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LCN January 2006 Focus Feature03-14-06 | News



Keep all your options open with fencing

By Larry Shield, Regional Editor






A stained redwood picture frame bamboo fence with cement columns. Custom cut 6 feet by 8 feet panels to match grade. The commercial facility is located in San Diego.
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Today landscape contractors have so many selections when choosing fences and fencing materials. These materials could range from PVC to bamboo, from aluminum to composite and vinyl. It all depends on what your clients?EUR??,,????'??? needs are and where the fence is located. Take a look at these options for their durability, beauty and function.

Ornamental steel and aluminum

Ameristar fences add style, elegance and, in many cases, security to residential, commercial and industrial properties. While retaining the beauty of traditional wrought iron, ornamental fences are now prefabricated from tubular bars to improve affordability.

Appearance is one of the biggest reasons consumers choose ornamental fencing. It carries an aura of prestige and creates an open look that shows off landscaping. By choosing an ornamental fence, a consumer gets visibility, security and beauty for their property.

Ornamental fences come in a wide variety of styles from traditional pointed pickets to contemporary flush-top rails that complement any type of architecture. The beauty and security of ornamental fences has induced some large cities like Atlanta and Chicago to replace much of their chain-link with this more attractive option.

Plastic Lumber

Located in southwest Minnesota, Bedford Technology, LLCR is one of the oldest and most experienced manufacturers in the industry today. We offer Select?EUR??,,????<

Bamboo

Cali Bamboo now gives more choices for fence materials. There are many advantages to using bamboo including its beautiful and unique look. Not only does bamboo last much longer than other types of wood, it is also naturally termite-resistant, can withstand hurricane force winds, and is a green building material.

Bamboo panels are most commonly picture framed in a redwood frame so that it blends into most landscape settings and architectural elements. Bamboo fences can be used in a broad spectrum of applications since it blends with so many different types of other building materials. Some applications of bamboo fences blend cement posts and even steel posts. Additionally bamboo fencing can be purchased at various heights for any custom projects.

Composite and Vinyl

Modern materials are inspiring exceptional landscape design. New composite and vinyl fencing provides landscape professionals low-maintenance options for distinctive outdoor settings. These technology-driven materials are easy to install, aesthetically designed, durable and competitively priced.

As one of the pioneer of vinyl fencing, CertainTeed Corporation combines innovative Bufftech brand products for residential and commercial applications. Vinyl fencing offers increased durability and UV protection for lasting color. Precision pre-routed posts provide for easy, bracket-free installation. Constructed of rigid PVC, this fencing won?EUR??,,????'???t corrode, peel, flake or discolor. Simply put, this vinyl fencing is built to last.

The recently introduced Prestige?EUR??,,????<






Another example of the Cantilevered Corner. Mortised pickets upper and lower to invite the eye into the garden.


Modular Wood Panels

The modular wood fence panels presented by Charles Prowell Woodworks will appear as a departure from the more common structures most of us associate with landscape assemblies. The difference, of course, is in the joinery. Created in clear western cedar, and assembled without any hardware, these panels are a lifetime investment.

On first sighting, there may be a recognition of something less cluttered, less convoluted, without the muscle and mass of a standard carpenter?EUR??,,????'???s fence that can upstage a lovely garden like engineer boots on a dance floor.

While offering flexibility in designs and dimensions, the modular fence panels are built for maximum durability and ease of installation. The fence panels are constructed with tenons, dadoes, and high-strength adhesives. The individual length is configured to the provided dimensions of any fence line. Each panel is a maximum of 5-feet in length.

Today?EUR??,,????'???s Ornamental Solutions

For industrial, institutional, commercial, residential and entertainment facilities alike, designing fence enclosures that combine privacy and protection with an attractive appearance can be a challenge. Omega II Fence Systems create solutions that meet the need for style and security.

The company has emerged between the chain link and the heavy ornamental demands and now offers contemporary and modern lines. The architectural fence systems and the new double wire fence systems open the doors for projects requiring even higher security and reduce the many possibilities of vandalism associated with legacy chain link fence designs.

Realizing security issues, facilities understand the need to be fenced in, but most do not want to feel imprisoned. The welded wire panels, available in 4?EUR??,,????'???, 5?EUR??,,????'???, 6?EUR??,,????'??? and 8?EUR??,,????'??? high, offer many benefits such as: double wire to resist vandalism; difficult to cut and climb (2?EUR??,,????'?? vertical opening); see-through panels; and a sleek clean line.

By creating a unique, less-bulky design, facilities can find many advantages with today?EUR??,,????'???s ornamental fencing. With new options available, customers can select from various designs ranging from cost effective systems to elegant security solutions.






Cracked Ice as the pattern as known, uses Eastern Red Cedar as posts and decorative elements.


Architectural Metal

Welded Wire is among the most affordable materials available for a fence. Depending on the density of the mesh, this material provides excellent security, and when powder-coated, is far more attractive than alternatives such as chain link. Welded Wire fences offer no visual screening

Expanded Metal is more suitable to projects with higher security and aesthetic requirements. Pass-through is eliminated with fences made with this material, and it provides a strong deterrence to both scaling and cutting. Fences constructed with Expanded Metal feature moderate visual screening and can be an attractive addition to retail, commercial and high-security projects.

LouverMesh, a specialized material offered exclusively by Payne Fence Products, provides extremely high strength and security. LouverMesh is primarily used in circumstances requiring a high level of visual screening and aesthetic appeal, while still providing airflow through the fence.

The all-new Guardian Fence System allows you the choice of any of these sheeted metal materials, in addition to Steel Grate, Perforated Panel and Woven Wire, to construct a fence of any height and length, as well as easily retrofit an existing fence

Privacy Slat Fabric

For decades PrivacyLink has offered the fencing industry the most complete selection of pre-inserted, privacy slat fencing fabric. They manufacture this pre-inserted product in both the 3 1/2?EUR??,,????'?? by 5?EUR??,,????'?? and the 2?EUR??,,????'?? mesh. Physically stronger, this fencing makes it a smart choice for windy locations. VinylWoodTM: is a direct competitor to wood fences. It features a wood like embossed, cedar tone colored slat with wire and framework to match.

Noise Barriers

QUILITE are a factory-assembled panel system of clear polycarbonate plastic blocks enclosed in noise-trapping bezels mounted in a steel frame. The corrugated surface allows diffused light, color and images to show through, reducing reflected glare from sunlight/ headlights and graffiti washes away with hot water. Laboratory and field tests show that noise through the panels is reduced by more than 80 percent; reflected noise is reduced by about 60 percent.






Ameristar?EUR??,,????'???s elegant look of the flush top rail on the Majestic style lends to its appeal in a wide variety of applications ranging from neighborhood fences to rental facilities, apartments and condominium access control.


Bark-On Cedar

For clients looking for the Rustic feel in fencing, an option is Eastern Red Cedar. Rustic Garden Structures in North Carolina works exclusively with this material. “It’s a tree that grows in most areas of the country, and what farmers have used for decades as fence posts,?EUR??,,????'?? said Luke Barrow of RGS. For that Rustic charm, Barrow uses the material with bark still attached, and not just for posts and rails. Branches and forks adorn his Rustic creations, both for character and support. Each joint is pre-drilled and held together with galvanized deck or lag screws. No nails means minimal splitting as the fence ages. Sealing the cedar is an option left up to the client. There are some bugs that enjoy the material, but none that cause massive damage like termites. In certain areas there may be building code issues using cedar, which Barrow has had to deal with on a case by case scenario in his nation-wide Rustic business.

While many homeowners still prefer wood fencing products, there continues to be tremendous growth in the PVC fence industry. Wayside Fence has helped facilitate that growth.

Any high maintenance products that can be replaced with PVC will fit into today?EUR??,,????'???s market. PVC has already found a home in products such as decking, railing, stair rail, porch posts, gingerbread, lattice, docks and more.

The natural transition is to emulate the classic styles, previously only available in wood, into maintenance free PVC. In order to do so, PVC manufacturers are now incorporating bent PVC lumber profiles into their designs, such as crown tops, curved tops, sweeps, etc. The new PVC bends make duplication of wood designs more accessible to the industry.

While white is still the best selling color of PVC, colors are quickly gaining popularity. PVC is now available in gray, beige and black.

PVC fits our lifestyles. And as the demand has grown, it?EUR??,,????'???s been grasped by all potential marketers, including the big box stores. Extruders are now manufacturing lower quality products that can be mass-produced into fence sections and sold at a less expensive price point through these big box stores. As a result, fabricators are being forced to lower their quality, so they can lower their prices in order to remain competitive. A quality product will assemble quickly by simply snapping boards into routed holes, while lower quality sections often require a cumbersome bracket-assembly process. Not only is it made of a lower quality PVC product, but the method of assembly results in a weak product that does not have a comparable life expectancy.


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