Lanier Fence Blog

While there's no way to eliminate the weathering of wood, it's relatively easy to minimize the effects. The following tips can help any homeowner prepare for and help prevent the effects that the weather can have on your wood fencing:

• When building and designing your wood fence use three back rails (6' fence), two backrails (4', 5' fence), or 4 backrails (8' fence) for more hold-down points. This can help the fence support itself and prevents future leaning or falling down of fence.


• Use only hot-dipped galvanized, or stainless steel fasteners with a ring or spiral shank to minimize warp and rust stains. This ensures that over time the rust stains won't run over your paint or warp and create paint chips. It also minimizes the risk that the fence will break down at the joints that hold it together.


• Treat the surfaces of fence boards with a water-repellant solution to reduce the rate that moisture is absorbed and released. This solution should also have a good UV inhibitor if you don't want the fence to gray.


• Follow a regular maintenance program of cleaning and refinishing every few years with a "clear" or "toner" water repellant containing UV inhibitors. This will revitalize a dingy appearance caused by dirt, mildew or graying. It's like washing and waxing your car. Opinions differ on how necessary it is to perform regular maintenance, but most agree your fence will look much better for the effort.

The Vinyl Advantage:
     Engineered to last, vinyl products feature weather resistant vinyl construction, timeless beauty and are built to last. Compared to alternative fencing materials, vinyl won't rust or rot like some other metal or wood fencing materials. If the right grade, vinyl fences can retain the same luster as the day they were installed. They are great additions to any home and sure to increase the value of any property. They are also versatile and come in a variety of forms. You can have vinyl fences for privacy or open style picket or ranch fencing styles. In fact vinyl fencing has a variety of benefits, below are just a few:

     •  Won't corrode, peel, flake or discolor like other fence materials
     •  Virtually maintenance-free. No painting, scraping sanding or replacing warped or rotted sections
     •  Ideal for all climates - won't corrode, peel, flake or discolor
     •  Easy to clean
     •  Impervious to insect damage
     •  Safe, Strong and Durable:
              –  Safe for animals
              –  Easy to install
              –  Most styles meet most local pool codes
              –  Matching gates available
              –  Many styles also include a steel-reinforced bottom rail for exceptional structural strength
              –  Innovative co-extrusion process offers increased durability plus unparalleled protection from discoloration
                  due to damaging ultraviolet rays
     •  Exceptional Performance:
              –  Consistent quality and appearance
              –  Lifetime limited warranty with SureStart Protection
     •  Timeless beauty:
              –  Looks first day beautiful year after year
              –  A proprietary texturing process allows Chesterfield privacy fence to deliver a realistic texture:
     •  CertaGrain offers a realistic woodgrain texture
     •  CertaStucco offers an innovative alternative to traditional stucco styling in an economical easy-care vinyl design.

     Often times customers looking to purchase a fence will choose vinyl over a wood alternative for their fencing due to the inevitable logevity of the fence in terms of its future maintence. Though this is true, what most customers often don't realize is the difference between the qualities of the various types of vinyl fences available. This leads us to our discussion about the difference between a Virgin Vinyl fence and that of a Cladded Vinyl fence. Understanding this vital difference could help save you hundreds of dollars in the long run in terms of maintence costs.

     The term Virgin Vinyl is used to describe a vinyl product that does not contain recycled products. Recycled products that may be imported into an extrusion plant may contain impurities or lower grade vinyl which can seriously affect the finished product's resilience, impact resistance and UV inhibition. Though this is preferrable to choosing a recycled PVC fencing option, Virgin Vinyl is often very thin in its composition and lacks the long term resilience needed to withstand the elements. Cladded Vinyl, on the otherhand, is "clad" with an extra layer of vinyl, which helps to protect the vinyl fence better. So the major difference between the two has to do with their thicknesses. The thicker "cladded" vinyl will withstand storms and damage of long term wear and tear from the elements much better than the Virgin Vinyl alternative.

     This key feature can mean the difference of hundreds of dollars in the long run when you look at the maintenence of your fence. Virgin Vinyl will wear down much faster and need replacing much sooner than a Cladded Vinyl fence will. However, when you look at the initial price difference your only talking about a few hundred dollars to upgrade the quality of the fence, when in the long term to replace a Virgin Vinyl fence would cost you another few thousands of dollars to replace. This difference is often overlooked by customers who are easily impressed by pictures of beautiful Virgin Vinyl fences, but don't realize the difference in quality of the fence thicknesses. Cladded Vinyl is often the better choice for a homeowner looking to purchase in the long run and can afford to spend a little extra for a superior quality Vinyl Fence.