Being in the vinyl fence industry, I tend to notice the vinyl projects around town, especially here in Arizona.  I often comment on the look and feel of each project (much to the dismay of my wife!), especially critiquing those projects that we here at Buy Direct did not supply!  That being said, I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to travel with my family to Florida to visit my wife’s sister and family near the Sarasota area. Sarasota is about 45 minutes south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast and is a fabulous place to live or vacation.  The beaches are spectacular and there are many sights to see. My sister-in-law just moved from Arizona to Lakewood Ranch, which is a fantastic master-planned community just minutes east of Sarasota with 8,500 acres of developed property and thousands more acres of property waiting to be developed. It is essentially a ‘new city’, with nearly all of its development happening within the last 10 years.  There are some fabulous neighborhoods (or ‘villages’ as they call them) within Lakewood Ranch, from gated golf communities to apartment complexes and everything in between. Along with the residential communities there are some great commercial sites as well, from office space to great restaurants (namely an amazing breakfast place with 100 different types of pancakes!).

Being a west-coaster for most of my life, this was my first trip to Florida.  Now, I knew that vinyl fences are popular in Florida. What I didn’t know is that basically this entire master-planned community was developed using vinyl fencing and other vinyl features throughout the community. As I drove through each village, I couldn’t help but notice the amazing character that they possessed, and quite honestly, it was the vinyl fencing that made that community stand out.  Being in vinyl, I am obviously biased, but what was even more surprising was that even my wife referred to how great the Florida vinyl fencing looked on more than one occasion, and my sister-in-law mentioned that they absolutely love the vinyl look in the community—a great change from the block that inundates Arizona communities. As I mentioned, I love to criticize other vinyl projects that we don’t install or supply the fence for, but I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way the vinyl was laid out in this community. Every home that had a fenced-in yard (many homes in Florida don’t have fences—I guess they like to be one with the gators!) was vinyl fence, from classic privacy to closed picket. Every street sign and stop sign was vinyl.   All of the directional signs were made of vinyl, and even all of the entry monuments to the villages and commercial areas had vinyl features. The curb appeal was absolutely astounding. It is no wonder that this is still a thriving community despite the Florida real estate woes. I am sure the developers are happy that they didn’t cheap out and go with wood just to save some money in the short-term.  I couldn’t help but think what kind of better shape my residential community would be in with that type of curb appeal. My wife and I both fell in love with this community. Although our reasons for falling in love were obviously different, it is safe to say that Florida vinyl fence makes all the difference in the world!

I have attached some pictures of the community for your viewing pleasure…Enjoy!

4’ Classic Privacy in my sister-in-law’s backyard.

6’ classic privacy at a neighbor’s home

Some smart homeowners with Florida vinyl fence to keep the alligators off their playground equipment!

Beautiful Vinyl street sign.

6’ Closed Picket at a school in the neighborhood.

3’ closed picket vinyl view fence on the other side of the school.

Even the home builders are smart enough to use vinyl address signs.

Entry monument at the local pharmacy with some crossbuck ranch rail.

Closeup of crossbuck. These monuments were really sharp-looking from the street.

Vinyl stop sign post

What would a Florida vinyl fencing themed community be without some 3-rail ranch rail? My camera ran out of batteries before I could take all the pictures of the miles of ranch rail! (You’re welcome…)

Some 6’ straight picket that stretched along the road up to a community. This fence was probably a good mile long!

Another shot of the straight picket.

I am fairly young, graduated from High School in 1995, at the time, the internet was just developing and access to information was not as easy as it is now.  In the last 15 years, limitless amounts of information have become available in a fairly unregulated platform.  The other night, I surfed the web looking to purchase a product, each manufacturer making their claim of being the best, biggest, cheapest, and of highest quality.  I found myself asking the question, is it even possible? Can all be the cheapest, biggest, lowest price, highest quality? Within a short period of time I found myself tired of the marketing baloney and outrageous claims and decided to call it a night and do a little more research before I made my purchasing decision. Below are some of my thoughts on how you can read between the lines and sift through the marketing ploys to make an informed decision when making your next online purchase.  I will use my business perspective and the vinyl fence industry to illustrate my points.

Writing this article was easy as so many on the internet make statements about their company’s size, product, and ability to service: “Guaranteed lowest price.” “It’s impossible for some one else to sell lower because of our buying power.”  We are the biggest.”  “You can trust us” (you might want to think twice about trusting someone who has to tell you to trust them). “We sell the highest quality.”  “We are the factory or we are factory direct.” “We have the best service.”  “We sell the thickest profiles.” “Lifetime warranty.” “Free Shipping.” etc.  Some of these claims may be entirely true so…I will discuss the indicators to help you determine whether they indeed are, when buying vinyl fence online.

Here is the truth about online shopping as I see it:

WHO IS THE BIGGEST?

Many claim to be the biggest and I wonder how they came to this determination.  Did they call their competitors and ask them how big they are? They did not call us.  If they did call us, we wouldn’t tell them how big we are and neither would anyone else.  I am always amazed when companies claim to be the largest and yet they don’t have a picture of their facility, operations, and even an address to verify their location.  My other thought is biggest what?  Biggest facility, biggest sales, biggest inventory, or biggest truth stretcher for that matter.  We have been in business long enough to know biggest is not always best, especially when it comes to overhead expenses.  We don’t really know if we are the biggest, but we know our size is adequate to sell at a low price and take care of our customer’s needs.  We are happy to show you a photo of our facility and inventory. Hopefully that is enough to convince you we can take care of you.  I am always leery of a company that promotes themselves as the biggest and has little or no information about their facility or history, just a thought.

GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICE?

Can everyone guarantee they will sell at the lowest price?  This is probably the highest utilized marketing tactic on the web.   I translate this statement to really mean, the online retailer is not going to offer a low price to begin with, they are hoping that people are dumb enough to believe that they really do have the lowest price and pay their higher published prices. I have found the best way to read through this marketing tactic is to read the “fine” print.  The greater the amount of disclaimers, the less of a chance that they have really shopped the competition and really offer a low price.  Chances are the price quote you got from a competitor (Us) is not going to meet all the “disclaimers” they put on their so called Guarantee.  We will tell you this, we shop our competition regularly and sell our products at a lowest price, the lowest price we can sell and still make a reasonable profit to ensure we will be around tomorrow to service your needs again. If you somehow find a lower price from a competitor we will do our best to find a way to beat it, but we are not going to sell it for less than what it cost us; we could not stay in business and do that, and neither can the competition.   After all, only the government thinks they can do that?

YOU CAN TRUST US

I always get a little skeptical when someone says trust me. Trust is something that should be earned, not something you brag about.  Also just as the image above with “Free Candy” written on an old beat up van…would you buy from that guy?  I don’t think so, so why would you buy online from an outdated website, if they don’t have the money to invest in using the latest in e-commerce platforms why would you trust them with your credit card number?   I think I have said enough on this.

WE SELL ONLY THE HIGHEST QUALITY

The truth is almost all the vinyl fence produced in the US is of good quality and if you live in the central or eastern states, you would probably be fine with about any supplier you chose. Out in the west or in high heat climates, its a different story. Arizona, where we are located, is about the harshest climate for vinyl. The combination of extremely high temperatures, low humidity, wide temperature swings and constant sunshine makes it a very good testing ground for vinyl.  If it can survive here, it can survive anywhere. Almost every major vinyl producer tests their products here. We have been to their facilities and have seen firsthand the results. All vinyl fence products do not all hold up well in this harsh climate and so we sell only those that do. You can be assured that if you buy it from us, your vinyl fence will perform well wherever you are located.

WE SELL THE THICKEST PROFILES

The truth is anyone who tells you that ranch rail will hold in a cow or horse that is determined to get out is not telling the truth no matter how thick the material may be.  It goes without saying that if you take a one ton Chevy truck and run it head on into a Volkswagen; the truck is going to win. If you have a horse that is a leaner or is determined to get to the greener pasture on the other side of the fence, no matter how thick your post and rails are, you had better have a Plan B to keep them in.  This may include a hot wire or no-climb fence to put on the inside. The owner of our company has a three-acre pasture with two horses and a 2000lb bull. One side is 3-rail 2×6. 160 wall post and .110 wall rails. The other side is .130 wall post and .80 wall rails. Nether have had any problem with the horses but the bull is another story. Even after installing no climb to the inside of both, an occasional rail has to be replaced on them both.  All in all, the replacement cost is minimal for the beautiful, low cost, low maintenance fence that he has enjoyed through the years.  The truth is, thickness is good, but the difference is so minimal that it likely does not make a real difference on most applications vinyl fence is used for.  If you are concerned about this, call and discuss it and get all the information you need to feel comfortable with your decision.

WE ARE THE FACTORY

Vinyl is kind of like furniture in that most furniture manufacturers by bulk lumber profiles from a mill, which purchased it from a timber company, and then they manufacture it into furniture. They then generally sell the furniture to a furniture store who in turn sells it to the public. Generally, a three or more step process. There are several major vinyl extruders that purchase raw material that vinyl is composed of; they are often referred to as extruders.  They combine those materials and extrude it into the various bulk vinyl profiles much like lumber. (link to bundle pictures)  This is the company that generally warranties the products from defects. The fabricator, as we are sometimes called, or manufacturer if you prefer, buys it from the extruder, then fabricates the profiles into the various fences, railings, gazebos, pergolas or whatever you can imagine. The Fabricator then sells the fence to the public over the internet or directly to other fence companies who in turn resale it to the public or over the internet. You should be able to purchase your fence cheaper if you buy directly from a fabricator or manufacturer and bypass one of the normal mark ups.  Many companies on the internet have purchased from a fabricator and are reselling the product at an additional markup.  One good way to sort through this is call and ask, or if you don’t want to go to the trouble, look to the lead time that it takes from ordering to receiving the product, most fabricators can turn the product within a few days and have it shipped quickly.

LIFE-TIME WARRANTY

What does that mean? Your life, my life-time. Is it like the group of young men who went to the all you can eat buffet and after three trips to the buffet the owner comes out and says its time for you boys to leave. One of the young men protest saying the sign out front says “All you can eat.” The owner responds and says that’s right, “And I say that’s all you can eat, now get out.” If you read most of the companies life time warranties you will find enough wiggle room to drive a semi moving a house through. The truth is that a good quality fence installed properly under normal conditions will last a really, really long time. It will experience a slight change in appearance do to its exposure to the elements, but you probably would never notice it unless you add some new fence right next to the older fence. Don’t worry in a short time it will adapt as well and all will look the same, beautiful.  Don’t let warranty be a big deciding factor, read the fine print and you will find most companies offer a very, very, limited warranty.  My recommendation is buying from companies that have been around for over 10 years and know the industry.  My personal plug is to buy from Buy Direct Vinyl Fence, a company with a long track record of successfully selling product (approx 1 million linear feet) in the harshest climate in the nation, Arizona.

I hope this has helped you as you make your online purchase decision.  Become informed and try to look past all the marketing tactics designed to trick you.  When in doubt, call and ask questions, by doing this you will feel confident in your online purchase.

Hello again vinyl fence blogger(s)! (I’m hoping there are actually more than two of you!)

I’m back with a fun little factoid for all you fence lovers! Did you know that in Southern Australia they built a 5,614 KM fence (that’s 3,488 miles) from Jimbour in Queensland to the Great Australian Bight, separating them from Northern Australia??? They must really hate dingos… or Northern Australians!!! Whichever it is, that’s a mother fence!!! They call it the Wild Dog Fence or Dingo Fence. It’s 6 feet high and goes 1 foot underground, that way them dingos wouldn’t be able to jump over it or dig under it. Too bad we didn’t get contracted to build that fence! With our vinyl fence, it would have been the prettiest outback fence around! Oh well!

Check out the 4 pictures below:

1. Map of the Dingo Fence:

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2. Picture of the Dingo Fence – goes as far as the eye can see:

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3. Another pic of the Dingo Fence:

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4. This Fence not only blocks out the Dingos but has poison bait and traps set all along it:

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This is the first time I have ever even heard of this fence. Does anyone else here have some other great facts about the Dingo Fence?

‘Til next time bloggers!

2. Just leave it down…don’t waste your time putting it back up…you got the right idea. Go get a vinyl fence!

3. Yeah wood doesn’t do so well in the snow.

4. I think there might be some cows running around there so watch out.

5. This must of been from the 1800’s or something….I think its time for a new fence.

Hope you enjoyed the pics everyone…well try and find some more out there. If you have any send em our way or if you’d like send us a before and after of your vinyl fence project and we’ll feature it here on our blog.

I recently read an article about vinyl fencing. It started off by saying something amazingly profound like, “Vinyl fences are some of the best looking, longest lasting, and most durable fences available. With an impressive resume like that, you can see why vinyl fences are quickly becoming a favorite fencing material for homeowners.” If you’re not asleep yet, you should be.

I’ll be the first to admit that vinyl fencing isn’t the most alluring subject in the world. I can’t imagine any of you religious bloggers will be anxiously awaiting our next post. In fact, if you’re reading this, chances are you’re a hands-in-the-dirt kinda person, not a tickling typographer. You’re a do-it-yourself-er and you’re not interested in blog-stalking, nor are you planning to add us to your “blogs I love to read” list. You’re looking for solid info.

Well, as uninteresting as this vinyl fence blog may sound to most, we think you’ve found the right place. The fact is vinyl fences are virtually maintenance free and they’re tough as nails! No touch-up paint or annual stainings. Cleaning ‘em is a cinch. Vinyl is also five times stronger than wood. On top of all that, it’s long lasting and odds are it’ll be the last fence you’ll ever need to buy.

As we venture forth on this blogging journey, we’ll do our best to give you info, answers, maybe some fun projects, and hopefully a few laughs along the way.

We’re excited to have you as a reader and a customer.

Read before you purchase vinyl fencing online

We used a great team of well known web developers to choose a shopping cart platform that would offer the highest security available and that could be updated when new security vulnerabilities are created or discovered by hackers. The privacy and security of our customers has been our top priority in creating a website for our customers to purchase vinyl fencing online. With identity theft and online fraud ever increasing as more and more people turn to purchasing their products online it is absolutely vital that you purchase your products from websites that are updated and use the latest in web technology. If you think about your home computer’s virus protection, it needs to be updated, hackers create new viruses everyday and find security vulnerabilities of old systems over time. If you fail to update your PC you are at a high risk to malware, spyware, viruses, trojans, worms, and getting your personal information stolen. Websites are like your PC, they need to be updated if they are not updated or do not use the recently developed applications for security, your personal information will be at risk. Here are 3 quick tips to help you recognize an out-dated or unsecured website that will put your information at risk if you purchase their products online.

1. Make sure the site looks professional and new, you can tell old sites from new sites just looking at the design. Odds are that if the company does not see the importance to update their sites’ look from the “1999 look” they created when they first had their site built then they also probably cut corners when creating a shopping cart. According to our web developers their shopping carts will most likely be an out dated version that may have old security vulnerabilities that could be open to hacking. Also surprisingly our developers found many issues with a lot of our online competitors while doing their research.

2. Check for the “https” in the url bar and a solid lock on the bottom bar (not http – the extra “s” means secure) :

[Update - the new build a fence systems is now available -  Click here to see how it works: How to order vinyl fence online.]

Introducing our newly upgraded “Build a Fence step system.”  With our new step system you’ll be able to easily walk through the many styles and fence types to find the right fence for your application.

We started this project back in July of 2008 and have committed ourselves to offering the best online shopping experience for vinyl fencing. We have done extensive testing and trial periods and are certain that with our custom, one of kind, “Build your Fence” application we will revolutionize the vinyl fence industry. We have spent months of research on all of the different sources for purchasing a vinyl fence online and have worked with many different programmers and web designers to make sure that our site will offer the latest in web technology, security, design, functionality, and ease of use for our customers.

We have made the site available but have disabled the “Build your Fence” section as we continue to critique the design and add all the extra “bells and whistles”. Please, as you view our site email us any feedback on how we can make it better. What information are we lacking, would else do you think you need to know about vinyl fencing before your purchase? We are 100% committed to make sure you feel completely satisfied with your online vinyl fence purchase and would love to hear about any of your concerns.

Thank you,

Buy Direct Vinyl Fence

Web Development Team