| 1. What is the main advantage of choosing PVC? |
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PVC is warranteed for life. |
| 2. What are the most popular PVC fence styles? |
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PVC is made in all of the most popular lumber dimensions. This allows us to recreate the look of wood but leave the maintenance, and eventual replacement, behind. |
| 3. What makes Fence-All PVC different? |
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Fence-All only uses PVC products that are manufactured by the largest vinyl companies in the world. |
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Our careful product selection process and in-house shop facilities allow us the opportunity to create styles that fit every home and every budget. |
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Our large selection of vinyl profiles are each specifically cut to fit a particular Fence-All PVC Fence or Fence-All PVC Railing design. |
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Our 20 year history with PVC helps us to know the proper sizes and proportions required to make better looking, longer lasting designs. |
| 4. Is PVC really strong enough for winter climates? |
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One of the most important ingredients in our PVC is the "impact modifiers" which make it as strong as standard wood. |
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5. What about the PVC fading? |
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The other important ingredient in our PVC is the "UV protectors", which make it possible to offer a lifetime warrantee against fading or yellowing. |
| 6. What is PVC made from? |
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Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Salt are the main raw materials used in the production of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC). |
| 7. How is PVC made? |
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PVC powder (Resin) is blended, with all the required ingredients, into a formulation that is called compound. |
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Compound is fed into an extruder, with the proper amount of heat, pressure and mixing via screws in the extruder, and the compound becomes malleable vinyl. |
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Malleable vinyl is then fed through a die in the shape of the finished profile and water is used to cool the vinyl into it's final rigid state. |
| 8. How is the PVC made into fences and railings? |
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Fence-All then cuts the profiles into their proper lengths for each design of fence or railing. |
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Holes are routed into the posts and rails, so that pickets can be inserted into them, without any requirement for external (visible) brackets or hardware. |
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These "fabricated" pieces can then be assemble into completed fence sections or railings. |
| 9. What holds the fences or railings together? |
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Depending upon the styles of fence, different fasteners can be used. Vinyl channels, which are often used in the fabrication of Privacy and Semi-Privacy styles, are attached using screws with PVC screw covers. |
| 10. Is there anything else used to provide extra strength? |
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Galvanized steel channels are included inside the bottom rail for all fence styles and the top rail for all railings. |
| 11. Will the PVC mildew? |
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Mildew feeds off of organic materials. Vinyl (PVC) is non-organic and therefore does not support mildew. |
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Mildew that grows on Vinyl is actual feeding off of the organic materials (dirt) that have become embedded in or stuck to the vinyl. |
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All of our PVC profiles have a high gloss, smooth, non-porous surface that makes it very difficult for organic materials or mildew to attach to. |
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Non-chalking Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), which is included in the PVC compound, also helps to prevent most mildew growth. |
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Only under very consistently damp conditions will the possibility of mildew occur and a mild solution of bleach and water will easily remove it. |
| 12. Will the PVC chalk? |
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Using a durable grade non-chalking TiO2 in the vinyl (PVC) formulation ensures that there will be very minimal chalking. |
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All vinyl fencing will chalk sooner or later, but with the superior protection capabilities of TiO2 this will be kept to a bare minimum |
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Chalking is the deterioration of the vinyl surface which exposes the TiO2 particles to the surface. |
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The white powder can be wiped off from the surface for exceptional beauty over a full lifetime. |
| 13. Can you paint PVC? |
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All of our vinyl products are engineered to retain their beauty and good looks throughout their lifetime. The only reason to use paints on our vinyl products would be to change the color of the product. While we do not recommend painting, there are paints that are available for PVC. |
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Painting or treating the product does void the lifetime warrantee.
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| 14. How does the cost of PVC compare to the cost of wood? |
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The initial cost of PVC is similar to the initial cost of Western Red Cedar left unstained. However, when all the varied cost factors are taken into account over the life of your fence, vinyl (PVC) becomes the true money saver. Factors such as having to replace the wood fence in 10-20 years,yearly maintenance costs (labor, paint, replacement boards, etc), and the effects on the environment because of arsenic in treated wood or the toxic chemicals needed to maintain a wood fence show that wood truly isn't as cost effective in the end. |
| 15. Will the vinyl turn yellow? |
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As long as your fence is kept clean, with a periodic wash from a garden hose, it will not turn yellow. |
| 16. What effects do PVC have on the environment? |
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PVC products are safe and non-toxic. They will not breakdown and release harmful chemicals into the ground and do not require toxic chemicals (stains, waterproofing, paint, paint thinner) for regular upkeep like treated lumber can. No trees are used in the manufacture of PVC. |
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Because of the exceptional long life of PVC, several times the amount of wood that is needed to manufacture the same fence in wood can be saved over the lifetime of the fence. If the vinyl ever needs to be taken down it can be recycled into other products, such as hoses and watering cans. |
| 17. What is virgin vinyl? |
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This is the term used for vinyl products that do 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. |
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Fence-All uses only PVC products extrude with virgin ingredients. |
| 18. Can PVC break? |
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Any product will break when enough force is applied. However, everyone of our PVC profiles are formulated using only the highest quality impact modifiers in precisely engineered amounts to ensure the greatest impact resistance available. |
| 19. Do all PVC products contain impact modifiers? |
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NO. Impact modifiers, although essential for long time performance of the product, cost money. One easy way for smaller "PVC manufacturers" to compete is to cut back on the amount of "expensive" impact modifier included within the product. |
| 20. Do all PVC products contain UV stabilizers? |
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NO. UV Stabilizer, although essential for long time performance of the product, cost money. One easy way for smaller "PVC manufacturers" to compete is to cut back on the amount of "expensive" UV Stabilizer included within the product. |
| 21. Do all PVC products contain TiO2? |
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NO. Titanium Dioxide, although essential for long time performance of the product, cost money. One easy way for smaller "PVC manufacturers" to compete is to cut back on the amount of "expensive" Titanium Dioxide included within the product. |
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22. What are some examples of PVC that do not contain impact modifiers, UV Stabilizers or Ti02? |
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A dark green lawn chair which turns very faded light green, goes soft and droopy, and is thrown out after a year or two is a very good example of a PVC product which is made "more affordable". |
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23. How can I tell if a particular PVC product contains enough impact modifiers, UV Stabilizers and Ti02? |
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Deal with reputable companies, who have a history in PVC, and only deal with the larger vinyl manufacturers.
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| 24. What is the risk of choosing to go with a PVC that is less costly? |
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Imagine those faded lawn chairs, that have all gone soft, cemented 3 feet into the ground, all around your backyard after only 5 years. |
| 25. Does buying from a larger manufacturer really matter? |
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Due to the costs involved in setting up to manufacture quality PVC, purchasing PVC resin at a reasonable price (a world oil commodity),and the costs associated with constantly measuring manufacturing tolerances, the manufacturing of PVC is best left to large manufacturers. |
| 26. But don't the smaller manufacturers, who only extrude one line at a time, have better control of their product? |
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One of the advantages of the larger manufacturers is that they will be running many extruders at the same time. This allows them the opportunity to have a quality assurance department. One person is constantly taking samples of the product and measuring over 100 different variables. |
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It further allows more opportunity for in-house testing equipment and facilities. |
| 27. What are the choices of colour? |
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We offer all of our PVC products in a choice of White or Tan.
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| 28. Are there no dark colours available? |
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Due to the amount of UV Stabilizer included within the PVC compound, and because the UV Stabilizers are white, dark colours are not available at this time. |
| 29. But I've seen black PVC at your competitors? |
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Black PVC is being made available by some of our competitors in a few select fence styles (no privacy fence styles). |
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This is a new unproven technology which we are not yet comfortable to offer. |
| 30. Is this better quality PVC only used in fences and railings? |
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No. High quality PVC has been used for the last thirty years in the making of windows, siding, decking, and a very long list of other products.
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| 31. What are some other advantages of PVC over wood? |
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No splinters, no tree sap, no inconsistencies, no knot holes, no slivers or nails. |
| 32. What can I really expect from PVC? |
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Imagine the freedom of almost maintainance-free outdoor products. No painting, no treating, no sealing… just enjoying, enjoying, enjoying. |
| 33. What if I wasn't planning to stain my wood fence anyway? |
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Unlike wood, PVC products keep their good looks year after year with just an occasional rinse with a garden hose. That’s the real beauty. |
| 34. Do you install wood posts and then slide PVC over them? |
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No. Wood posts covered with PVC will only last as long as wood posts. PVC posts set in concrete will last a lifetime. |
| 35. What about composite fencing? |
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PVC is guaranteed to holds it's colour, while composite products fade. |
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Composite products are also very heavy, while PVC is very light in weight, which is a big advantage regarding long term stress on the posts. |
| 36. Does it matter if a PVC fence touches the ground? |
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Fences that touch the ground are more likely to heave with frost. |
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Fences are best installed at least 2" above ground level. |
| 37. Do the fence posts have to be set in concrete? |
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Although there are times when an alternative might work better, the most cost effective method of installing fences tends to be to set them in concrete. |
| 38. Does Fence-All offer a choice of post caps? |
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Yes. We have different caps to help compliment different homes and different fence styles. |
| 39. What do you recommend for helping the posts last longer? |
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Nothing. One of the beauties of PVC is that it does not rot. |
| 40. Do you offer anything special for fences around swimming pools? |
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Yes. Since PVC fences are popular for around swimming pools, almost all of our PVC fence styles are made "pool legal". |
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We also offer removable fence panels and sliding gates, popular choices for those who entertain, as well as alternate choices for gate hardware. |
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