Vinyl fencing has several advantages over wood fences. It is easy to assemble and durable. Vinyl fencing will not crack, rot, or mold, and is weather resistant. A little soap and a hard spray of water will keep this fencing clean. Paint will not chip off of vinyl fencing. Vinyl fencing is less expensive to buy over the long run than wood, and may also come with a warranty.

Are you getting ready to run out and purchase vinyl fencing? Hold on, wood fencing can be a good deal as well. Wood fencing tends to blend in with flowers, grasses, trees and other natural surroundings a little better than vinyl fencing, particularly if you do not paint or stain the wood. Wood fencing is easier to make at home using common garage tools than vinyl fencing. Wood fencing costs less than vinyl fencing up front and wood fencing, unlike vinyl fencing, is biodegradable. If worse comes to worse, you can chop up your fence and use it for firewood or for mulch in your garden.

Here are some questions that you should ask yourself before purchasing wood or vinyl fencing.

• 1. Do you want custom or pre-made fencing? If you want custom fencing, wood is the way to go. Wood is much easier to cut to unusual sizes or shapes than vinyl fencing, particularly if you are a “do-it-yourself-er.” It is also much easier to purchase planks of wood than planks of vinyl that are suitable for custom fencing.
• 2. How long before you plan on landscaping your yard again? If you do not plan on changing your fencing soon, as in the next five to ten years, vinyl fencing might be less expensive than wood over the long run. Wood fencing will rot long before vinyl fencing deteriorates.
• 3. What kind of look do you want in your yard? If the look is “natural,” or “rustic,” wood fencing might be the better option. Vinyl fencing has not perfected the “wood” or brown color yet. And, from a distance, vinyl seems to have the same texture as wood, but with close inspection, wood feels different to the touch.
• 4. Do you want to put up your fence quickly? Vinyl fencing is the way to go, particularly if you want to have a painted fence. Vinyl fencing comes “pre-painted.” As an additional benefit, vinyl fencing is less likely to show scratches than wood fencing because color is impregnated into the vinyl material. Consequently, vinyl fencing will not need to be touched up, unlike fencing made of wood.
• 5. Do you have concerns regarding the environment? Ultimately, wood fencing is the best option if the environment is an overriding concern for you. You can buy vinyl fencing that contains recycled materials, and you can take vinyl fencing to a recycling center if you chose to change styles or colors. However, wood can not only be recycled, it is biodegradable.

Choosing the right type of fencing is an important decision for any homeowner. A good fence can make or break the appearance of not only your yard, but your home. Whether you choose vinyl or wood for you fence, make sure that you measure correctly and follow any installation instructions carefully. Enjoy your new fence!

I found this cartoon this morning while stumbling across the the internet and decided to post it here since I have been neglecting this site.

Enjoy!

A fence is a great addition to help supervise the outdoor activities of your children. Limiting access to busy streets, or hazards from a nearby lake or pool can help provide piece of mind. Of course, no fence is a substitute for adult supervision. Building codes for pool fencing provide good insight into issues to consider regarding any fence specifically designed with small children in mind. For example, the BOCA Code for pool fencing requires that a 4″ sphere cannot slip between the pickets of a fence ensuring that the opening does not permit a small child’s head to slip through, which could possibly trap their head or create a risk of strangulation. Also, horizontal surfaces that would provide a step for a child to climb the fence must be considered. For a chain-link fence, that means a standard 2″ square opening in the diamond is not acceptable in pool areas and a 1-1/4″ opening is required which is small enough that a foot cannot be easily inserted. For an iron, wood or vinyl fence the spacing between at least two of the horizontal members must be at least 45″. Gate latching mechanisms should be automatic and the operating knob or lever should be at minimum 54″ above ground level.

Pet or animal containment?

Many fencing projects are associated with keeping pets in or other animals out. Recently, products have been introduced that control animal behavior without a physical barrier. Typically, these are collars that give your pet an electric shock when it approaches the zone created by a radio signal from a buried wire. These products are really not fences; they are animal training devices. If training “Fido” to stay in the yard is your sole objective, these may be a good solution. Remember, however, that these devices do not keep “Spike” down the street from entering your yard, and they may prevent your animal from escaping if “Spike” poses a threat. The size and characteristics of your animal must be carefully considered when selecting a fence. An ornamental iron fence may do a great job of keeping a large dog confined, but with nearly 4″ between pickets it will do little to keep your small breed in the yard. Aggressive animals have been known to breach even quality fences and breed is not necessarily an indicator of how your animal will submit to being confined. Make sure you evaluate your animal’s behavior carefully when selecting the type or quality of product.

Posts and chain-link fabric can be metallic-coated or color-coated. Metallic-coated chain-link fences are available in galvanized, aluminized, galfan and galvinal coatings. Vinyl and polymer color-coatings are available in black, green and brown.
The chain-link fabric on the right is “knuckled” to eliminate sharp edges.

Chain-link fabric is offered in a number of different diamond sizes. Generally, the smaller the diamond size, the stronger the fence. All residential chain-link fabric should be “knuckled” at the top and bottom of the fence to eliminate exposure to sharp edges.

Tubing is available in traditional round posts as well as a newer square style. Both styles contribute to the beauty of your fence.

Another design option is to use wood framework instead of metal. Wood posts and top rails offer a unique and different style from the traditional chain-link image.

• For the prevention of children drowning in pools
• For keeping children or pets contained
• To help prevent theft
• To enhance the outer appearance of your house, pool area or garden
• Too add value to your real estate

Aluminum Fences can be made available in many colors, styles, grades and heights. Not to mention, aluminum fences will also provide a pleasing look to any property. Aluminum fences can be used for pools, property and homes alike. Aluminum fences are specially designed to contain children, pools and animals making you feel safer, more secure and confident.

Advantages of Aluminum Fencing:

1. Lifetime warranty: Aluminum fences are powder coated and come with a lifetime warranty against cracking, peeling and chipping, not to mention against defects in workmanship. b) Multiple Colors: Different colors are available on any style/grade of aluminum fences, for any application.
2. Economical: Aluminum fences are less expensive over the long term. Wood and chain link will have to be replaced at some point, not to mention the maintenance/painting during ownership. With any maintenance free product, it initially will be more expensive, but over time it will be less expensive.
3. No Maintenance: Aluminum fences are all aluminum, stainless steel fasteners and fiberglass nylon gate hardware, therefore nothing will rust.
4. Meets safety (B.O.C.A.) standards: Aluminum fences are designed to meet pool codes, whether it’s a commercial or residential application.

Aluminum fences are priced according to the manufacturer’s grade and style. Fences for residential purpose are made of lighter gauge aluminum and are priced lower than those fences which are for strict industrial use.

When one is buying aluminum fencing for a pool, it is very essential to take into consideration the manufacturer’s credentials because pool fencing requires certain strict specifications to be followed as per B.O.C.A regulations. Poolside fences are also exposed to a lot of moisture, so it is essential to use fencing that you should not have to maintain at any point in time.

Although most aluminum fences may give the same appearance, there is much to distinguish in terms of quality. The two main components that contribute to the manufacturing cost are the strength of the alloy used for the fence and the wall thicknesses of each individual component. While buying an Aluminum Fence it is important to look at the specifications supplied by the manufacturer so that the price paid is ultimately worth it.

After you have looked into the many different types, styles, heights, and materials used for fence building in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area, (I am not familiar with areas other than the southeast United States) and you are pretty sure you have a good idea of the fence you would like to install, lets work on where the fence needs to be located on your property.

There are several ways to look at determining where to locate your fence on your property. Is it going to be located at property lines? Or, maybe there is just a portion of your fence you would like to have fenced in. Either way, the best way for you to really see where your fence will be located is to mark it out with wooden stakes, and a bright colored string line. These are easily purchased for a few dollars at the local hardware or home improvement store.

If at all possible, have your property survey with you during this process, it will help you in determining where your property lines are. Use the wooden stakes to mark your fence location. It is not important to have multiple stakes running down the same line for this, only on the corners and changes in direction. After you have marked it out with the stakes, attach the string to each stake, and pull tight to keep the string off the ground. If your property slopes up and down, you may need more stakes to keep the string off the ground.

Now that you have done this, take a good look, walk around trying to visualize your new fence. Try to see problem areas; does the fence run through heavily wooded or overgrown areas? Is there a steep slope on your property? Have you thought about where to put the gate(s) and what size gate you will need? (There will be a future post just about gates)

Now that you have taken a more visual look at your fence location, there maybe some issues to contend with. Take care of these issues before moving on. Also, after this step, you may realize that the type of fence you wanted won’t work in your yard, for instance; a vinyl privacy fence does not install well on steep sloping areas, you may need to consider wood.

Stay Tuned, More to Come . . . . . .
Keith R. Bloemendaal

Now that we have determined the type of fence you need, read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of Guide to Choosing the Right Fence in Raleigh, NC for more information on the types of fence, unless you plan to install the fence yourself, you will need to hire a fence contractor.

• Insurance
• Three estimates
• Pricing
• References
• Address

Insurance:

No matter how you plan to find your fence contraor, probably the most important thing I can stress to you about choosing the fence contractor for your project is to be sure the contractor has general liability and workers compensation insurance policies. It doesn’t hurt to see copies of the policies and a legitimate contractor will have these policies, and will not mind showing them to you. Chances are the contractor pays a rather large premium to have these policies and rarely gets asked for it, so he will probably be more than happy to show it to you.

Three Estimates:

Try your best to get three estimates for your fence project. Here in the Raleigh / Durham, NC. area, there are plenty of reputable fence contractors to choose from. I find that most of my customers find us online by searching Google for “Raleigh fence” or another search term. My customers usually do one of three things to initiate contact with me:

1. Fill out the estimate sheet on my website, providing me with some basic information about the type, style, height and length of their fence. This form also has a place to put all your basic contact information so I can get in touch with the customer.
2. Call my number, which is on every page of our site, to schedule an appointment with me or to ask for a quote over the phone if all the information needed is already determined.
3. Email me to request a quote or an appointment for a quote.

I find that more and more of my customers are good at having all the information that is needed for the fence estimate before they make contact with me. This helps us to keep costs down as I am not required to drive to each and every estimate request (at the time of writing this gas is near $4per gallon in Raleigh, NC.) and initial quotes can be emailed to the customer to help the customer get an idea of what the fence will cost them. When the customer decides they are ready to proceed, I verify the measurements and inspect the property for where the fence will be located and contract with the customer for building their fence.

Getting three estimates not only gives you the chance to get three prices, it also gives you more information, each contractor may have different methods of building a fence, may use different suppliers (research manufacturers as well), and will certainly have different sales methods.

Pricing:

Some customers believe that the lowest price will be where they should get there fence from. I don’t always agree with this practice. Granted, we win fence contracts by being the lowest price, we are not always the lowest price. Be weary of a price that is much lower than that of the other two or more prices you received. This contractor could be using lower grade materials, paying installers less (sometimes results in less experienced installers), and also could be a part time fence guy which may or may not be around to honor any warranty work.

Ideally, all three estimates will be within a few hundred dollars of each other (depending on the size of the project). If that happens, go with the contractor you felt best about his/her ability to make you happy throughout the entire process. The estimator should be willing to provide any information about your fence and not try to hide or conceal anything. Be weary of contractors who try to push something on you that you didn’t want (there is a difference between suggesting something and being pushy). The contractor should encourage you to get three estimates.

References:

Don’t be afraid to ask for references from your fence contractor. They should be willing to provide this information. At the very least you should try to get some addresses of properties the contractor has installed fence on so you can drive by and see it. I usually have both available (references with phone numbers and addresses to drive by).

Address:

Be weary of any contractor who doesn’t have a physical address! P.O. Boxes are not the best sign for a reputable contractor. Now, I am not saying that contractors can’t have a P.O. Box, just that they should have a physical address as well.

I hope this has helped to enlighten you on this process, please feel free to comment on this or any other of my posts.

Keith Bloemendaal

Retention Level:

Retention level may or may not be something you are aware of when it comes to having your fence installed. Retention level refers to the amount of preservative that remains in the wood after the treatment process is complete. It is measured on a weight basis and is typically expressed as pounds of preservative per cubic foot (pcf) of wood. There are a number of typical retention levels available. Generally, the harsher the condition the wood is exposed to, the higher the retention level must be. Typically, the pcf for above ground use (wood not in contact with soil) is .25, and the rating for ground contact (wood in contact with soil) is .40 or higher. The wood we use for our posts is rated at .40.

How Far in the Ground Should the Posts Be?

This question comes up often, and surprisingly, you will get different answers from different contractors on this one. Typically, we set posts 24″ in the ground for five and six foot tall wooden fences, and 18″ in the ground for a 4′ fence. Now, there are instances where this is completely impossible to achieve. Some examples are: close to the building you can run into the footing, the terrain you are digging in has very large rocks under the soil, and there are other instances where this happens. In these situations, we try to go at least 18″ and make a wider hole to add more concrete to add to the stability of the post.

Digging the Holes:

Typically, we use a gas powered, two man auger to dig the holes for our posts. When that is not possible (underground utilities present) we hand dig with post hole diggers. Obviously, the gas powered auger is the most efficient way to dig the holes, but there are other important reasons for this. When digging with post hole diggers, it is very easy to dig a hole which is more narrow at the bottom than at the top, this could create issues of the posts rising during extreme weather where the ground freezes. Using the auger allows more of a uniform hole to work with.

The Concrete Has to Set!:

After we have laid out the line of the fence, and dug the holes, we set the posts in wet concrete. Typically, 40lbs of concrete per hole on line posts, and up to 80lbs for the corners and gate posts (we use 6×6 posts for ALL gates). Here is where my customer from this morning questioned our policy. He told me the neighbor behind him recently had a fence built, and the contractor came and finished in one day. At Carolina Custom Fences, LLC., we ALWAYS let the posts set in the concrete overnight, allowing the concrete the time it needs to properly set up. If this is not done, the chances of the fence becoming “shaky” or developing a “lean” are much greater.

Conclusion:

As we are constantly trying to set ourselves apart from the “typical” fence contractor, here is another example of something that may take a little longer but achieves a much higher grade of installation. So, when you decide to choose to hire a fence contractor, ask some questions about their installation methods, and choose accordingly. It may cost you a little more now, but it will save you much more later!

Keith R. Bloemendaal

keithbloemendaal@gmail.com

I probably get asked this question more than any other question from my customers here in Raleigh, NC.

First, I would like to clarify that when I am speaking of wood fence, it will generally be pressure treated pine, or cypress wood. These are the two types of wood that I have worked with most. Pressure treated pine is used throughout the southeast United States, and I used cypress more when I lived in the central Florida area.

My customers generally want to know how to care for their fence, as they just spent anywhere from $1500.00 to over $10,000.00 for there fence and want to make sure the investment they made can be protected.

Keep the fence path clear:

• Keep tree limbs away from your fence.
• Trim shrubbery back 12″ to 24″ from the fence.
• Adjust your sprinkler heads so you are not watering your fence, it promotes rot.
• If at all possible, don’t build your fence up close to trees that will grow into the fence.
• NEVER allow vines or ivy to grow on your fence!

Wood Sealer:

I recommend Thompson’s Water Seal for sealing your wood fence. There are other good products out there to use and you can check with your local hardware or home improvement store to see your options. Always follow the instructions on the can of the brand you buy. Thompson’s has two main sealers that I use for fence: the oil based Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Wood Protectors, and the water-based Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Advanced Wood Protectors. A clear or “natural” wood protector maintains the natural color of the wood. A tinted wood protector adds wood color without obscuring the wood. Both Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Wood Protectors and Thompson’s® WaterSeal® stains offer color choices, effective waterproofing protection, UV and mildew resistance, all in one coat. Semi-transparent and solid stains come in a wide range of colors and provide progressively more coverage of the wood grain.Generally, the “advanced” can be used right away on pressure treated wood, and the “non-advanced” version should be applied 30 days after the fence installation.

That’s all for now, check back for more on how to care for your fence!

Keith R. Bloemendaal

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