dog barking at sounds means you need something that absorbs noise, like a thick layer of shrubs or a solid fence with mass loaded vinyl. Privacy fences help some with noise, but you really need to pair them with dense vegetation or a second barrier to get quiet.
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alice_allen515d ago
Oh man that barking dog thing is such a headache. I had a similar issue with my neighbor's rooster when I lived in the country, I ended up putting up a double layer of chicken wire filled with old hay bales between us. It actually helped a lot more than I expected, the hay absorbs sound way better than wood. Plus it made the fence look like some kind of weird art project lol. Your privacy fence might still work okay if you hang some outdoor rugs or moving blankets on the section closest to the dog, that's what my buddy did for his rescue hound who barked at everything.
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stella_scott9615d ago
Built a similar sound barrier with old hay bales and it worked way better than I thought too. @fionafoster is totally right about the shrubs though, I planted a row of dense evergreens after the hay settled and it made the whole thing way quieter. Have you tried piling up thick stuff like pine needles or straw along the fence line?
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