Guide, security
Chain link or wrought iron fencing, answered
Both fences are metal, both are see-through, and both keep people and pets on the right side of a line. After that they diverge sharply on price, on how a passerby reads them, and on where Burbank will actually let you put them. Here are the questions we get asked, in the order they usually come up.
Which one is actually more secure?
Iron, in practice, though not for the reason people assume. Neither fence stops a determined person who has decided to get in. What differs is deterrence and effort. Chain link mesh gives a climber a ladder of toeholds all the way up, and it can be cut with hand tools quietly. An iron picket fence has nothing to grip between pickets, spear or pressed-point tops make the crown unpleasant to go over, and cutting welded steel is loud, slow, and conspicuous work.
There is also the signal a fence sends. A chain link boundary reads as utilitarian, and it tells anyone looking that the property is being fenced for containment. Iron reads as a considered perimeter around something worth protecting, which discourages the opportunist before the calculation about climbing even starts. On the frontages we build around the Media District, that read is a large part of what people are buying.
What is the real cost difference in Burbank?
Roughly triple, and it is worth seeing the numbers side by side rather than as a vague sense that iron is expensive.
| Material | Installed / linear ft | 100 ft | 150 ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 ft galvanized chain link | $18 to $26 | $1,800 to $2,600 | $2,700 to $3,900 |
| 6 ft black vinyl-coated chain link | $30 to $40 | $3,000 to $4,000 | $4,500 to $6,000 |
| Standard tubular steel picket | $50 to $70 | $5,000 to $7,000 | $7,500 to $10,500 |
| Heavy ornamental iron | $95 to $120 | $9,500 to $12,000 | $14,250 to $18,000 |
Both spans widen on the foothill lots, where decomposed granite and granitic bedrock make post holes slower and sometimes require breaking. That surcharge applies to any material, so it does not change the comparison, only the total. Full pricing sits on the Burbank fence cost guide, and if you would rather have a measured number than a range, tell us where the line runs.
Which one does Burbank allow in a front yard?
Both are technically open, and that matters here. Burbank permits its own construction through the City of Burbank Community Development Department, Building Division, under Municipal Code Title 10, rather than through LADBS or the County. In a street-facing yard, only the low portion, roughly the first two feet, may be solid, and everything above it is expected to be an open design you can substantially see through. Iron pickets satisfy that comfortably. Chain link never gets the chance, because the code has not allowed new chain link in a front yard or a street-facing side yard since February 2017, whatever the mesh looks like.
That settles the front yard before cost enters into it. Out back the comparison is real again, and there the argument for slats returns, since privacy slats are fine on an interior or rear line where chain link can run to eight feet. So the practical answer is that iron is the material most Burbank front yards end up with, often over a low stucco or block base, and chain link stays around the back and the sides. Confirm the standard for your zone at the city counter before you order anything.
Which lasts longer?
Both do well in this climate, and iron does better. Burbank gets about fifteen inches of rain a year and long dry summers, so corrosion is far less aggressive here than at the coast. Galvanized chain link commonly runs 15 to 20 years, and black vinyl-coated a little longer because the PVC adds a second barrier over the zinc. Powder-coated tubular steel can pass 40 years, and the failures you do see are almost always cosmetic damage at the base from a mower or a string trimmer, touched up in five minutes.
Neither is maintenance-hungry. Chain link asks nothing except that you keep the tension and replace the occasional damaged section. Iron asks for the odd touch-up where the coat is chipped. Compare that to a wood fence in this sun, which wants a stain every two to three years, and both metals look easy.
Can I use both on the same property?
That is usually the right answer, and it is what we build most often here. The way a typical Burbank lot resolves is iron where it is seen and chain link where it is not. Iron across the front and around a driveway entry, where it works with the house and satisfies the open-design rule. Chain link on the alley line at the back of a Magnolia Park lot, on a side yard nobody looks at, or around a dog run, in black vinyl coating if any of that is visible from the yard.
That mix typically costs a fraction of doing the whole perimeter in iron while putting the money exactly where it changes anything. On a 90 foot frontage plus 200 feet of rear and side line, iron everywhere might be $14,500 to $29,000. Iron on the frontage at $4,500 to $6,300 plus black chain link on the rest at $6,000 to $8,000 lands closer to $10,500 to $14,300, and from the street the property looks the same.
What about the hillside and the fire zone?
Both are non-combustible, which is why this comparison matters on the Verdugo slopes at all. The hillside streets back onto brush in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and defensible space rules under AB 38 push you away from solid wood near the structure. Steel and galvanized mesh both qualify. The tiebreaker up there is the view: iron pickets read as an almost invisible line against a hillside, while chain link mesh, particularly galvanized, catches light and draws the eye to itself. On a lot bought for the outlook, that is not a small thing, and it is why we recommend iron for hillside view lines and keep chain link for the utility runs.
The deeper detail on each material is on the wrought iron page and the chain link page.
Not sure which line gets which fence?
We walk the property with you, tell you plainly where iron is worth the money and where it is not, and leave you a fixed written quote. Free, with no obligation.
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Everything here sits inside our wider work on Burbank fence builders.