How to Make a Vinyl Fence Layout in South or Central Florida
One of the first steps to purchasing new PVC fence material for your South or Central Florida residence or business is to properly plan your project with a vinyl fence layout.
Every project is slightly different and unique, but there are some universal guidelines to follow:
- Reference your survey for easements, property lines, footage, and more
- Learn the requirements or restrictions of your city or county
- Determine the final location of single, double, or sliding gates & if custom sizes are needed
- Examine grading differences for installation locations
- Draw your fence line out and generate a material list from the measurements
Reference Your Property Survey
Aside from needing your survey to obtain a permit, you can also use it to learn the linear footage on your property among other valuable information such as the location of easements.
An easement is the right of a utility or drainage company to use the designated area marked on your property survey by a U.E. or D.E.; certain areas in South & Central Florida require that you seek permission from the entity that owns the easement rights prior to filing for a permit.
Oftentimes measurements indicated on surveys don’t align with the fence line, you may need to make approximations based on parallel measurements, for instance, a side of your house may be labeled with linear footage that you can use to infer a measurement for the area of your vinyl fence project.
Learn Your Local County, City, or Municipality PVC Fence Building Code Requirements
South & Central Florida has some of the most restrictive and stringent requirements for vinyl fence installation projects in the country. Due to the number of storms in the area, hurricane vinyl fences are required by certain counties that are in HVHZ-designated areas, such as Monroe County and Miami-Dade County.
In addition to the more strict HVHZ fencing code, there are some universal guidelines that all Central and South Florida projects must follow, but also regional or city-wide requirements that are unique to your property.
Wellington, a city located in Palm Beach County, only allows tan or almond color fences, and Coral Springs in western Broward County does not allow complete privacy.
Always make sure that you speak directly with your local building and zoning departments, or contact us to learn more before you start seriously planning.
Draw Your Fence Line Out and Generate a Material List From the Measurements
Either manually measure your property with measuring tape or wheel, or reference your property survey to determine the linear footage of each fence line.
Once you have these measurements, you can either copy your survey and mark that up with your PVC fence project details, draw it out on a blank sheet of paper, or use software to render each line, then, label each of these lines with the footage relative to that area.
At this point, you can send this simple project layout to us and use it to request an estimate, or you can attempt to generate your own material list by completing your own vinyl fence project takeoff.
Vinyl fences are 6 Ft. on center, so to determine the number of panels per run, simply divide the footage by 6.
For example, 120 linear feet would use (20) 6 Ft. wide panels.
Typically, there will be one less line post per run than there are panels, this (20) panel run would need (19) line posts. Make sure you order (1) cap per post!
From here you will need to determine the other post denominations:
- Line Post: Lineal post with holes on opposite faces
- End Post: Terminal post with holes on only one side
- Corner Post: Post with holes on adjacent faces creating a 90-degree angle
- Blank Post: Post with no holes, typically used for gates installed alone or up against a wall
- Three-way Post: T-Post with holes on three out of four faces
Laying Out Vinyl Fence Gates
Most vinyl fence projects have a need for access – usually for driveways or walkways.
When laying out your vinyl fence project, make sure you carefully consider where you are going to place your gates, miscalculating this can lead to big issues during installation, especially if special sizes are needed and you purchase stock widths instead.
Always speak with one of our knowledgeable sales representatives if you’re unsure of whether you need a stock or custom-sized gate.
There are a few different kinds of PVC fence gates:
- Single or walk gates (available up to 6’)
- Double or drive gates (available up to 12’)
- Sliding or rolling gates (expert installation required)
- Gate kits (pieces assembled on site, not welded; good for uneven grading or angled ground)
Examine the Grading of the Ground Under Your Vinyl Fence Line
Grading is the measure of how even or level your ground is that will be used for construction. Most densely populated areas are pretty evenly graded, for example, in Fort Lauderdale most residential properties will not have severe grading differences that will affect your installation.
However, certain fence projects are on very uneven properties, such as homes that border waterways where there is a deep slope created for drainage and to prevent flooding. Steep slopes will sometimes need longer posts in order to install a properly leveled fence line.
Gates installed in these unevenly graded areas usually need to be gate kits, and not welded, as welded gates are square and will not be even with an angle, whereas with a gate kit, you can screw or rivet the profiles together at any needed angle at the site.
Get Help With Your Vinyl Fence Layout by Getting a Material Quote
Here at All Star PVC Fence, we are professionals with years of experience. Our sales representatives have seen virtually every project configuration and can lend invaluable insight into your specific project.
Contact us today to get help with your South Florida or Central Florida vinyl fence project, or to learn more about how you can lay your own project out, buy our material, and install it yourself.
