Pool fence

[prosper]

Aluminum fence. Our last house had a Jerith Windsor aluminum fence that had 8' sections 60 inches tall.
The posts were in 4 feet of concrete to get below the frost line here in Massachusetts.
The fence served it's purpose and looked great, but the underside of the horizontal rails was a favorite spot for bees to build nests.

Our new pool build where we moved to is underway.

I was hoping to get some thoughts from others on a few things:

Has anyone mounted their fence on top of concrete with anchors? We have a concrete retention wall 50 feet long which would be a perfect mounting location.
Just not sure how sturdy this would be to hold a fence. I know they make the anchors, but looking for real world experience with these.
Other options are to core the concrete or dig holes next to this concrete wall.

Other question pertains to height. State code is 48".
Not sure if 48" will look right, seems low to me.

If you love your fence and know of a good place online to buy, that would be cool to know too.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[bmoreswim]

Our code in MD is 48" high and that's what everyone here pretty much gets from what I see, unless they are also using it as a privacy fence. We are getting ready to install our fence now. We are going with a stained 3-rail split rail fence (from Lowe's which uses basically 4x4's with tapered ends for the rails) with 3 - 48" wide 54" tall arched aluminum gates and 1x2 black metal mesh on the rail portion. After getting two quotes on full aluminum, I can tell you their thoughts on installation on concrete. Neither wanted anything to do with attaching them to concrete. They both insisted on core-drilling (if done after) or having 4" pipe installed while pouring the concrete. One of them was charging $50/core and the other was thinking we would go with the pipe. However, due to the overall cost, we opted for a DIY version as described above.

I would guess there are ways that a fence could be properly fastened on top of concrete but in concrete will always be stronger. The taller the fence the more pressure that gets put on the connection points. You all the time see railings attached to concrete, but I had never really paid attention to fences being attached to concrete before.

Best of luck with the fence...and pool!

 

[rhumbaclave]

I installed my 54" aluminum fence using the flanges on top of concrete. It is strong, of course not as strong as directly in concrete. I have seen a grown man run into the fence and it didn't budge. Each flange gets 4 anchors that are for heavy duty use so I trust it.

There are some pics at the end of my thread.

new-build-in-southern-colorado-with-pics-updated-2-20-t39128-20.html

 

[prosper]

rhumbaclave, do you have materials list for those flanges and what your fence specs are? 6' sections? Manufacturer and style?
Your fence is exactly what we are looking for.

Thanks!

 

[rhumbaclave]

Yes they are the 6" sections. I got mine second hand from Craigslist for 400 gates and all! So I am not exactly sure of the style and brand. But I was able to use parts from lowes and online. The posts are pretty standard. I spend about $200 more for auto closing hinges, flanges and miscellaneous to make it work. They flanges are at any aluminum fence store online and ebay. greatfence.com is a popular one.