How Can I Make My Fence More Secure?

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Whether you’ve had a fence for a while or just installed one and found that it’s not as secure as you hoped, many people ask, “how can I make my fence more secure?”

Ideally, we’d all install the right fence for our needs from day one, but that doesn’t always happen. Fortunately, there are several ways you can beef up the security of your fence. Let’s take a closer look.

Change the Mesh or Cladding

One of the easiest ways to make any fence more secure is to change the cladding or mesh on the fence.

In this case, the fence’s structure stays in place, and you simply replace or even add mesh to the fence.

Different types of fences and different security needs might have different mesh or cladding options available. For instance, if you have a chain link fence, you might choose a different chain link fabric that’s made from thicker wire or has smaller apertures, or both.

The security of panel fences can be improved by adding a mesh panel or expanded metal or even rolled mesh fabric like chain link or welded mesh.

Make sure that the structure you have is sturdy enough to carry any extra weight your new cladding will add to your fence, and consider your options carefully – you don’t want to do another retrofit if your fence still isn’t secure enough!

Add Barbed or Razor wire or Spikes

If your fence is already clad in a higher security mesh or fence panel product, but you’ve had people scaling the fence, one of the quickest and easiest options is to add barbed or razor wire to the top of the fence. There are several ways to do this.

1. You could install barb arms or angle brackets above your fence, and then install barbed wire and/or razor coils above the fence.
2. You could tie coils directly to the top of the fence.
3. You could use a commercial spike product on the fence top rail.

If you are planning to add fence top security like spikes, razor wire or barbed wire to your fence, be sure to check local building regulations. Some areas don’t allow razor coils at all, while others expect them to be above a certain height.

Regardless of the regulations, you usually want to keep any razor coils or potentially harmful fence top security measures above 1.8 meters or 6 feet so the public can’t accidentally access it. Even if the rules don’t say you must, you could have some legal liability if an innocent passerby were to injure themselves on your fence!

Add Under Fence Security

The second most popular way to breach a fence, after scaling it, is often going under it.

This is why most high-security fence systems have some kind of ground or underground security too.

Once your fence is in place, adding underground security is a little more complicated, but certainly not impossible. So if you’re wondering how to increase your fence’s security, you do have options! These include:

1. Bury precast concrete slabs in trenches below the fence.
2. Bury mesh in trenches below the fence.
3. Cast a concrete beam or slab along the fence line.
4. Manufacture custom “knock-in” panels to install under the fence.

There may be many other underground security options available for your fence if you need to beef up under-fence security. A good fence contractor who is willing to retrofit your fence system should be able to offer you additional options that are tailored to your fence and your site.

Add Some Height

Usually, the higher the fence, the more secure it is and the more difficult it is to climb.

If you don’t already have a reasonably high anti-climb fence, you might consider adding some height to the fence you have.

There are options to extend the height of many different kinds of fence systems, and fence professionals can often design a solution if there isn’t an off-the-shelf option.

Before you add any height to your fence, be sure to check what building regulations say, though! You might need to get special permission to go above a certain height!

Add High Tech Security

One option to add electronic security to your fence and improve security is electric fence, but it’s certainly not the only option.

Electric fence can be installed on existing fences, so if you want to go that route, you can. However, there are also options like taut wire systems and fence detection systems that can be installed on your fence. These options will produce an alarm when your fence is breached or tampered with, but they don’t deliver a shock. So they can be used even where electric fences are not legal.

Electric fences, fence detection systems and taut wire systems can all be connected to your alarm system, too, so you’ll know as soon as someone comes too close to your fence and property.

In some parts of the world, outdoor infra-red beams could also provide security on parts of your fence. These work by projecting a beam from one unit to another, and when the beam is broken, it triggers an alarm. You do need to install these where you won’t have lots of accidental contact, though, or you will get lots of false alarms.

Or Lights and Cameras

If you’ve already checked all of the items on this list off your security fence checklist and you still need more security, it might be an idea to add automatic lighting and cameras along your fence line.

Lighting can either be triggered by a motion sensor or have a day/night switch which will turn them on as soon as the light reaches a certain dimness in the evening and then turn them off again in the morning.

Cameras are a great deterrent, but they can be expensive. You can choose to install real cameras in high-risk areas and dummy cameras in other places. Anyone who doesn’t know your security system won’t be able to tell the difference! Make sure you spend a little extra on recording equipment, though and get the best cameras you can afford. You want the images to be clear and to capture footage for as long as possible.

More Secure Than Your Neighbor

When it comes to high-security fencing, there are some situations where it’s an absolute necessity. Prisons, military bases and airports are some of the places where you don’t want to skimp on security fencing.

However, for most of the rest of us, if you want to avoid loitering, petty theft and vandalism, you really only need to make sure your security fence is better than the properties around yours.

In most cases, a criminal who is looking for an easy target will avoid any site that has fencing that looks too difficult to get through, over or under. If you also have cameras and alarms on your fence line, all but the most determined people will go elsewhere to avoid the trouble.

Speak to a Professional

Generally speaking, high-security fencing is not something you can DIY. The products are designed to be installed by professionals, and they often require specialized tools and training.

Retrofitting a fence to add security can also be more difficult than installing a fence from scratch, and you usually need to get some advice about what can be done.

Hopefully, if you’ve been wondering how can I make my fence more secure, you’ve found some great tips here.

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