I am preparing to install a vinyl panel fence for a friend and have noticed that the panel mounting brackets seem to make later removal of the 6ftx6ft panel either difficult or impossible. Who designs this stuff? I want all the screws to be accessible. I guess I will have to mount this bracket on a plate and then screw the plate to the post. Has anyone been through this? The fence I am installing will be near an A/C and a garden fountain so for accessibility I want several panels to be easily removable. Thanks.
I installed a few sections of that 6x6 vinyl fence with those same brackets. It is easy to install when you are also installing the posts at the same time. I have a large dying Maple tree that will have to be cut down in the near future. The tree stands in the inside corner of the yard next to the fence and the only way it can be felled is the area across the vinyl fence. I have been studying the fence on different occasions trying to figure out how to remove the panels without removing the posts. The only way that I can see is to remove all the screws holding the panel to the brackets on both sides of the posts, then cut off one side of those brackets with a dremel tool with a cut off wheel, preferably on the yard side of the fence. What you will have left of the bracket would be the part screwed to the post and one side that screws to the panel. The panel can just be removed by sliding it off the altered side of the bracket. Leave the cut off brackets on the posts, You can not use new uncut brackets to replace the panel. Putting the old or new panel back up would just be the reverse of removing it, but now, you can only put the screws in one side of the bracket since you cut off the other side, that's why I recommend cutting the bracket on the yard side, where only you and guests can see there are no screws. You might just screw those cut off bracket pieces back on the panel so that it is less visible (from a distance, that is).
I got one of those fences free off Craig's list that I had to disassemble. Someone in the past had taken those bracket pieces you are talking about, sawed them in half and put them on the fence with the screws facing out instead of the way it is designed. This made it pretty easy to get it apart, however it looked kind of bad. When I reassembled it, I put it back together as it was designed and as Willshak said it is easy to put it up when you are putting the posts up too. I solved the access issue by making one of the 6 x 6 panels a swinging gate for access to what was behind the fence. The only problem with that was that the large gate hinges are pricey. If you want several panels accessible, then your plate idea may work if it is thin enough. Just remember that taking screws in and out of vinyl will eventually strip out quickly.
I installed a few sections of that 6x6 vinyl fence with those same brackets. It is easy to install when you are also installing the posts at the same time. I have a large dying Maple tree that will have to be cut down in the near future. The tree stands in the inside corner of the yard next to the fence and the only way it can be felled is the area across the vinyl fence. I have been studying the fence on different occasions trying to figure out how to remove the panels without removing the posts. The only way that I can see is to cut off one side of those brackets with a dremel tool with a cut off wheel, preferably on the yard side of the fence. A back saw can work as well as long as you can get it between the post and panel. What you will have left of the altered bracket would be the part screwed to the post and one side that screws to the panel. Looking at the pics on the link you posted, it would be converting the U shaped bracket to an L shaped bracket.
The panel can just be removed by sliding it off the altered side of the bracket. Leave the cut off bracket pieces screwed to the panel so they are in the same location when replacing the panel. Putting the old or new panel back up would just be the reverse of removing it, but now, you can only put the screws in one side of the bracket since you cut off the other side, that's why I recommend cutting the bracket on the yard side, where only you and guests can see there are no screws. You might just screw those cut off bracket pieces back on the panel so that it is less visible (from a distance, that is).
I canceled my original response, made a correction and reposted the amended response. Now, I am making another amendment to the original and amended responses after going outside and looking at the fence. Do not cut off one side of the bottom brackets. Just remove the screws from both sides. When the upper brackets are altered, the panel can be lifted off the lower bracket and slid out from between the posts. I gotta take another dose of Ginkgo Biloba. :-)
No. The cut brackets should be on the same side. Leave the remainder of the brackets attached to the post as is. I'm just suggesting that the pieces cut from the bracket should be replaced for aesthetic reasons only, they served no other support function.
Give me a few minutes, or more (in case my wife has a honey do that takes preference), to take some pics and add arrows and such in my graphics program. I'll post them on my web site with a link.
Thanks for the photo presentation. Yes, I could cut the bracket and just have screws on one side -- but with an added angle-bracket or the plate idea I could also have screws on both sides, so I'm still searching around. Maybe I will find something. Thanks again.
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