Case Study: CertainTeed PVC Fencing Provides Uniformity and Aesthetic Appeal for Staten Island Townhomes

CertainTeed PVC Fencing Provides Uniformity and Aesthetic Appeal for Staten Island Townhomes

When a new housing development is being planned and built, often the builder will leave whether or not to fence the yards up to the residents of the new community. In the absence of HOA fence regulations, the result is often a disorganized and disjointed appearance for the whole community. The new residents can often use a variety of fence materials and styles, and some may not opt to fence at all. Within a year or two of build out and move in, what was conceived to be a cohesive neighborhood has lost its sense of unity. At best, it’s unsightly, and at worst, it can depress property values.

When Savo Brothers, Inc. built Sailor’s Key, a luxury townhome community on Staten Island’s Eastern Shore, they changed their approach to fencing. In their earlier developments, Savo Brothers did not include fences with their finished homes. Like many developers, they left all of the fence decisions up to the eventual homeowners. “We’d let the homeowners choose what kind of fence they wanted, or if they even wanted a fence at all,” says Michael Savo, president of Savo Brothers, “That didn’t work out because you’d see too many different styles of fences from different manufacturers all throughout the community. There was no uniformity.” When they built Sailor’s Key, Savo Brothers decided to provide the same fence product throughout the 90-townhome community. This would ensure continuity and a clean appearance for years after they completed the project. So they hired Gateway Fence, Inc., of Staten Island, to help select a fence product and install it.

They preferred the low-maintenance and durability of vinyl fencing, and they chose Bufftech® Chesterfield by CertainTeed. From the seven colors available, they decided on Natural Clay, and they opted for the product’s CertaGrain® texture. CertaGrain gives Chesterfield a realistic wood-grain texture. This allows a vinyl fence to look like traditional wood fencing without saddling the new homeowners with the maintenance issues that can afflict natural wood.

The construction of Sailor’s Key was divided into three phases. Upon the completion of Phase One, Gateway Fence began installing the first round of fencing for 48 of the townhomes. Gateway Fence’s crew included its president, Steve Borruso and two assistants.

The crew set fence posts along each perimeter and secured each hollow post with two steel reinforcing bars inside. They then filled the posts halfway with cement. Each of the gateposts was also secured by two reinforcing bars, but to add more strength, they were filled 3/4 of the way with cement. Once the posts were set, Borruso and the crew put in the rails of the fences. The precision cut of the Bufftech pieces, and pickets cut on a slight angle for sloped ground, make installation go a lot more smoothly than with other fence materials. Borruso was particularly impressed with the extra strength of the Bufftech gate pieces. “The gates are great,” he says. “The aluminum C-channel internal frame really gives the gates a lot of strength.”

The selections made by Savo Brothers and Gateway Fence will serve the residents of Sailor’s Key for years to come. Bufftech Chesterfield fencing will save the homeowners money through significantly reduced maintenance costs, and they’ll add to the neighborhood’s aesthetics and property values.

Learn more about CertainTeed’s line of fence products at www.certainteed.com/fence.