HOW I HELPED IMPROVE THE LOOK OF MY UGLY CHAIN-LINK FENCE

​So, here is what my view looked like from the top of my yard. I have one neighbor who is a landscaper and brings EVERYTHING home and another neighbor adding an addition to their house. We were trying to figure out how to make our view better on a budget. Replacing the entire 40 feet of fence would have cost a fortune so it was not an option. After doing a lot of research online I decided to give "feather lock slats" a try. I decided to purchase them from yourfencestore.com who seems to have the cheapest prices. They come in many colors and I decided on dark brown.  Our fence is a standard 2" opening and I went with the 6 foot length. You will need to measure your fence and height before ordering.

​Because I hadn't used them before I only ordered one bag to start. If your order less than three bags at a time at yourfencestore.com you have to pay an extra $18.00 for shipping. I regret doing that now because I did ending up ordering so many more after. I guess it was better to be safe in case I didn't like them? I was shocked how light they are in the package and it made it super easy to carry them around.

​Each bag covers 10 feet of fence. I chose a section and started sliding them in from the top. It really couldn't be more easy to install them. I do recommend light weight garden gloves to help with the grip and a rubber mallet was the BEST thing ever to help nudge them in at the top. Some areas were trickier than others because our fence is old and not at all straight.

​You can see in the next photo how the slats are wider at the top and that is what holds them firmly in place. REALLY firm, once hammered in they are a beast to get back out. I decided to only hammer the wide part in half way. I really liked how it gave me a whole extra section of privacy and almost totally blocked out the house addition. I think you are actually supposed to hammer them all the way down but I was thrilled getting that extra top. They are about 85% private and at night you can't see through them at all. It's actually good for us having some air getting through because our winds blow that direction and it won't put so much pressure on the fence.

​We have a long way to go with our own landscaping but these slats made such a huge difference for us. I hadn't expected to be SO happy with them. I wish I had done it years ago.

I liked them so much in fact,  I decided to do a whole other short fence I hadn't even considered. Some lengths are a special order at yourfencestore.com and Theresa from there contacted me to suggest I order a standard length and cut them down to save money and get them much faster. How nice is that? I swear, I am not affiliated with them in any way. Just a very happy new customer who wanted to share my experience using slats for the first time. ​

 The privacy of the bamboo is wonderful but it gets overgrown and very messy on our side. ​I started by trimming back all the bamboo in the fence and then with standard every day scissors I cut the slats down to the size I needed which was about 4 feet tall. They are VERY easy to cut which is another plus. ​

​This was the final area I did. I was pretty much able to do the whole project myself and used my husband for the tricky sections of the fence that were really wonky. I hope this helps you if your are thinking of your own ways to help YOUR ugly fence.