Railing Installation Tip of the Day

Railing Installation Tip of the Day

When working with welded flanges it is often difficult to deal with extreme slopes or grades that will tend to throw the posts and pickets way out of plumb. What to do: - Send back posts or order more that have a biased cut to accommodate the angle... - Use rebar and forms and make a small, but level pad extension... - Use shims under the low side and level the posts, but have to deal with exposed shims and a flange that is not completely secure... None of these are Great Solutions, but look below-

By using a composite masonry blade and a cold chisel,one can modify the concrete under the flange, then the flanges can become recessed into the slab. This will allow for grade fine tuning and actually strengthen the post-flange-substrate connection. There may be better solutions out there, but if you have one - I would really like to know. Just sharing this Tip to help you if you ever run across this in the field and need to get the job done.

Hopefully, Most of you dealers will learn to interpret grade ahead of time. This customer near San Francisco was told to use an inclinometer app for his smart phone, but he did not want to spend the 99 cents. So instead he ended up paying a crew several hundred dollars to help him deal with the grade by modifying the concrete under the flanges.

Many ways to stay informed

   In the Fence Industry there are many ways to stay informed. Most of you know and participate in many of these:

1. Become active member of your regional AFA
2. Visit Fence Tech every year and check out the booths
3. Subscribe to World Fence News (May Issue Ultra makes cover again), Fence Post Magazine or other trade journals
4. Use the Internet to browse and research new products and approaches
5. Read and Subscribe to blogs written specifically on the product line you offer
6. Join Social Networks and Groups to discuss varying subjects
7. Get out there in the real world and visit your suppliers, your allies and even your competition

 This last one is what brings me to discuss most of what you will find on this blog. I go out in the field and see something that reflects well on this industry or I see something that shows that the folks that just want to make a quick buck and are not focused on doing the job well. My standard for a good fence, gate or railing installation is simple;

 I ask three questions:

    Does this installation serve the intended purpose reliably?


    Was this installation made in such a way that it will continue to serve its intended purpose for at least a couple of decades (if not more)?


   Does the installation add to the overall aesthetics of the scene or does it detract?

 For a Great Fence, my standards are much higher. Here is a photo of a INDUSTRIAL Premium Grade Installation in Plano that garnered letters of praise from the nearby homeowners all the way to the city manager. The installation was done as well as any I have ever seen. 

And here we are on the cover of this month's World Fence News again...