Being a professional pool fencing fitting provider on the Gold Coast we have a lot of experience installing fences, but there is a growing trend in people wanting a DIY solution– and if we were to give one strategy to those DIY folk out there, it is ‘see to it that you finish the project’. We’re often hired to help correct DIY jobs when they go wrong, and all too commonly it is because they failed to remember the final steps– tying the sections together. And so we would like to help you understand the best way to tie your panels together– because this will help to prevent damage in high wind regions. It is one of the final steps to a reliable setup, and something that many DIY jobs forget to contemplate. This is especially important if you live near the coast or in a high-wind place since you might in fact have observed that your new fence waves ‘a little too much’. Despite what type of fence you have installed or if you have secured it to a wooden decking or into cement this is an imperative measure. For this problem, there are two choices to stop this type of movement, the fast way, and the right way.
The quick solution:
There is a product on the market that is typically known as a ‘ridge-clamp’ this is a little stainless-steel butterfly clamp with a screw in between two small pieces of the stainless steel that fits in between the panels. Each section of the steel has a rubber insert to assure that no metal touches the glass surface. When placed between two panels, they are usually placed at the top of the panels (as that is where the movement is) they may be tightened which will get rid of most of the panel movement. Most glass pool fence vendors will stock these at varying prices and a few of different sizes.
The Professional Solution:
The other approach is to install a Nano-capping rail that fits over the top edge of the glass and runs the length of the glass pool fence or glass rail. (In most states this is compulsory to have fitted to balustrade or some other type of handrail) This is a small u-channel that is glazed onto the top of the panels. A little more intrusive than the ridge clamps, but the result is a much stronger structure. In this approach, there is no metal touching glass, rubber or wet glaze. However, it can only be welded on concrete applications due to movement of wood in dry and wet weather.
If you wish to find out more about some of the other inherent issues with DIY pool fencing, means to deal with them, or to get a free quote on pool fencing materials, then please phone us on 1300 937 902 or browse through our websites http://www.absolut.net.au/ and our DIY Pool Fencing Website