Installing Aluminum Fencing is Surprisingly Easy
One advantage of aluminum fencing is that it’s designed so that you can install it yourself if you’re reasonably handy. No on-site welding is required. Recruit a friend to help you, and you can install your fencing yourself and save money.
Most of our customers install the aluminum fencing they buy from us. It’s really not that hard to do, especially with the support we provide on our website and over the phone. Remember that for most of our residential customers, the fence they buy is the first one they’ve ever installed. They do just fine, and so can you.
When you buy fencing from other companies, there is a good chance it was designed for professional installation. They just assume you want someone else to install the fence, and they’re happy to add the installation charge to your bill. Materials like wood and steel are heavy and hard to maneuver. Competitors’ fences often aren’t even designed for you to install. They’re made for a crew to come in and put up. They may not come in panels like ours, so they’re closer to building from scratch. That’s not the case with our aluminum fence panels. We are here to serve you and to save you money, so we design our fencing materials for ease of installation.
We publish an installation manual on our website. Download and read it, and then think about whether you foresee any problems. If you have any questions, just call and we will set your mind at ease. Once you understand the installation process and are comfortable with it, you are ready to order materials and install your aluminum fence panels.
While it’s not hard to install our fence panels, you will nonetheless need a friend or two to help out. Even if you don’t want to get involved, you can hire a handyman to direct the process. That’s a whole lot cheaper than a professional installation crew.
To get started, plan the fence runs so you can figure out what to order. Pound some stakes where your posts will go, and then run string between them. This can help to identify potential issues. If it all looks good, you can order from our website or call us if you prefer.
Posts
Unless you’re surface-mounting your fence, you will need to dig post holes. You will always have to erect posts. You will need to dig holes of various sizes depending on the size of the post. You will then fill the holes with cement and place the posts.
Sometimes you will end a run at a wall or column, or perhaps you have posts on hand that you want to use. You can purchase mounts for these cases.
Erecting the Fence
Most fence projects include at least one gate. You should install these first and work outward to install fence panels around them. Check the fence’s alignment after every few sections, and continue like this until you’re done.
It’s likely you’ll have to trim down an aluminum fence panel at some point in the process. You can easily do this with a hacksaw. Our fence panels come with notches that lock into our pre-punched fence posts. You can easily notch the end of the panel you’ve trimmed down, and you can then proceed just as if you had a full section by hooking the abbreviated fence panel into the fence post.