Concrete Fencing

The Benefits of Concrete Fencing

A breakthrough in building materials has revolutionized the fence industry. This new material combines old and new technology to produce a material that outperforms every traditional fence material in use today. Concrete is the building material of the future. Concrete fencing is the fence of the future. As concrete fence construction continues to take the place of older, inferior materials and methods the chore of maintaining and repairing an aging, or even a new fence, will become obsolete, like fetching water from the well and spinning your own yarn. Concrete fences yield far superior value for far longer than any existing system.

• Concrete fences are durable.
• Concrete fences beautiful
  
• Concrete fences adaptable
• Concrete fences increase property value
• Concrete fences control street noise
• Concrete fences increase security
• Concrete fences are less labor intensive to install
• Concrete fences require almost no maintenance

For thousands of years people have used fences for a variety of purposes-to enclose and protect livestock such as sheep, goats, and cattle; to protect a field of crops; to delineate borders of property; to provide privacy; or to ensure safety. A variety of natural materials were utilized to make fences, like reeds, small branches or shrubs, stones or mud bricks. The intent was to form some type of barrier or defense. The word "fence" is actually a shortening of "defense", dating back to fourteenth century English. The fourteenth century in Europe was a time of political and cultural change, often violent, and the need for defense was a common if not daily concern.

The basic concept of a fort or stronghold was to construct some type of barrier designed to either stop or seriously impede the progress of unwanted visitors such as Vikings, Saxons, Normans or door-to-door salesmen. As technology advanced defenses became more elaborate in order to keep pace with advances in weaponry and armaments. Eventually the idea of a simple fence developed into the massive moat-encompassed stone walls of a castle, featuring slotted openings to facilitate the efficient and safe delivery of sharp-pointed feathered sticks to your unexpected guests.

At some point, the distinctions between a fence and a wall became blurred-both provided the same conditions, essentially, but there were some important differences worth mentioning. Where as a fence is generally a free-standing self-supporting structure, a wall is normally connected to a ceiling, roof and floor-something often referred to as a "building". Currently, we don't normally think of the block wall surrounding our backyard as a fence, but that's just what it is-technically speaking. In the same way, we refer to a house as "four walls and a roof", not "four fences and a roof".

We still use fences of all types and sizes today, for most of the same reasons as our embattled ancient ancestors. Mostly, we seek privacy and security, but if such a utilitarian structure can provide some beauty, we feel twice-blessed. Throughout history, a symbol of wealth was a handsome wood or masonry wall defending our plot of earth. To millions of immigrants the American Dream was centered around the idea of owning your own cozy little home, complete with the ultimate symbol of defense and domesticity-a white picket fence. Now, a white picket fence is an entirely symbolic defense, it serves poorly as any real physical barrier. It's hard to envision a mob of Vikings stopped cold by a three foot tall white picket fence-but the concept of security and privacy is powerful and seems to be an entrenched part of the American psyche.

It shouldn't be any wonder to us that fences have evolved. Perhaps not in the same way that Darwin proposed that living things evolve, but then to evolve originally meant to grow more complex with the passage of time. And indeed, fences and walls have grown more diverse and complex over time, while the distinctions between form and function have grown thin. A useful thing can also be a source of expression and beauty.

There is some sort of power in a single word-the power to conjure up strong or weak concepts and perceptions. The terms "wall' and "fence" are great examples in contrast. Artists have found inspiration in fences and walls-some nations are renowned for their walls such as the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's wall in Britain, the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the Rabbit Proof Fence in Australia. But, is a fence as impressive as a wall? Would millions of tourists trek around the globe to see first-hand the Great Fence of China? the Wailing Fence? Would the Fence Street Journal inspire entrepreneurs? Fences and walls can sometimes be synonymous terms, yet at others be vastly different.

Today's homeowner has a great deal of options to look at when considering the prospect of a fence. Never has there been a greater variety of fencing materials available. We can choose chain link, barbed wire-(frowned upon in most residential applications), cedar or redwood palings, spit rail, redwood lattice, ornamental iron, stucco, vinyl, electrified wire, brick, rock, dry stack stone, cinder block, painted wood, tongue and groove, ship lap, shingle-we can even accessorize with such custom touches as post lamps, fountains, Greek statues, flower planters or topped with broken glass bottles embedded in mortar. Whatever it takes to send just the right message to our neighbors.

One of the newest ideas is, perhaps, at first thought an unusual one- Concrete fencing. We are accustomed to using concrete in specific places for very well defined purposes, which normally require the ability to support tremendous weight and traffic loads like freeways, driveways and sidewalks. This is due to concrete's phenomenal compressive strength. We tend to think of concrete as a material for permanent immovable applications, with very limited parameters for its usage.
















These preconceptions are understandable, but not completely accurate. While concrete can be a very simple material for most common applications, recent technological advancements have taken old technology and increased its uses into new arenas. Concrete is actually a composite material, since it is a combination of several distinct components. Used together they produce a material that may exceed the characteristics or properties of the individual elements. Cement is a component of concrete-the terms are not really interchangeable. Cement serves two purposes in concrete-firstly, it is the glue that holds all the materials together and fills the spaces between them, and secondly, it undergoes a chemical change as it reacts with water to become rigid and immutable. As a result of the inclusion of new chemical additives it can do things now that were previously beyond its capacity. This includes an amount of physical flexibility, lightweight concrete, and even see-through concrete. A Hungarian engineer has developed and patented a process that incorporates optical fibers in concrete that can transmit light through it. This link will give you more information about it-
http://cityofsound.com/blog/2004/04/the_joy_of_conc.html

Concrete fencing is one of the best uses for concrete and showcases many of its admirable attributes. Since cement is a powder of extremely fine particles it lends itself to the purpose of recreating minute detail from a casting mold. It is also very stable chemically, so paints and stains adhere to it very well. Beyond surface treatments coloring tints can be added to the wet mixture to produce a great variety of hues and effects. Stamped concrete is a very popular paving and patio option. With great compressive strength comes the Achille's Heal of concrete-it is brittle and breaks when struck or bent. With the incorporation of reinforcing steel, which has extreme tensile strength to resist bending or stretching, the composite material is unbeatable for durability and as an adaptable design solution.

Concrete fence products take advantage of all of the best characteristics of reinforced concrete. No other fence material comes close to matching the durability, low maintenance, strength and options for design creativity that a concrete fence offers. Wood fences require a great deal of maintenance compared to a concrete fences, or they deteriorate rapidly. Wood absorbs water readily, undergoes great variance of expansion and contraction due to temperature and humidity, damages easily and is very susceptible to damage from insects, mold and fungus, rodents, pets, sun and weather. Even hardier woods like redwood and cedar suffer the same problems so paint, protective stains and sealers are a regular part of wood fence maintenance.

Concrete fences are generally unaffected by these same conditions, and at most may need an occasional resealing or paint touch up. But the annual chores of scraping, sanding, filling, painting and replacing are things a concrete fence owner can largely forget about. For a wealth of information on the subject follow this link-
http://www.inspect-ny.com/exterior/paintfailures.htm

A fence built from wood will always look like a wood fence. A stucco fence will always look like a stucco fence. A block wall fence will always look like a block wall fence. With a concrete fence concrete fence, concrete is used to produce a fence of any appearance, style, color and design without any of the shortcomings and maintenance needs normally associated with the other types of fences. Any surface texture that can be copied with a mold can be used in the casting process for a beautiful, durable, high value concrete fences.