Can You Put Barbed Wire on a Residential Fence?
As a homeowner, you want to keep your property and belongings as safe as possible. A residential fence offers privacy and security. However, you might want to enhance these aspects with barbed or razor wire.
Can you put barbed wire on a residential fence? As Milwaukee’s highly-rated vinyl fence installer, Yutka Fence knows about local ordinances and the potential hazards of adding these materials. You’ll learn more about whether you can install barbed wire below.
Why Barbed Wire Might Appeal to Residents
Residential and commercial property owners want to protect their properties from trespassers, robbers, and vandalizers. If they live or operate in neighborhoods with high levels of criminal activity, they may feel tempted to increase their security measures. Barbed wire creates a physical fortress that thwarts attempts to scale fencing.
If a would-be criminal attempts to scale a barbed-wire fence, they risk injury or damage to their clothes and other personal property. However, just because you want to put barbed wire on your fence doesn’t mean you should.
Can You Put Barbed Wire on a Residential Fence?
You likely can’t put barbed wire on your residential fence. The City of Milwaukee lists approved fence materials, including vinyl, wood, and wrought iron. Like many Wisconsin localities, it doesn’t list barbed wire as an approved material. Therefore, unless you get special permission to use this type of wire, you can’t simply install it on your property. Since many cities have laws in place to protect other parties and hold homeowners liable for any injuries that occur on their residences, their municipal governments don’t typically permit residents to erect barbed or razor-wire fences.
You can explore other options to increase your home’s privacy and security, such as:
- Attractive vines and shrubbery
- Approved wire materials
- Anti-climb paint products
- Outdoor security cameras
The Dangers of Adding Barbed Wire to Your Fence
The answer to, “Can you put barbed wire on a residential fence?” is generally, "No." The primary reason is your duty of care to trespassers as well as innocent passersby.
Duty of care means that you are reasonably responsible for the safety and well-being of others who come into contact with you and your property. If you erect a structure meant to cause harm or injury, you effectively shirk your duty of care. Examine what that means in further detail below.
#1. Breaking Local Codes
First, study your local building codes and ordinances in depth. Many codes only allow barbed wire and similar materials on farmland or high-security organizations such as government buildings. However, these fences are often built to keep things in rather than thwart outsiders.
For example, a dairy farmer can erect a barbed-wire fence to keep their cows on their property. The fence isn’t necessarily a security measure against people. Similarly, a jail or prison might use razor wire to prevent prisoners from escaping the establishment.
#2. Damaged Belongings
Even if you could secure a permit allowing a barbed-wire fence, you might be held responsible for damage that occurs to your neighbor’s belongings. After all, a security fence with barbed wire in a residential area can create hazards for more people than would-be criminals. For example, your neighbor might stroll down the street and get their expensive coat snagged by the barbed wire. They might hold you liable and require compensation for the coat or any other item destroyed or damaged by your fence.
#3. Injury
If a trespasser or passerby incurs an injury because of your fence, they may hold you responsible for the medical bills. You might not care about ill-intentioned people, like robbers, but barbed wire can harm innocent parties, too.
For example, a wayward toddler might wander headfirst into the fence, or a neighbor could trip and fall into the wire. They will need tetanus shots, stitches, and antibiotics to treat minor injuries. More significant ones may require more extensive treatment. Not only can this weigh on your mind, but the other party may hold you liable for their injuries. This, in turn, could lead to potentially severe financial repercussions.
Ask Yutka Fence About Legal Protective Measures for Your Fence
Can you put barbed wire on a residential fence? No, you most likely cannot install a barbed fence on your property. It comes with too many risks under most circumstances.
However, you can reach out to Yutka Fence about permissible security fences. Request a free quote for your Milwaukee property. Let professionals assist with your needs today.