A chain link fence is an inexpensive boundary for a property. It can keep unwanted animals, such as deer or the neighbor's dog, out of your yard. It will also keep your children in your yard. On the other hand, it does nothing to prevent your yard from being a fish bowl—from allowing anyone and everyone who has a wandering eye to watch what you and your family are doing. If you are looking for a little more privacy, you don't need a new fencing material, you just need the right materials to improve the privacy provided by your fence.
Slats
One easy upgrade to chain link is to buy slats that slide between the channels in the chain link. These slats will block out most of the view between the links in your fence, but where the individual wires twist around each other will still be open. This means that a really determined person could still come right up to your fence and look through the slits between the slats in your fence.
Cedar Sections
Another option for improving the privacy provided by your fence is to use cedar fencing along the parts of your fence that are most exposed to wandering eyes. For example, you could use cedar fencing along the the front of your house and chain-link fencing around the back of your house. While using cedar fencing costs more money, the slits between the cedar slats is smaller than the slits in the chain link. You keep your costs down by only using cedar where the need for privacy is greatest.
Vinyl Sections
One final option is to use vinyl fencing at the front of your house. Unlike cedar or chain link, you can buy vinyl fencing in panels that run between posts. This means that there is no gap in your fencing that would allow someone to look into your yard. Again, you can use vinyl wherever the need for privacy is greatest and chain link where you just need a barrier.
Chain link fence makes an economical barrier for your yard. If you don't have a budget large enough to use a fencing material that offers more in the way of aesthetics or privacy to fence in your whole property, than you either need to add slats to your chain link or try to limit the use of more expensive materials such as cedar or vinyl. Talk to a contractor, like Watt Fencing, for more ideas.
