Aluminum Fence Makes the Difference

Aluminum Fence comes in Residential, Commercial, Light Industrial and Industrial. Here is a project just completed on Richmond Road in Cleveland Ohio. I am so glad that the condo association went with the commercial grade over the residential grade. It looks so much stronger by the concrete columns. Tell me what you think.



If you need assistance with you next fence project give me a call or email me and I will be glad to assist you.

Jon "Your Fence Man on Wheels"
www.SummitFenceSupply.com
Toll Free: 888.856.0551

Melancholy Monday

Over the weekend I had to put my dog Daisy down and it has really put me in a melancholy mood. It is hard to believe that we had that little rascel of 15 years. Dogs are funny in the way they become part of your family. She would do anything in her power to please us and truly was my best friend.

bye old friend

In my business relationships I have also met some great people. Dick Fromm from Elite has been a friend for over 20 years. Bill McKinsey who worked for another aluminum company used to call me JMully.com. We had great talks about cruises and life as well as our business. Jeff Duerr is a good friend from Bufftech. We have laughed together and discussed who has the best football team between the Bills and the Browns. It has been really a stretch for quite some time.

This past week my wife and I had supper with Ted Nelson and his lovely wife Joan from Simtek Fence. Even though I have been talking on the phone with Ted for about 2 years, meeting him and having supper with him as great. (thanks for buying Ted) :-)

Life comes and goes. I am richer today because of the friends I have made both the human kind and the canine kind.

Day 7: To E-Commerce or Not to E-Commerce, that is the Question

There are so many places online that use ecommerce to reach their potential customers. I have been doing e-commerce for years but one thing I found was that if my customers are purchasing fence they want to talk to someone. Fence is a one time experience for most people. It is not likely that they will be buying a fence this year and then buy one in five years just to get the newest and best. So I thought why not make an estimator so they could get an idea of how much it might cost for a vinyl fence before they call.

It seemed logical to me and has worked but now in my constant search for “What is the True Reality” I am wondering if just having an e-commerce store would have been the choice. What really sold me was last night. I am in bed while my wife is at her computer. She made a list for me to go to the drug store to get some vitamins. I wasn’t looking forward to going out today with my list in hand wheeling in the 12 inches of snow to get vitamins! I much rather work then freeze. As I was laying there waiting for sugar plums to dance in my head she calls out and says, “Jon, you don’t have to go to the drug store tomorrow. I ordered the vitamins online.”

I ordered them online! Of course it makes some much sense to me now. I need them both! I need a convenient way to help my customers get an idea of their project will cost and a way to order if they know exactly what they want. So back to the drawing board! My customers are the life blood of Summit Fence Supply. I respect each project as the most important one I have. Serving the right way is an ever changing process. In order to reach the coveted goal of “735” I need to be flexible.

If a customer wants to talk they have our toll free number. If they want to get an idea of what a vinyl fence or an aluminum fence or even a stone like fence will cost they have our estimators and soon if a person wants to order online that to will be available.

What is the True Reality? I love serving others. Call me and see.

Jon, “Your Fence Man on Wheels”

SummitFenceSupply.com

jon@summitfencesupply.com

Call me anytime: 888.856.0551

Boca Has a Code?

In the land of fencing whenever building a swimming pool fence is more involved then just picking out a fence you like. Let’s look at a couple of areas that a DYI swimming pool fence project should include.

Most communities require certain things that they request to make sure the swimming pool fence meets their requirements. Insurance companies also ask that a fence be installed around a pool as protection against law suites. It is always advisable to contact the Building Department of the community you live in to make sure your fence meet their requirements.

Most communities follow the “Boca Swimming Pool Code” when laying out their requirements.

Let’s look at the major item of the code to simplify what they are after:

• You need to have less than 4” of space between the pickets or uprights. The idea behind this is that a small child head is larger than 4 inches and therefore they would not get their head trapped.
• You need to have 45” between the bottom horizontal rail and the next rail up. (See Image)
• You need to have self closing hinges. Make sure you ask your fence supplier to prove to you in writing that your fence has self closing hinges.
• You need a self locking child proof latch. There is truly no such thing a “child proof” any mother or father can tell you that. However a Magna Latch can meet this qualification. (See Image)
• When ordering a pool fence on line ask the supplier to send you a drawing of a pool fence to show you the gap is less than 4” and that there is a 45” space between the top and bottom rail.

With all that in mind REMEMBER, to call your community building department. I have seen some communities that only require a 4’ high fence and some that want a 5’ high fence. I have heard of come communities that will only allow a 2” gap between pickets. This is far between however it has happened.

Remember Boca does have a code and if you are putting up a swimming pool fence on your own call us we will help you with all your requirements.

Jon
“Your fence man on wheels”
888.856.0551
Or jon@summitfencesupply.com

working hard for your trust

How Much Fence Do I Need?

Over the last 12 years of fencing one question keeps coming back. “How do I know how much fence material I will need?”

Since I quote out fence all day long Monday through Friday I thought I would help the DYI guy or gal that would like to get an idea what they need in order to install either an aluminum fence or a vinyl fence.

1. You need to know your layout. What do you want to contain or protect? Do you want to put a fence up around your entire property or just a small area around a swimming pool?

2. Lay out the area for your fence. I would just take some stakes and place them at the corners all around the area.

3. With a tape measure or wheel measure the distances between stakes in feet. Always round up to the next foot. For example if you have a run that is 4ft 7 inches on your paper write down 5 feet. (see diagram)

4. I would also put stakes where you want your walk gates or drive gates. When doing gates try to always think ID (inside dimensions). The most common gate opening is 4 foot. That allows most commercial lawn mowers access to the yard.

5. Depending on the type of fence you are using, you need to identify the number of posts you will need and sections. Find out from the supplier the width of the sections you are installing. It will usually be 6 or 8 foot depending on the style of fence you are installing.

6. If the length of your line is 50 feet and you are using a 6 foot section you would divide the length (50) by the length of the section 6. Remember to round up. Your number of sections would be 9 sections. If that is the case you would need 8 line posts and 2 corners or 2 ends. Depending on your layout.

7. After you do this for each line your list will look something like this.
20 Fence section
4 corner posts
16 lines posts
2 gate posts
1 - 4 foot walk gate

That is all you need to do to find out how much material you will need for your fence project.

Remember, you can always call us at summitfencesupply.com with a layout and we will figure it out for you. If you want to purchase from us GREAT if not you will have a great list to go shopping.

Jon Mullender
President Summit Fence Supply, LLC
jon@summitfencesupply.com
find us on the web at summitfencesupply.com

Breadloaf Railing:

What is a deck with out a railing? However you do not have to have a wooden railing on a wooden deck. Why not try aluminum railing… Here are some 5 reason to use aluminum railing

1. No splinters
2. No maintenance
3. Strength/Safety
4. Ease of installation
5. Will give a richer look to your patio or deck.
   
   Imagine having friends over for a cookout and having Little Billy running his little red car on the top of your wooden rail. All of the sudden you hear this loud cry. Little Billy’s mom runs over to see what is happening to her little baby and notices a big sliver of wood sticking out of his hand. She pulls it out and the evening events are continued but a little tense for some time. Three week later you hear that your friend had a party at their house however, you were not invited? Did the accident have to happen? Not with aluminum hand rail from Summit Fence Supply.
   
   Send us your drawing and we will assist you in laying out your beautiful handrail help you lay out exactly what you want.
   
   What would you like to know about fence? Email me at jon@summitfencesupply.com and I will include it in a future video conversation.

Why Didn't he Think Ahead?

Imagine!

Two neighbor entering their driveways one cold and stormy winter night. One puts the car in park with the children in the back seat, gets out of the car and runs through the pouring rain to the gate. After about a minute she is able to get the gates unlocked and pushes them open, first one and then the other. Slopping through the water and ice, she fumbles with the door and hurriedly gets in dripping wet and freezing. She reaches into her purse to get a tissue saying a few words under her breath,"Why didn't he pick up the kids. It was his turn." She pulls into the garage and putting the car and park sits there in a watery mess.

“Wait until he comes home.” Are the only words spoken that night.

She walks into the house, spending the next thirty minutes drying and changing clothes. As she finishes her hair and pulls the old sweat shirt over her head the door opens. Honey, “What’s for Dinner?”

***

The neighbor also drives into her driveway on a cold stormy winter night. She smiles at her children in the back seat as she pushes the transmitter to open her new Apollo 3600ETL swing gate operator. The gates swing open as one would open their arms to receive a friend.

She pulls into the garage and smiles thinking how lucky she is to have the security and safety of a front entrance gate.

As she slowly works in the kitchen putting the final touches on the roast and potatoes she hears the front door open. She smiles as she hears the familiar words, Honey, “What’s for Dinner?”

“Thank you, Darling.” She utters as she wraps her arms around her husband's neck.

You’re welcome…

***

“Every gate needs an opener and we have an opener for every gate.”

Call us today. 888-856-0551.

Take Advantage when others are Taking Advantage of YOU!

The past year has been very interesting in regards to Chain Link pipe but great for other forms of Fencing. When the government raised import taxes of steel to help our steel industry get moving our steel companies said to themselves, "Let's jack the price up and up all summer long and make up for lost revenues from previous years." Oh what a huge mistake that made for the fencing industry. We saw steel prices go up 40% in some cases. Bad for us, bad for the consumer. Our consumers held back on getting their backyards done OR moved to another kind of fence.

Now you can get a beautiful wrought iron looking aluminum fence for almost the same price. No doubt aluminum looks nicer but also will not rust over the years. It comes in a lot of designs as you can see if you go to aluminum fence on our site. We at Summit Fence Supply, love to serve our customers and if I can offer a better fence for a lower price. By-golly I will.

Jon Mullender
President
Summit Fence Supply, LLC
jon@summitfencesupply.com