As a former restaurateur, I am well acquainted with the challenge of keeping smelly or unsightly kitchen garbage away from the noses and eyes of customers. Having also worked as a contractor on my friends’ cafes and coffee shops, I know first-hand that style is often sacrificed for practicality. But nobody wants to go from having a dumpster that’s an eyesore to having a dumpster enclosed by a fence that’s also an eyesore.

This doesn't have to be the case, especially if you find a manufacturer who is innovative and serious about creating durable and practical fencing that's also good looking. One of these unique types of fencing uses metal pickets with a wooden infill. By combining the strength and durability of specially coated galvanized steel with the beauty of wood, it's able to deliver style and substance equally well. Part of what makes it so unique is that the infill boards can be attached and detached with relative ease, so the fence can then be open in places where visibility is desired and closed where a solid wall is beneficial in keeping the smells down, animals out, and hidden from customers. It takes the best of both materials--steel and wood--to create a low maintenance, beautiful fence that customers will want to look at.

Style

So many garbage enclosures for restaurants, shopping centers, and apartment complexes look fairly industrial. Sometimes industrial can be a good look, but more often than not, the kind of “industrial” on display isn’t something we’d find in Architectural Digest. A fence with black steel and wooden elements has a clean, classic appeal that looks good with almost anything and in any setting. The steel has a solid, architectural quality about it, while the wood or composite infill boards give a softer, more finished look. When even the parking lot or the space behind a restaurant is pleasing to look at it sets the tone for the whole visit, whether it was consciously registered or not.

Security

In urban areas, keeping a dumpster area secure by preventing people and animals from getting in is an important consideration. While there may be no stopping a truly determined rat or raccoon from getting into the best-protected enclosures, we don't have to make it easy for them. A combined steel and wood fence has many features that make it an effective option for deterring people and animals.

• Difficult to Climb

A tall steel picket and rail fence is much more difficult to scale than a chain-link fence, and gets even harder to climb if you add a wooden infill to create a solid wall that doesn't offer any hand or toeholds. And since the wooden infill fits snugly between the metal pickets, there aren't cracks, that would make it possible to pry apart the boards, or would let an animal squeeze through.

•  Hard to Tunnel Under

A solid fence with a bottom rail close to the ground also makes going underneath very difficult for both animals and people, which is especially useful if raccoons and opossums are a concern. And since it has a steel bottom rail, you don't have to worry about any gnawing at the base of the fence by our rodent friends.

• Improved Visibility

Sometimes security requires visibility. This is especially the case with fenced in areas on the periphery of a property that might be seen as attractive to get into for a variety of reasons. Garbage enclosures are very often just those types of places. If someone has made their way into the enclosure, it is safer to be able to see them than not. Sometimes it's only harmless "freegans" looking to reuse waste, but it can just as often be people without the best of intentions. In these cases, visibility can work as a deterrent.

Flexibility

I once drove behind a strip mall and saw a dumpster sitting behind a small family restaurant with a message spray-painted on it: "Eat at Joe's." While I admire the creativity of the artist, most businesses want their dumpster out of sight and mind, at least the part that might be visible to customers. The sight and smell of half-rotting produce peeking out from a dumpster isn't glamorous or appealing, no matter how glamorous and appealing the business itself might be. When concealment is important for aesthetic purposes, a fence with solid walls fits the bill. But you may also want some sides of the enclosure to be open, giving customers something nice to look at and providing visibility at the same time. That's where a steel picket fence with optional wooden infill comes in.

It's not that common to find a fence that combines beauty, security, and durability. One of the prettiest, most heavy-duty, and most surprisingly versatile systems I’ve run across is the Estate Enclosure System produced by Fortress Building Products. Due to the steel’s multi-layer coating process, it’s tough and able to take wear and tear and still stay beautiful. The wooden infill system makes it easy to replace wooden slats if necessary without disturbing the rest of the fence, and if you’re not interested in wood, you can even use low maintenance composite slats in any color that suits your business. Fortress Building Products also has a whole line of products that are just as innovative and stylish, from decorative hardware to durable, beautiful pre-welded railing panels.