Chain link and wood privacy are not really competing for the same job. Chain link is a boundary: it keeps dogs in, marks the line, and stays out of the way of the view. Wood privacy is a wall: it blocks sightlines, wind, and the neighbor’s patio. Decide what the fence is for and the choice mostly makes itself.
Function vs privacy
Chain link is the pick when the buyer wants containment and visibility: kids in the yard where you can see them from the kitchen, a dog that stays put, a property line made official. It does all of that at the lowest example rate of any fence we run. What it never does is privacy. If the owner’s real complaint is the view of the neighbor’s trash cans, no height of chain link fixes it.
The example math
At the example rates from our calculators, a 100 ft run looks like this:
| Fence | Example rate | 100 ft total |
|---|---|---|
| Chain link, 4 ft | $16 / linear ft | $1,600 |
| Wood privacy, 6 ft | $38 / linear ft | $3,800 |
Four foot chain link runs less than half the per-foot example rate of 6 ft wood privacy. Even bumping chain link to 6 ft ($23 per foot in the example rates, so $2,300 for the run) still leaves wood well ahead on cost. These are example numbers to show the shape of the decision; your rates set the real spread. Check both on the chain link calculator and the wood privacy fence calculator.
Upkeep runs the same direction
Galvanized chain link is close to zero maintenance: no stain, no paint, nothing to rot. Wood needs stain on a repeating cycle and hands you boards to replace as they age. So the cheaper fence to build is also the cheaper fence to own, as long as privacy was never the point.
Privacy slats, the middle ground
Slats woven into the mesh block most of the view for far less than tearing out chain link and building wood. They are the right answer for a customer who mostly wants the dog contained and somewhat wants privacy. They are the wrong answer for a customer who wants a solid wall: slats read as industrial, and gaps remain.
Quote whichever fence the yard actually calls for, by the foot, with gates as their own line items, the method in how to price a fence job. PriceDesk puts both fence types in one calculator with your own rates, so the answer goes out by text before you leave the driveway. The trial is free for 14 days.