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Getting Started with Aluminum Fencing

If this is your first time looking at aluminum fencing and gates, you are in the right place.  It’s really not that complicated.  In addition to browsing through the design options on this website, we’ve compiled for you below a list of the most common questions we get from first-time buyers of our products. 

Reading through the following questions and answers will set you up with a great foundation and you will then be ready to design, calculate, order and install your new fence and gate barrier.  Feel free to contact us if you have questions.

Do you install fence or do you have contractors in my area who can install our fence?

We are a materials provider only.  About 90% of our residential customers nationwide install our products themselves.  And, most have had no prior fence installation experience.  Our fence and gate system was designed for homeowner do-it-yourself installation.  We have an installation sheet that you can download from our website and we offer FREE telephone installation support if you need it.  Furthermore, we do have contractors that purchase from us.  However, they mostly work on large commercial applications.  If you have one other person to help, we recommend installing our products yourself.  You can save a ton of money installing our products yourself.  If it’s something that you absolutely cannot do, we recommend hiring a local handyman who can easily assist you with this. 

How do your panels connect to your posts?  Can you cut the panel widths on-site?

One of the many benefits to the design of our fence/gate system is that our posts are prepunched based upon your specific fence configuration (height, style, number of rails).  The horizontal rails of our fence panels are inserted and set into the prepunched posts and then set by self tapping stainless steel, powder coated head, screws through each post-to-rail connection.  These screws are automatically included with your fence and post purchase.  Once you set the panel-to-post connection, your panels are not going to move, rattle or shake.

Yes, you can easily cut the width of our fence panels on-site to complete any run measurement that you have.  We call this “trim to fit” and it’s easy, fast and can be accomplished with any hacksaw or, even better, almost any metal bladed electric saw.

How do you install your posts? 

There are many ways to install our posts.  However, the most common two ways are by digging a hole and cementing them into the ground, or by surface-mounting our posts on top of an existing hard surface, in which case you should order our welded plate option with your post.

Isn’t it difficult to know how deep the posts need to go on an in-ground application?

Not really.  First, every post product page on this website has a post chart which provides you with the minimum recommended length of post you need based upon the height of the panel that you will be using.  Secondly, and this holds true for level applications as well as sloped areas, once you have decided how much clearance (spacing) you want between the bottom of the panel and the ground, you can then use that as the depth template for all of your posts.  Let’s say you have a 4 foot high fence and you’re using 6 foot long posts, in ground.  And, let’s also say you want 2 inches of spacing between the panel and the ground.  Well, 48 inches + 2 inches for clearance equals 50 inches.  72 inches (post length) minus 50 inches equals 22 inches.  Therefore, you can sink all your posts into the ground 22 inches.  Even if the terrain on your property is sloped.

Why does the price jump when moving from a 6 foot high fence/gate system to a 7 foot high fence/gate system?  Why does the price jump when moving from a 16 foot wide double swing gate to a 24 foot wide double swing gate?

The maximum height in our residential and commercial offerings is 6 feet.  You must move up to our industrial offering for 7, 8, 9 and 10 foot high barriers.  Our industrial grade products, which can be used for home applications, have larger pickets, larger rails and a thicker gauge of material.  There’s a lot more product built into each industrial panel and gate.  Furthermore, you will also have to increase the size of your posts for industrial connections.

The maximum width in our residential double-swing gate offering is 12 feet.  The maximum width in our commercial grade offering is 16 feet.  Therefore, you have to move up to our industrial offering for a 24 foot wide double swing gate.  Again, there is almost double the amount of product built in to each picket and rail.  Furthermore, larger gates require wood crating and additional freight fees which we have built into the product cost for these larger gates.

Am I required to order additional hardware for larger / wider gates?

Use our standard gate hinges or self-closing hinges for any single-swing gate up to 6 feet wide and any double-swing gate up to 12 feet wide.  For wider gates, we recommend upgrading to our (operator-friendly), heavy-duty gate hinge.  The heavy-duty gate hinge can be mounted to your own, existing structure (house, building, column) or you will have to use our 4″ x 4″ gate posts.  For any single-swing gate wider than 10 feet or double-swing gate wider than 20 feet, we recommend ordering our steel posts and gate wheels.  Very wide gates require more support for strength, durability and longevity.

black single gate

Aluminum Fence Panel Widths & Heights - January 2022

INSERT, SET AND FORGET!

Insert Set and Forget
Illustration showing how you SET the panel to post connection with stainless steel screws including in your order.