Frequently Asked Questions

Great question! Not all aluminum fencing and gate products are the same. And, we offer a premium, heavy duty product at a competitive, wholesale price. There are cheaper, flimsy products in the US marketplace and if price is your only concern, then we're probably not a good fit for you. Here a few major differences:

1. Our products are 100% American made. That means that not only are our products fabricated and assembled here in the United States but all of our extrusions and components are made here as well. There a lot of companies (especially on the internet) who claim to be "Made in the USA" and although, technically, that may be true because their product is fabricated here...in reality, it is not true because they are purchasing their materials from China. We do not buy or use any materials from China.

2. We fabricate additional metal ribbing into all of the horizontal rails on all of our fence panels, hand rail panels and gates. The result of this is that our panels and gates are on average several lbs. heavier than most other US brands. Other brands have hollow, flimsier rails. We also use, in most cases, a thicker (gauge) of material on all the vertical pickets and horizontal rails. So, even our residential line of aluminum fence and gate products is really a heavy duty residential system.

3. All the horizontal rails on all of our fence panels and gates, irrespective of the grade or style, have a gorgeous beveled edge on both top sides of the rail. Almost every fence company in the US market have square, hollow plain horizontal rails. We push everything to the edge!

4. Our pressed point spears (Styles: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) which are the standard vertical picket top (optional finials are available), have much more detail and design. Most companies use an ugly triangular arrow-type spear point. Again, not all fencing products are the same. We provide a new standard of quality and design and our customers, across the United States, agree!

5. We use a premium powdercoat paint finish which can hold up under the hottest and coldest environments here in the US. There are many companies that use a baked enamel (old school).

We also offer a ton of other options like 8' wide panels, 9 colors, custom width gates and more! And, we proudly warranty the structural integrity and paint finish, on all of our products, for life! We've seen and helped many customers all over the United States who purchased a cheap product only to find out that it had to be replaced or repainted 3-5 years later. Our products will last a lifetime! Therefore, in the big picture, you may spend a little more up front for our products. But in the long run you will actually save a lot of time and money choosing a GreatFence.com aluminum fence and gate system. We push everything to the edge!

Most fence and gate orders ship in 2 weeks or less. Custom width gates may take a few more days. Smaller accessory-only orders ship around 3 - 4 days.

Yes you can. About 90% of our residential clients install the fence themselves. The rest will hire a handyman. Our fence panels are shipped preassembled (ready for installation) and the gates are welded. Our posts are prepunched (for horizontal rail insertion) based upon the grade, height, style and location of each post. For example, a LINE post will be punched on opposite sides of the post so that you can connect two fence panels in a straight run.

Similarly, our CORNER posts are pre-punched on adjacent sides of the post so that you can make a 90 degree turn. All fence panels can be cut down (on-site) to meet any particular fence run footage measurement. Feel free to download our Installation Manual(Adobe PDF File). Additionally, should you run into any snags, we offer free technical (telephone) support to all of our clients.

All of our product pricing is available on our website. You can access pricing on all products by clicking on the Product Category (blue) links in the left hand margin of every page on the website.

Yes. There is a lifetime warranty on workmanship and materials. There is also a lifetime warranty on the paint finish which is guaranteed not to crack, peel, blister or rust for the life of the product.

Yes.

Finials are rust free, cast aluminum (not cheap plastic like some companies sell) decorative add-ons to the top of the vertical pickets on your fence panels, single gates, double gates or exposed dog panel pickets. Rings are ornamental, metal circles that we "set" between the top 2 horizontal rails on your fence panels and/or gates. The dog panel option involves fabricating additional (shorter) vertical pickets into a fence panel and/or gate to keep small animals (like small dogs) in or out of your property. See black information links running horizontal across the top of every web page for more information and pictures.

Yes, absolutely. Please see the Specifications page (link at the top of every page of the GREATFENCE.com website) for specific information on this.

We have customers / installations on every US coast including Florida, California, Washington State, the entire eastern seaboard, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Padre Island on the Gulf Coast. And, we even have installations / customers in the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

Yes. Click the ACCESSORIES (blue link) that is located in the left hand margin.

You will use Wall Mounts to attach a fence panel to a column. For a 2 - horizontal rail fence panel configuration you will need 2 wall mounts for each connection to a column, house or structure. For a 3 - horizontal rail fence panel you will need 3 wall mounts for each connection to a column, house or structure. For a 4 - horizontal rail fence panel, you will need 4 wall mounts for each connection to a column, house or structure. Wall Mounts can be found in the ACCESSORIES page (blue link) in the left hand margin (underneath Shop) of every page of the web site.

Our posts are prepunched based upon "your" fence panel configuration (style, height, number of horizontal rails...etc.). This makes for such an easy, streamlined installation that anyone can install our fencing and gate system. Then, you set the panel by self-tapping 1 stainless steel (painted) TEK screws (which is included with your order automatically) through each panel-to-horizontal rail connection.

Our Grade 1: Residential fence line comes only in 6' wide sections. We have 6' wide and 8' wide sections in our Grade 2: Commercial and Grade 3: Industrial fence lines. Both 6' wide and 8' wide fence panels can be easily and quickly cut down on-site (with a hack saw or electrical saw) during installation to fit any particular fence run footage measurement.

Gates are welded and CANNOT be cut-down on-site.

We have a strict privacy policy that prevents us from divulging customer contact information without the customer's permission. However, we do have a couple of options:

1. We have over 120 testimonials on our website for review. Visit: http://www.greatfence.com/aluminum-fence-testimonials.aspx

2. We also have a product (see Accessories) called a Sample Miniature Panel that can be ordered in any of the 3 Grades (Residential, Commercial or Industrial), 9 Styles and 9 colors that we offer. This product ships via FedEx typically in about a week or less. These have to be fabricated at our factory in Michigan; we don't stock them because of all the different combination of variables.

3. We also have over 100 customer pictures on our website. Visit the Aluminum Fence Gallery at: http://www.greatfence.com/aluminum-fence-pictures.aspx

One of the many benefits to our fence and gate system is that has been designed for easy, DIY fence installation or Do-It-Yourself fence installation. The posts in your order are pre-punched based upon "YOUR" specific fence panel configuration. It doesn't matter if you ordered 64", 70" or even 84" long posts; all of your posts that have punch designations in them will be punched for your, specific 2 - rail configuration, fence style & height. Another benefit to the design is that you or the installer gets to decide on-site how much space (clearance) is left between the bottom of your fence panels.....and the ground/deck/surface area.

No. You always want to order the exact same height measurement for your fence panels and gates...and then ADD the designer arch option in the gate(s) product page....prior to adding the product to your shopping cart. Therefore, in your scenario, you want to order 48 inch high fence panels and 48 inch high gates plus the designer arch. By choosing the designer arch option, we will fabricate additional height into your gates....as you move towards to middle of each gate. Always be consistent with your fence panel and height product size selections.

Yes, we ship out swimming pool fence everyday all over the United States. It is strongly recommended that you check with your homeowner's association or the city that you live in to find out if you have any pool fencing restrictions. And, we also carry BOCA compliant pool fencing. For more information, see the pool fencing link at the top of each page.

No. Posts are a separate cost and can be found in the left hand margin, underneath Shop. You will typically need a post to connect each fence panel to one another. Similarly, you will need 2 gate posts for any single gate or double gate. You can mount a gate to a structure (house, building, column) without using posts, however, you would need to order 2 gate hinge back plates for single gates and 4 gate hinge back plates for double gates.

We carry 9 gorgeous, premium rust-free powdercoated colors: Black semi-gloss, White semi-gloss, Bronze semi-gloss, Hunter Green semi-gloss, Sandstone semi-gloss, Black satin (flat), White satin (flat), Bronze satin (flat) and Khaki satin (flat).

There is no difference in cost when it comes to our standard colors. Custom colors are available for an additional fee. Color matching and code will need to be approved by customer.

All fence panels, gates, posts and certain accessory items like: mounts, ball caps, standard caps, finials...etc. include are guaranteed not to rust or fade and a lifetime warranty is automatically included with your purchase.

We typically recommend waiting until you receive your shipment before building columns. However, if you must build the columns first, we recommend that you make the distance between every 2 columns a little narrower than the panel widths. Remember, you can easily and quickly trim down each panel on-site. 6' wide panels, space the columns 70 inches; 8' wide panels, space the columns 94 inches.

Yes. However, you are required to move up to Industrial grade for single gates WIDER than 6 feet.
1. You will order and pay for the next standard width higher than your opening measurement. In your case, you will order a 144" wide Industrial Single Gate.
2. During checkout, you will see a Customer Notes text box. Write the opening measurement (from inside to inside of your two existing structures) in that text box and we'll custom fabricate the gate to fit within your opening.
3. That's it. There are no additional or hidden charges.

Our gate widths are from inside to inside of the posts. We subtract approximately 3/4" from each of the 2 gate "leafs" to accommodate the included gate hinges. Therefore, you can order an 11 foot wide double gate. The 2 - 3" x 3" posts will take up 6 inches. Gate widths shown on our website are from inside to inside of each post (including the spacing for the hinges).

Yes. All of our gates can be automated with a gate operator. A gate "operator" is a separate cost. Our gates work with most commercial gate operators on the market. We typically recommend Elite (eliteaccess.com) or Mightymule (mightymule.com).

No. We send, at no additional cost, two drop rods and 4 clips with each double gate. You can either use one of the drop rods (and two clips) on one gate and then stabilize the other by locking it. Or, if you like, you can attach each drop rod to each gate.

There are several options:

1) You can core drill into the cement and then cement the posts into your existing concrete deck. This would require you to have a core drill.

2) You can use our optional Welded Plated posts. These posts have a plate welded to the bottom of the post with four pre-drilled holes. Anchor bolts would need to be purchased locally. There is a post chart on every Post-product page which provides our minimum recommendations.

If you are building a retaining wall and it's not built yet, some of our customers have successfully installed sleeves (6" or 8" diameter) so that they could cement posts within AFTER the wall or slab has been completed.

We dramatically beat out local contractor pricing all over the U.S. Local contractor's cannot compete with our pricing because of the high volume of business that we do around the country. This enables us to offer you a premium product at a wholesale cost. Additionally, about 90% of our residential clientele install our aluminum fencing and gate systems without ever having installed a fence before. This can amount to up to thousands of dollars in additional savings.

Yes, to connect two fence runs at different heights (at the corner) is very easy to do. You need to default to your higher fencing when it comes to the 90 degree (corner) connection point. However, you do NOT want to order a Corner Post. You will need to order an End Post --- 100” long.

End Posts are prepunched on 1 of the 4 sides of the post. You will face the side with the prepunched holes outwards/facing the 72” high run. Then, you will connect the first fence panel of your 48” high fence run to the adjacent side of that same End Post using Wall Mounts. Wall Mounts can be easily found via the Accessories (blue link) in the left hand margin (underneath "Shop").

So to recap, the first 72” high panel will be "inserted" into the (prepunched holes of the) End Post and the first 48” high fence panel will be "mounted" to the adjacent side of the same End Post using Wall Mounts.

Don’t forget to order the correct quantity of Wall Mounts. If you have a 2-Rail configuration on your 48” high fencing system, then order 2 Wall Mounts; if you have a 3-Rail configuration on your 48” high fencing system, then order 3 Wall Mounts...etc.

Some credit card companies (unbeknown to the customer) put a daily security limit on the customer's credit card....for your protection. This can be easily fixed. All you have to do is call your credit card company (it takes about 2 minutes), tell them that you are attempting to place an order with Great Fence, and ask them to lift the daily security limit for today only. Then, go back to your shopping cart and click the PLACE ORDER button one more time and your order should go through. You will know if your order has been completed if: 1) You are taken to a Thank You page and, 2) You receive an email order confirmation within a couple of minutes. If you continue to have a problem processing your order through our website, please call us at 1-888-379-1312 and we can process your order over the telephone.

No. Fence panels are packaged 7 to a box (with spacers), posts are packaged around 9 - 10 per box, your gates are packaged separately and your accessories will be in another smaller box. The heaviest box you will have will be your fence panel box. Two people can easily unload any of the boxes in your shipment. That's why we recommend that you have someone else with you on the day of delivery. The carrier drivers at ABF Freight and New Penn freight are very friendly and some will assist you in offloading the materials...however, they are not required to do so.