People are occasionally curious about why we use steel stiffeners in our bottom rails but not our posts. The short answer: it’s all about the stress. Read on for more detail.
Rails versus Posts
Rails and posts are the two main structural components of your fence, but the forces acting on them are very different. A picture says it best:
The bottom rail (1) bears the weight of the fence along its length so it needs steel reinforcement. The horizontal stress on a post (2) along its length is negligible because of the routed design. No steel reinforcement is required.
But I heard another company uses steel in their posts…
In our experience steel in the posts can actually be counterproductive. With a bit of play a vinyl fence is less brittle and better able to handle the curveballs our Canadian climate throws at it every year. We don’t mean this as a knock against folks who do it another way: many fine fences are built with and without the steel. But this works best for us so we go with it. The proof is in the lifetime warranty we confidently offer.
More questions?
If you have more questions about vinyl or any related issues we’re happy to answer them. Call 613-736-1122 or hit the chat button on the right during business hours.
