Child Fence

[WetBehindTheEars]

I did not want to hijack the other thread on baby fence. I have looked into the following three child fence products...but honesty they are all "the best", "the strongest", "best self closing gate", etc. It is really hard to tell which is the best choice based on websites...

Baby Guard www.babyguardfence.com

Protect-A-Child http://www.protectachild.com/ $19.95 per Foot and the Self-Closing, Self-Latching Gate is $500. This ist for all Labor and Material

Guardian Pool Fence www.guardianpoolfence.com

Has anyone used these? What was your experience? How do you like the product? Am I missing any that I should look into?

I need to install the fence in early Nov. when we move to a new house that already has a pool...FYI I have two boys and twins on the way...a boy and a girl.

Thanks.
WetBehindTheEars

 

[X-PertPool]

I've personally only seen protect-a-child in the real life and everything looks good.

 

[lbridges]

We have the BabyGuard fence, although it's still in its first year. My impression, having seen a couple of different, is that they all are about equal in the fence and poles. Maybe the gate will vary, haven't seen enough of them to know the difference, and we did not opt for one around our pool.

I would offer our county (Brevard, Florida) requires the fence be at least 20" from the edge of the water. My town, Indialantic, supplements that to require 36" from the edge of the water. I can't imagine how I could do a good job of pool wall brushing, etc if the fence was only 20" away from the water. Maybe your pool/style is different, just something to think about.

 

[Taz]

We have a Pool Guard brand fence which is attached to a screened enclosure so that it runs the length of the pool. Our setup isolates the pool from the house exits as well as from the 2 self-closing doors (54"+ high latches) into the enclosure from the outside. We did not use alarms as our kids are older but if we had young ones around alot I'd add an alarm on the main house exit to pool in addition to the fence barrier. We are more worried about a young child wandering in from the outside (our backyard has a fence as well). We like this arrangment as we can leave the patio door open from the house and enjoy the outside without worrying about the dog falling in. We can also add a doggie door and be within code. Our setback needed to be 29" but our fence varies from 32-40". Ibridges' 36" would be even better as a minimun.

Installation is quick using a core driller. The quality of the mesh is good. The tautness of the fence is really where you get your protection. You should not be able to easily move the post nor should the fabric sag. It does not have a self-closing gate, just a latch at the top that requires two hands to get the post, hook, & eye positioned. I can post photos if desired.

All that said, an enterprising young child can move a patio chair, box, or whatever and then scale the fence. They can also open the patio door & close it within 7 seconds (just like mom does) before an alarm goes off. Defense in depth is important, but the parent is ultimately responsible.

 

[JeffJeff]

We have a guardian fence. It is just over a year old, but so far we have been very happy with it. The self closing gate is a great feature to have and you can easily open it with one hand which is nice when you are trying to carry chemicals, etc.

It is also easy to take down and put back up. I don't know how it compares to other brands as this is the only fence we have owned. We did not want a fence, but with 2 little kids there is really no choice. Glad we did it and we are happy with the guardian.

 

[learthur]

We have a Life Saver fence. works fine. Looks good. We got black, but in retrospect I wish we had chosen a beige color to match the concrete deck.

We installed 2 gates ($400 ea) on opposite ends. Very convenient for blowing debris off the deck. Start from one gate and blow through to the other gate.

I have a 2 and a 5 year old so there was no question we had to have it. It makes the rest of the back yard with playset etc. usable and gives us more piece of mind. I think our HOA requires it also even with our fenced backyard, but many homeowners with older children don't have one.