Woven Wire Fencing — Published Specifications

What woven wire is and what it is for

Woven wire is a mesh fence made of horizontal line wires tied to vertical stays, and it is the correct fence wherever an animal is small enough, or valuable enough, that an open fence line is a liability — foals, goats, sheep, hogs, dogs and horses in tight paddocks.

Board fence contains adult horses. It does not contain a foal, a goat or a lamb, and it does not stop a coyote. Woven wire closes those openings. S&S installs it across Kentucky and Southern Indiana, from hobby goat operations to multi-pasture cattle and sheep farms in Nelson, Hardin, Spencer and Bullitt Counties.

Pressure and terrain both matter: high-pressure paddocks and rough ground want fixed-knot construction, while a low-pressure boundary line can run hinge-joint. Selection by pasture type is on horse farm and equestrian fencing and by operation type on cattle and livestock fencing.

Published specifications

S&S installs 2"x4" no-climb mesh built from 12.5 gauge line wires with heavier 10 gauge top and bottom wires, and V-mesh in a 2"x4" diamond of 14 gauge verticals over 12.5 gauge horizontals.

Why the 2 in by 4 in aperture matters

A 2"x4" opening is too small for a hoof to pass through. That single dimension is the reason no-climb mesh is safe around horses and larger-aperture field fence is not: a horse that paws at the fence, or rolls into it, cannot get a leg through the mesh and become entrapped. Hoof entrapment is the injury that ends horses, and aperture is the spec that prevents it.

Heights by livestock class

Fixed-knot versus hinge-joint

Fixed knot means a separate knot wire locks every stay to every line wire, so the mesh cannot change shape. Hinge joint means the vertical wraps the horizontal and pivots on impact, which permanently opens the mesh and leads to bagging and sagging. Fixed knot lasts 30 to 40 years; hinge joint lasts 15 to 25. Specify fixed knot on any line you intend to keep.

Installation method

Woven wire is stretched as a unit against braced end assemblies and only then fastened to line posts — a fence stapled tight to each post as it goes is a fence that will sag.

• Braced ends. Two posts 8 ft apart at 4 ft embedment, horizontal compression member and a diagonal tension wire opposing the pull, at every corner, end, gate and grade break.
• Driven posts. We drive line posts rather than hand-setting them so the soil compacts around the shaft — it holds tension longer and resists frost heave. Rock and hardpan handled with augering; see post augering and driving.
• Stretching. Full-height stretcher bar so tension is even from top wire to bottom wire.
• Terrain following. Mesh contoured to grade, spacing tightened through dips and curves, tie-downs where wire would otherwise lift.
• Water gaps. Creek and drainage crossings built as breakaway flood-gate panels that release in high water.
• Combination builds. Mesh fastened to the inside face of board fence for paddocks and foaling fields.

How woven wire compares to the alternatives

Woven wire costs more per foot than barbed or smooth wire and returns 25 to 35 years of service — 30 to 40 in fixed-knot — while being the only wire system that safely contains small stock and horses.

Maintenance and expected lifespan

Class 3 galvanized woven wire on correct braces should run 25 to 35 years with an annual walk, and fixed-knot construction removes the re-stretching that hinge-joint fence eventually needs.

• Annually — walk the line, clear brush and volunteer trees, check brace diagonals for slack.
• After storms — reset breakaway water-gap panels before the mesh takes a permanent set.
• Barn lots and feed lines — ammonia and standing water shorten galvanizing life; specify Class 40 / Bezinal there from the start.
• Warranty work — S&S covers workmanship on its own installs for one year. We do not take on repairs to fences built by others.

Total cost of ownership per year of service

Compared on dollars per foot divided by years of service, fixed-knot woven wire is normally the cheapest permanent livestock fence in Kentucky, and no-climb mesh around horses is cheap against a single entrapment injury.

A hinge-joint fence at 15 years and a fixed-knot fence at 35 are not the same purchase, even when the per-foot numbers look close on a bid. Neither are Class 1 and Class 3 wire, which look identical on the roll and differ threefold in life.

Installed pricing varies by mesh type, height and coating class, so it is quoted per linear foot after a walk. Call 502-468-1209 for a walked estimate.

Warranty and proof

Every S&S woven wire installation carries a one-year workmanship warranty, with General Liability and Workers’ Compensation carried and COIs issued on request.

S&S Fencing & Property Maintenance LLC is family-owned and woman-owned, operating since 2015 out of Cox’s Creek, Nelson County, Kentucky. BBB A+ Accredited and Blue Book ProView Verified. Shawn and Shelby Fick answer at 502-468-1209. Documentation is on the credentials page.

Farm references are provided on request. See finished lines in the projects gallery.