Aluminum Fence

An aluminum fence is a great choice if you are looking for fencing that is both strong and also decorative to look at. The only other type of fencing that can satisfy these two conditions well is wrought iron fencing. However, wrought iron fencing is very expensive and also quite difficult to install yourself.

With aluminum fencing, purchase costs are down, you get a wide variety of design styles to choose from and you can also install these fences on your own, saving quite a bit of money on installation costs. Below, we have discussed the various advantages of an aluminum fence and also given you some important tips on how to install aluminum fencing on your own.

The advantages of aluminum fencing

• This is a modern concept for a fence and there is a good chance that none of your neighbors use aluminum fencing around their homes. Hence, you can make your residence or commercial property stand out, with a fencing that looks like authentic wrought iron fencing, which is a lot more expensive than aluminum fencing
• Aluminum is a very robust material that can withstand a wide plethora or weather conditions. It can withstand both heat and cold and will last you for several years if you give it some care every now and then
• Maintenance is minimal and is very cheap as well. All you have to do is just hose down the fence with a jet stream of water. You can use a bucket of soapy water to lightly rub down the fence for that really gleaming look although it is not really necessary, unless the fence has a very thick layer of dust and grime on it
• There are so many different styles that you can shop for, when buying aluminum fences. The most common type of aluminum railing is a style that uses a two-rail fencing pattern. Other popular styles are two-rails with exposed pickets (for better security) , three rail aluminum fencing, aluminum fencing that come with arches, scallops and other design patterns that will lend a very unique look to your property. One hot tip about finding a style that you will really like is to look online. Unlike offline fence dealers, you can find a very wide variety of styles to choose from, when you shop online
• We mentioned earlier that aluminum fencing is great as decorative fencing that also doubles up as a very secure fence. It is a popular choice for decorative fencing as it comes in any color that you could possibly imagine
• Last but not the least; you will save a lot of money on aluminum fencing. Your neighbors might think that you might have spent a fortune on wrought iron fencing for your home or business although only you will know that you saved a ton of money by going for aluminum fences instead. Since these fences are easy to install on your own, you also stand to gain additional savings in installation costs. You will find more information on installation, in the section below

Installing an aluminum fence

Installing an aluminum fence is very easy. You can manage it on your own. Depending on how long the perimeter of your fence is going to be, this can save you hundreds of dollars. Here are some very important pointers on how to install an aluminum fence.

Marking the perimeter

Before you do anything else, you must mark out the perimeter of the aluminum fence. You can do this by using stakes at the edges of the fence’s perimeter which will then be connected by a taut rope. One look at the rope will tell you if the stakes are lined up in a straight line or not. If they are not, make the necessary adjustments. Once the line is straight, use a can of spray paint to mark out all the intervals at which the line posts will go. This will depend on the size of the panels that your aluminum fencing has.

Digging the post holes

Digging up the post holes is the only real grunt work that is needed, to put up your aluminum fences. The corner posts will usually need bigger holes than the line posts as they anchor the entire fence. The company that sells you the aluminum fencing will tell you the size of the hole that you will need to dig. It can vary from as little as 24 inches to as much as 36 inches.

It will depend on a couple of things. First, the size of the fence will decide how deep the post hole needs to be. Secondly, you will have to keep the frost line in mind, when digging up post holes. Generally, you want to dig a hole that is at least 5 inches lower than the frost line. In the mid-west regions of America, this would be about 35 inches or so. Seek the advice of the company that you bought the aluminum fencing from, to figure out how deep the posts need to be.

If you are using a manual post hole digger, it can be quite time consuming if you have a long fence line that needs to be put up. A great alternative would be to rent a gas powered post hole digger that will allow you to dig up a 30 inch post hole in just about 5-10 minutes. Renting such a digger is not all that expensive either. They typically cost just about $50 a day, to rent.

Installing the posts and lining up the panels

Once the holes are dug up, you will need to install the posts and pour in quick dry concrete. Make sure that the concrete doesn’t dry too quickly as you might have to make some adjustments to the aluminum fencing, to make sure that all the posts are level and also plumb with one another. You can use a spirit leveler to make sure the posts are installed in a right manner. Once the posts are set, install the panels. Each panel will use a few galvanized screws that will easily form your aluminum railing.

Installing the gate