First of all the hardware cloth is not 16 gauge as advertised; it's closer to 18 or 20 gauge. The coating on the wire is fairly nice, the overall width is 24 inches, and each square is 1 inch wide. However, many of the weld points were already separated before I even unrolled the hardware cloth and each square in the length direction is actually 1 1/8 inch which makes it difficult to build animal cages.If using for fencing this product may work fine but I would not recommend for animal cages.