INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Phenomenal Fence Man Walt Easter • Fencer’s Field Report
Fence Industry Week Update • Fencer’s Memoriam 2012 • Let Your Fence Pride Show
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JANUARY 2013
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Maryland HOA says goodbye to wooden fence, hello to vinyl
as continuing high maintenance costs spur decision to change
The replacement fence had to provide separation from a neighboring
high school, as well as act as a privacy and noise barrier from an
adjoining busy thoroughfare.
A couple years ago, Democracy
Commons, a community of 15 townhomes in Bethesda, Md., began discussing the replacement of its original
wood perimeter fence and individual
privacy fences with an alternative material, due to the high cost of maintenance.
“We had a cedar fence, and the
boards were gradually coming loose,”
said Marthe Lattinville-Pace, president
of the Democracy Commons Homeowners Association (HOA), Inc. “Our
ongoing fence maintenance involved
painting and board replacement every
three years, and the cost of that averaged $6,000 each time. So, two years
ago, we decided to have a new, lowermaintenance fence installed.
“We wanted something that aesthetically complemented our community and added value to our
properties, but we didn’t want white
vinyl. We wanted a low-maintenance
material that had an authentic wood
fence look,” she said. “Other criteria
for consideration included the fence’s
ability to provide security, as we are
next to a large high school, and to act
as a privacy and a noise barrier from
Painting and board replacement on cedar fences at the Democracy Commons
townhome community was running about $6,000 every three years, so the homeowners association made the decision to replace the wood fences with a lower
maintenance product. The community’s governing board chose CertainTeed’s
Bufftech Chesterfield vinyl privacy fence, which Frederick Fence Co. installed to
the HOA’s complete satisfaction. CertaGrain texture gives the fence a woodgrain
effect, and Weathered Blend, a new color option, provides a subtle look which
blends in with the wooded environment. Pictured above right are two key Frederick Fence Co. employees: On the left is Nelson Rivas, five-year foreman assistant,
and Eric Saum, 21-year master foreman.
(Frederick Fence Co. photos)
Democracy Boulevard, a busy road
that borders us.”
The HOA hired Frederick Fence
Co., of Frederick, Md., as its fence
contractor and spent the next year researching various alternative fence
materials, such as vinyl and composite, under the contractor’s guidance.
For inspiration, HOA members
also visited other residential developments with fences that appealed to
them. The homeowners eventually
found what they were looking for in
CertainTeed’s Bufftech® Chesterfield
vinyl privacy fence with CertaGrain®
texture in Weathered Blend, a new
color option for the product.
The CertaGrain texture is manu-
factured using a proprietary process
that recreates the look and feel of real
wood. Weathered Blend combines this
authentic woodgrain texture with a
natural, blended color reminiscent of
seasoned wood. This eliminates the
need for future staining or painting.
“When I met with the HOA,
they were looking for wood-style
vinyl fence that looked similar to
their original fence, which they had
painted bluish gray over the years,”
said Mark Brengle, sales representative for Frederick Fence Co.
“They didn’t want to have a big
style or color contrast between the old
fence and the new fence. We presented
them with the CertaGrain fence, and
once they saw the Weathered Blend
continued on page 46
46
• JANUARY 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS
FENCERS MEMORIAM 2012
In respectful remembrance of members
of the fence industry
who helped make the industry what it is today,
and what it will be in the future.
DAVID BOYD
Partner
A&M Fence Supply, Inc.
Statham, Georgia
Died January 4, 2012
ROY J. MILLIGAN
Founder
Modern Fence and Supply Co.
Springdale, Arkansas
February 29, 1924 – January 4, 2012
LESTER BUICE
Customer Sales Support
Pro Access Systems, Inc.
Marietta, Georgia
January 17, 1957 – August 21, 2012
STEVE G. MITROVICH
Founder
Ametco Manufacturing Corp.
Willoughby, Ohio
November 10, 1931 – November 8, 2012
JOSEPH CUZZOCREO, SR.
Owner
Orange Fence & Supply Company, Inc.
Orange, Connecticut
August 15, 1928 – June 15, 2012
D. JOSEPH MOOCZ
President
Protection Fence Co., Inc.
Chester, New York
October 31, 1946 – February 29, 2012
CHARLES DUANE DAVIS
Founder and Owner
Davis Fence Co.
Topeka, Kansas
May 29, 1942 – November 9, 2012
JOHN J. NESTOR, JR.
Sales Representative
Nationwide Industries
Tampa, Florida
Lighthouse Point, Florida (home)
Died September 9, 2012
MARGARET MARIE HILL FOLTZ
Co-owner
Piedmont Fence Company
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
February 11, 1939 – September 19, 2012
WENDELL ERNEST FOWLER
Foreman, 53-year employee
Fence Builders, Inc.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
March 5, 1939 – July 3, 2012
FRANK HEWSON
Commercial Fence Sales Manager
City Fence, Inc.
Lancaster, New York
August 7, 1942 – February 29, 2012
TERRY MICHAEL HOFFMAN
Estimator
Seegars Fence Co.
Jacksonville, North Carolina (home)
Died June 20, 2012
LARRY KILMER
Owner
All-Tech Southeast
Tallahassee, Florida
May 20, 1947 – September 3, 2012
HENRY F. (JACK) LONG, JR.
Fence Industry Pioneer
Hyattsville, Maryland
August 3, 1924 – December 9, 2012
JR MANN
Vice-president and First Employee
Stephens Pipe & Steel
Jamestown, Kentucky (home)
May 7, 1954 – April 28, 2012
JOSHUA EDEN MCCOY
Fence Installer
McCoy’s Fence Company, Inc.
Newark, Ohio
January 21, 1988 – January 17, 2012
THOMAS A. (TOM) MCCUTCHEON
Founding Partner
USAutomatic, Ltd.
Lewisville, Texas
October 9, 1947 – July 25, 2012
DOREEN MEEK
First Lady (1982 – 1983)
International Fence Industry Association
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
August 29, 1934 – January 7, 2012
WILLIAM J. (BILL) PRESSON
Original Owner
American Fence and Supply Company, Inc.
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 6, 1940 – October 1, 2012
JAMES WILLIAM RAY
Owner
Rayco Fence
White House, Tennessee
October 27, 1953 – January 25, 2012
SCOTT ROSE
Founder
Rose Fence Company
Freeport, Long Island, New York
May 26, 1956 – February 3, 2012
LARRY SEMMERLING
Founder
Semmerling Fence and Supply
Wheeling, Illinois
December 21, 1924 – January 2, 2012
ROBERT B. (BOB) SHIPLEY
Owner
Anchor Fence
Rexford, New York
JERRY STEIN
Executive and Engineer
Allied Tube & Conduit
Chicago, Illinois (home)
Died December 2011
Maryland HOA says goodbye
to wood fence, hello to vinyl
continued from page 1
color option in the CertainTeed catalog, they fell in love with it.”
The HOA next reached out to the
CertainTeed Fence, Railing & Deck
sales team, and received answers to all
of its questions about Chesterfield with
CertaGrain and the addresses of several successful installations of the
product in the surrounding area.
After viewing these installations,
the HOA members voted unanimously
for the vinyl fence product.
Before the installation, Frederick
Fence Co. made several preparations
to ensure the installation ran smoothly.
Though the square footage of the
Democracy Commons job may not
have been as high as that of larger
HOA communities, the hilly landscape, with several different grades,
corners and angles, made it rather
challenging.
The previous fence was a stepped
installation, with taller posts and panels to handle drops in grade while
keeping the fence tops level. The
Democracy Commons HOA requested
that the new fence be installed in the
same way, which initially created a
predicament.
“Parts of the original fence were 7
feet tall, and the Montgomery County,
Maryland building code says you can’t
have a fence that’s over 6½ feet tall,”
Brengle said.
“The code wouldn’t allow another
7-foot-tall fence to be installed, unless
the HOA wanted to wait several
months to a year on an approval and
pay thousands of dollars extra for it.
So, the homeowners were fine with the
full length of the fence being 6½ feet
tall.”
The two-person crew began work
in November 2011. Since Chesterfield
privacy fence comes in heights of 4, 5,
or 6 feet, some fabrication was required to meet the desired panel
height.
Before the original fence was removed, Frederick Fence Co. ordered
blank posts, and foreman Eric Saum
went along and took measurements of
the fence’s grade.
“Eric would measure the drops in
grade as he went along and bring the
measurements back here at night,”
Brengle says. “We would then route
the posts at our shop the same night so
he would have them ready to install the
next day. We ordered really long posts
and appropriate lineals from CertainTeed and custom-made the fence in
our shop to the customer’s specs.
Everything was cut to size,” Brengle
stated.
“Per the customer’s request, we
also added aluminum inserts to every
post for added sturdiness. The aluminum reinforcement really helps
stiffen the fence, making it even more
rigid,” he said.
The custom fence panels had three
rails, with the middle rail being 5
inches below the top rail. Fence posts
were set at 3 feet below ground – 1
foot lower than required by the county
building code.
The crew installed the perimeter
fence, being well prepared for the differences in grade. As with all stepped
installations, there were some gaps
below the bottom of the fence in some
areas, but this problem was kept at a
minimum by the contractor’s use of
longer custom-cut posts. The highest
gaps were 6 to 8 inches, but since none
of the homeowners had pets that could
potentially escape through these gaps,
it didn’t present any problems, Brengle noted.
After the perimeter fence was installed, the crew installed the individual privacy fences for each
townhome’s back yard.
All told, the project used about
1,000 square feet and took between
two and three weeks to complete. Because of the challenging landscape and
the care the customer took in
researching fences, the contractor
continued on page 48
DAVID J. (DAVE) THOMPSON
Owner
Acme Fence Co., Inc.
Grandview (Kansas City), Missouri
March 7, 1933 – June 25, 2012
WEBSTER V. (WEBB) TURBEVILLE
Owner
Memphis Fence Company
Memphis, Tennessee
July 14, 1935 – November 21, 2011
MICHAEL E. YATES
Co-owner
USA Industries
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 25, 1938 – December 16, 2011
This annual memoriam is sponsored by
Dynamic Tube & Pipe Company
in tribute to friends and peers
who were lost during the past year.
As well as replacing the wood perimeter fence, vinyl was also used to replace a
number of individual privacy fences, as shown above.
48
• JANUARY 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS
Maryland HOA says goodbye
to wood fence, hello to vinyl
continued from page 46
wanted to make sure everything was
done perfectly.
Planning ahead and spending
more time on the installation resulted
in a project with very few hiccups.
“When it takes a year to get the
job sold, you want to take your time
This is the only gas
powered driver proven
reliable on the market
for nearly 2 years!
and make sure you get the job done
right,” Brengle said. “We did so much
legwork, met so many times with the
customer and discussed any foreseeable problem that might arise, so we
had addressed everything before installation. The project really went off
without a hitch.”
And, most importantly, the homeowners of Democracy Commons are
thrilled with the authentic wood look
of their new fence, as well as its recent
unwavering resistance to 50- to 60mile-per-hour winds when Hurricane
Sandy touched down in Bethesda, he
added.
“We absolutely love our new
fence, and we’ve gotten excellent feedback about it,” Lattinville-Pace said.
“In fact a lot of the people that drive
by can’t tell it’s a vinyl fence. They
just think we have a really nice wood
fence.”
This article was written by Doug
Mucher of CertainTeed Corporation.
For more information on the CertainTeed Bufftech line of fence, decking
and railing, call 800-233-8990 or visit
www.certainteed.com.
Fencer’s Field Report
continued from page 16
Before the installation, Frederick Fence
Co. made several preparations to accommodate changes in grade and other
jobsite issues to ensure that the installation ran smoothly.
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needed.
We then asked how has the company approach to advertising changed?
Have you reduced yellow page ads at
all?
Jonathan told us that he has never
been in the yellow pages, but rather always on the internet.
We then asked about the labor situation as to whether or not it was a
problem finding good help, and he told
us that it is extremely difficult to recruit good help, but patience and learning from previous experiences has
been helpful.
We further asked about what is the
competitive situation in the service
area?
Jonathan responded that it is very
competitive on the internet.
People seem to only be interested
in price.
There is a lot of competition,
which hurts margins, but you just have
to keep going, he says.
Then we asked what the company
outlook was for 2013 for the area, and
he told us that he thought the area
would do very well and that his business would really benefit.
When we asked about the overall
economy in the area, dovetailing on
his previous remarks, he commented
that it is starting to show growth.
Housing is selling on the residential
side, despite quite a few foreclosures
in the area.
On the commercial side there are
company renovations taking place,
which is a bright sign.
Finally, we asked about his strategy for 2013, and Jonathan told us that
he hired a person to deal with the commercial side of the business and he
also hired a part-time person to assist
with the bidding process.
Additionally, he doesn’t carry
large inventory, and he has created a
structure plan to assist the operation.
We want to say thanks for sharing
thoughts with us so that we might
bring them to you through World
Fence News!
Call or e-mail us here at WFN, so
we may hear your thoughts, as well.
We look forward to speaking with you
for another issue!