Plastic fencing

In message , Bert Coules writes

Looks expensive!

Cheap one here:-)

If you discount the 250 years to grow the tree, £350 for winching the trunk to level ground, £350 for on site milling, labour to move home and store, concrete stubs and some stainless woodscrews:-)

In a few years it looks like s*it. The surface is quite porous and is waxed to fill the pores and keep out algy/muck etc. When this deteriorates , the fence soon becomes quite filthy and is hard to clean. Have a walk round and see some old examples to decide if you can live with it or not. (Same stuff as plastic cladding.)

Also, check out the fixings. Stainless steel is good. Galv. rusts after a while and leaves rusty marks.

Ah, but yours presumably requires rather more ma> In a few years it looks like s*it...

I have uPVC cladding (actually interior rather than exterior grade) in various places on the outside of my bungalow. It's been up for years and it still looks fine.

From what I can gather, the particular make I linked to doesn't use metal fixings at all.

Thanks to you both for the replies.

As long as its not vandalised or backed into by vehicles its fine. My neighbour had some put up over 14 years ago and its still fine, if a little tacky looking!

Brian

Brian, do you mean that it's tacky looking now, after being up for fourteen years, or that it was tacky looking to start with? Thanks for your reply.

If anyone does have any uPVC that needs a spring clean, I can heartily recommend this stuff, just on a microfibre cloth if it's not too bad, or with a scotchbrite pad if it's really gungy.

Also available from toolsatan (possibly easier for many?)

Good stuff. Try not to sniff it too much though...

Darren

Ah, didn't realise they also sold it

Yes, I'd forgotten that, even outside I found myself feeling decidedly woozy while up a ladder using the stuff ...

We had a post and rail version of it years ago. My complaint is that it is easily broken, kids standing or sitting on it or the final death blow cows deciding they'd like a meal from my newly sown lawn and not bothering to us e the gate. And impossible to repair.

Neither kids nor cows are likely to be coming near in my case, but this is clearly an aspect to be considered. Thanks.

Oak looks good, pvc doesnt. Oak lasts centuries without maintenance, pvc doesnt last where subject to physical stress, as fences are. Why choose pvc?

NT

Good looks are in the eye of the beholder.

I want a white fence. For wood, that means painting. Paint requires maintenance.

In 15 years that pvc will be looking pretty jaded. Maybe you'll begrudgingly paint it. Maybe it'll be broken and your thoughts turn back to oak.

NT

Maybe, but I doubt it. Besides, fifteen years? Who knows what might happen in such a span of time? Worrying about the state of a fence seems rather peripheral, doesn't it?

So a pvc windows need replacing or begrudgingly painting every 15 years?

That's a good point. Mine have been in for fourteen years and look (and behave, though that's not really relevant for fences) just fine. And in any case, as I said before, I've never heard of anyone painting PVC to make it look better (or for any other reason, really).

But I'm grateful for all the comments, pro and con.

fences are reasonably predictable

why would one worry? Making sensible choices is just basic sense isnt it?

NT

Mine have managed over 30 years. The window cleaner does a grand job of cill cleaning as well as glass, so no need to paint. I cannot understand the fetish some people have for yesterdays wooden window/fence technology. Seems particularly evident in conservation areas with morons telling home owners to live in the same manner as centuries ago and ignoring progress. Oak fencing falls apart much faster than plastic IME. It can't withstand wind and rain and rots when inserted into the ground. I had to replace all my oak fenceposts after less than 40 years and the panels after 25. My neighbours concrete fence is still going strong.

why would they? Theyre fixed all round and not in a position making them prone to snapping off. They also dont get kicked, knocked etc.

NT