Sometimes stay-at-home parents decide to provide childcare services for parents who work outside the home. If you'd like to start such a service in your home, you'll probably need to have a space where the kids can play outside - your yard, in other words. To keep the children safe, your yard needs to be fenced in. Below are some tips to help design a fence for your home daycare.

Your town might have regulations specifically for home daycare services. If they don't, you can use pool fencing as a guideline since it's meant to be childproof. Most regulations require that the fence be at least 48 inches tall to keep children inside the yard. If your yard is near a busy street, you may want a taller fence so no one can reach over it from the sidewalk.

The children shouldn't be able to scale the fence. For that reason, the fence shouldn't feature any holes or gaps greater than four inches in diameter. This restriction should prevent children from wedging their feet between pickets or through chain link.

You have a bit of a tightrope to walk with privacy. The children shouldn't feel walled in, nor should they be relegated to playing in the fence's shadow for most of the day. However, you also don't really want people peering in on them.

One option is a palisade fence, which is a little like a tall picket fence. However, the pickets are closer together, so the children will be better screened. Another option is a good neighbor's fence, which will convey a similar benefit. The good neighbor's fence features pickets that alternate on either side. So, some sunlight gets through, and the kids can look through at an angle.

Your three main material options for a daycare fence are chain link, wood, and PVC. All three have their pros and cons. Chain link is a good budget option, but you'll have to ensure the gauge is thick and the children will be unable to gain a foothold in the weave. You might also consider some privacy slats if you go this route.

Wood is a classic for any fence, one that the contractors can completely customize. One consideration with wood fencing is you have to ensure it's in good repair so the kids don't risk getting splinters. PVC is a popular replacement product. You're a little limited in color and style choices, but you don't have the splinter issue.

The security of your fence is worthless without an equally secure gate. The gate will probably be in the same material and style as the rest of the fence. However, it should feature an automatic latch. In that way, you don't have to worry about you or the kids forgetting to close the gate. Look at some options that have a padlock eye so you can lock the gate securely when needed.

Additionally, in another effort to prevent the children from leaving the gate open, consider self-closing hinges, which feature a spring built into the design. Another option is a gate spring, which attaches to the hinge side of the gate and pushes it closed.

Ultimately, remember that your yard will have children. You want them to feel comfortable in their environment. Before you get overly creative with your fence design, check with your HOA for restrictions. Once you have that information, consider ways you can make the fence seem more fun than private.

For example, if you've chosen a wooden fence, you can paint the pickets a whimsical color such as purple. If you want to advertise that you're running a daycare, you could even paint the pickets as crayons. If that's not an option, consider fun post toppers, such as a frog or horse head.

Design an attractive and secure fence for your home daycare business. West Georgia Fence Co. can help you with that goal.