Looking back in history, at one of the most powerful armies in ancient times, it came to mind that if the Romans used their own style of palisade fencing to create battlefield fortresses and defences that were impenetrable, we should be using palisade fencing as our first and best option for defending our families and properties.
While their fortifications looked a lot more vicious than our palisade fences today, one can definitely see the exceptional value of investing in palisade fencing in 2022, with spiralling crime rates.
The question here though is; how to make a palisade fence? That is, one that doesn’t look like this one below from the fields of Alesia, but that will act as an equally tough crime deterrent for your home or business!
How to make a palisade fence?
If you’re determined to take the DIY route to make a palisade fence, choosing steel instead of wood in this instance, then you’re in for quite a challenge if you aren’t a palisade fencing expert.
There are 3 types of palisade fencing on the market today, namely steel palisade fencing, stainless steel palisade fencing and galvanised steel palisade fencing, with the galvanised steel fencing being the best option for you if you live in Cape Town.
If you choose steel palisade fencing you’re going to be facing serious issues with corrosion and rust in the coastal air, which means lots of money to be spent on repairs and replacing corroded sections of the fence regularly.
Stainless steel won’t have the same problems; however, this is a very costly solution if you don’t want endless problems with your fence.
Your best investment would be in galvanised steel palisade fencing, which will give you a fence that’ll last longer than any other and withstand rust and corrosion.
Now that that’s out of the way, you need to remember that the planning stage at the drawing board is fundamental to knowing how high and wide the fence will be, in order to plan how many posts, pales and panels you’ll need.
Sizes available in pales, panels & posts
Speaking very generally here, you can get custom and standard palisade fencing components from various suppliers which range from a standard panel size of 3m x 1.8m, to custom panels that vary from 0,6 – 3,0m high and up to 3m wide.
Custom pales can vary from 0,3m-3m high, with posts coming in at a maximum height up to 3.6m, so, you can see how your planning of the fence has to be spot on, so that you don’t buy anything more than you need.
Spikes
There are a variety of really mean-looking, crime-deterring spikes on the market, the choice is yours in terms of how much pain you’d like to cause anyone even trying to climb your fence! Make it count!
Here’s an example of a spike that would really put any criminal off trying to get onto your property!
Planting the posts
Let’s look at a basic example of what it involves to plant the posts of your palisade fence:
If the fence is going to be 2m high, the post has to be 2.4m high and has to be planted at a depth of 0.4m, and so it will go, depending on the height you settle on for the fence. The post will have to be planted in concrete, so, you’re looking at a pretty labour-intensive DIY project here.
You can get posts with the post cap already welded on, but if you’re looking at a base plate, you’re probably going to have to pay extra for these.
…Or do it the way Topfence does palisade fencing in Cape Town!
Unless you really have the physical strength, time and money to pour into this DIY project, you’d be best-served by entrusting the perimeter security of your property to the experts at Topfence!
Before you start laying out graph paper and poring over made-to-scale plans, contact the awesome team at Topfence. This is where you get freebies such as site measurements, quotation, assistance with drawing up plans and much needed guidance only professionals can offer.
Almost 14 years after having installed their first palisade fence in Durbanville, Cape Town, you can rely on Topfence to take you from free advice to site measurements, drawing board to manufacture and final installation, without missing a beat.