Fences for Home Security

Tips

• Locking gates
• Lighting
• No climbing aids
• Visibility

Related: Ornamental steel.

Layering security around a Charlotte home

Think of security in three rings. The outer ring is the property line: a fence that clearly marks private space and channels visitors to the front walk. The middle ring is the side yards, where most people reach the back of a house; a locked 6-foot gate on each side yard is often the single most useful upgrade we install. The inner ring is the house itself: doors, windows, lights and cameras.

Side-yard gates are the weak point

On many Charlotte lots, especially narrow infill and older streetcar-suburb lots, side yards are the only route to the back. A gate with a keyed latch or a padlockable hasp, hinges with non-removable pins and a post set deep enough not to be pried loose closes that route.

Don’t create hiding places

A solid privacy fence plus dense shrubs along it can give someone cover once they’re inside the yard. Keep plantings trimmed, light the side yards with motion lights and consider open aluminum or steel in front where neighbors can see the house.

Common mistakes

• Locking the gate but leaving a trash cart or ladder next to the fence
• Gate latches reachable from outside over the top
• Front hedges that hide the porch from the street
• Gates that don’t close on their own, so they’re left open