12:00a.m. 30th August 2008

| By Janine Hill

AFTER: Polvin Fencing Systems' PVC fencing.

Timber, wire or masonry have been the traditional options for fencing, but have you ever stopped to consider plastic as a boundary barrier?

Once upon a few decades ago, nobody would have dreamed that plastic would have been used for milk bottles, bank notes or bumper bars, let alone fences.

But PVC – poly vinyl chloride – as a fencing material covers all the bases in a way none of the other “big three” do.

Unlike timber, PVC does not rot and is termite-resistant. Unlike metal, it does not rust. Unlike masonry, it is easy to DIY. And unlike the lot of them, PVC will never need painting.

> WIN A PVC FENCE - DETAILS BELOW

Melbourne’s famous Flemington racecourse and the Gympie Showgrounds have both gone with PVC fencing by Polvin Fencing Systems, which makes PVC fencing specially for Australian conditions.

The company has its head office and makes the PVC compound on the Sunshine Coast, while the fencing is made by a related interstate company.

Polvin director Les Hanslo, who founded the company in 2005 with an industrial chemist, had begun looking at PVC fencing at the suggestion of his wife, a keen horsewoman.

Mr Hanslo said companies had begun manufacturing PVC fencing in the United States when PVC pipe started becoming popular for post-and-rail fences. He sensed a gap in the market for PVC fencing made to suit conditions in Australia, where the levels of ultra-violet radiation, which break down the PVC, are much higher.

Polvin Fencing Systems' PVC fencing contains up to twice the amount of titanium dioxide – a UV inhibitor – as other brands.

Accelerated weathering tests conducted in a controlled environment show that the fence will still be good as new after 50 years.

“We know that our product is about three times better than the US standard requires us to be,” Mr Hanslo said.

BEFORE: A local home before it got the PVC fence treatment.

The only foreseeable “problem” with the PVC fence could be its longevity because it will not decay like other fences but, according to Polvin, PVC is not only recyclable but is actually in demand for the manufacture of other products.

Polvin’s early fencing work was mainly in post-and-rail fences to suit livestock and acreage situations but PVC picket fences are now available for urban blocks.

The PVC picket fencing is available in four standard colours: white, ivory, sandstone and spearmint, although Polvin is working on a new grey-green colour.

The PVC picket fencing is also available in four styles, including a rail top and a sunken arch top.

Various caps are produced for the posts, including a standard flat cap, a more pronounced Gothic cap, and a ball cap. Solar light caps and solar path lights are also available.

Mr Hanslo said the vertical slats were about 50mm apart and, without the risk of termites or rot, could be set at any height to make a property pet-proof.

The picket fences are easily installed, with the PVC pieces slotted into place, and a PVC rod threaded through the base ensures that nobody steals any of the slats.

Larry and Irene Clifford, of Peregian Springs, chose Polvin’s PVC picket fence as an easy maintenance alternative to traditional timber.

“We liked the look of it, the aesthetics. We love the picket fence look but this is a no-maintenance form.

It’s got a 50-year life span or something like that,” Larry said.

“The service (and) the job the guys did was absolutely first-class. We just told them what we wanted.”

WIN A NEW PVC FENCE

Do you live in a great house, in a great neighbourhood, but your fence is letting you down?

Polvin Fencing Systems is offering one Sunshine Coast Daily reader the chance to win a new PVC picket fence to better frame his or her home.

To enter, send in a photo of your house and your sad fence.

The entry judged by Polvin and the Sunshine Coast Daily to be the most deserving of a new fence will win up to 30 metres of Polvin picket fencing, worth up to $4000 (installed).

Email your entry to: features@scnews.com.au or send a photographic print to Polvin Fencing Competition, Sunshine Coast Newspapers, PO Box 1113, Maroochydore Qld 4558.

Entries close on September 9 with the winner to be announced in these pages on September 12.