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Pool fencing is an essential component of a house that has an open pool. There are various reasons for having a fence around your pool; the first and foremost being pool safety. Accidents may happen around a swimming pool area. Think the unthinkable of someone slipping and falling into the pool. A mishap that must be avoided at all costs.
Fencing becomes all the more critical if you have toddlers in your home waiting to explore this unchartered territory. Therefore, the importance of fencing cannot be ignored. And, must not be ignored!
While swimming pool fencing restrictions differ all over the United States, sometimes even within the same city, most jurisdictions follow the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. or the BOCA national codes.
Generally, if you have a pool that’s deeper than 18 inches, you must install a fence as a safety barrier around it. The pool fence should be at least 4 feet high and should not have more than a two-inch gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Installing door alarms on all pools doors is a desired feature.
Before you buy and install a swimming pool fence, it’s best to find out about your local building codes as well as safety codes. You can contact your homeowners association or your insurance carrier regarding restrictions in your area.
An installed pool fence costs approximately $1,500 to $10,000 (or higher depending upon the size and type of pool fencing). The average cost ranges from $15 to $25 per linear foot. While a chain-link and mesh fencing (one of the cheapest pool fences) will cost about $1,000 to $5,000, a wrought iron fence, vinyl fence, aluminum fence, or wood fence will be almost double at $2,000 to $12,000. A glass pool fencing costs between $ 88 and $196 per linear foot.
Getting the right fencing is equally important. There are a lot of things that need to be considered to ensure that you get the right pool fence. Here is a list of some of these factors:
1. Material
The first thing that needs to be considered when you are looking to fence your pool is the fence material. Some of the fence options are glass, aluminum, mesh, wrought iron, or wood. Out of all these options pool glass fencing systems are the most popular choice for most of the families.
If you’re worried about a glass pool fence breaking, don’t be. The chance of a glass fence shattering is 1 in 1000. But in an unlikely event that it does, it breaks into small cubes instead of sharp pieces — and therefore does not cause any cuts or serious injuries. Moreover, a glass fence can easily withstand a temperature of over 200ᵒC.
2. Aesthetics
In most of the home architecture plans, we try to accommodate a backyard pool. If you have a pool in your backyard, you would, of course, want a fence that would enhance the beauty of your backyard rather than having one that’s an eyesore.
The most aesthetically pleasing fence is the pool glass fencing which brings out the best in your yard.
Read more: Attractive Pool Landscaping Ideas
3. Locking mechanisms
With kids who are smarter than Einstein these days, it becomes very important for us to also have kid-proof locks for the safety fence. There are various types of locks available in the market, ranging from normal locks and automatic closing/self latching locks to high-tech smart locks. The high-tech security locks would probably give us the best services.
Read more: How to Keep Your Kids and Pet Safe with Beautiful Fences
4. Removable fencing
We all love a pool party. This season, if you’re going to have an all-adult pool party at your house, you may want to temporarily remove your pool fencing. Hence, it’s important to choose a fence design that can be easily removed whenever required. In this regard too, glass fencing can be a good choice. You can have it removed any time and then again have it installed hassle-free.
These are just a few important things that need to be considered before you finally decide on the fence that you want to be put up around the pool in the backyard to ensure great design and longevity.
Read more: 7 Swimming Pool Maintenance Tips For Your Home
Written by Ashley Kinsela. April 3, 2018
Ashley Kinsela is a creative woman from Melbourne, a writer by profession who writes on various topics like Home Improvement, Automotive, Business, Health, Lifestyle, Entertainment, Pets, etc. She also loves doing DIY in her free time.
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Thanks for these tips for pool fences. It’s nice to know that you should think about aesthetics before deciding on a pool fence. Perhaps it could be good to try to imagine what fence would look ideal for your pool, depending on what the landscaping in your yard is like.
That’s good to know that glass fencing will make your backyard look good since it brings out the best in it. My husband and I are looking for a fence to install around our pool since I had our son last month and we want to make sure he’s protected when he gets older. I really like the idea of having it blend into our landscape since it’s see-through so we’ll have to look into getting one.
I like that you said material is the first thing you should think about when getting a pool fence. It’s good to know that most materials can be used as pool fencing, like you said. I like the idea of just using glass to have a fence that isn’t too in the way.
Now that my sister is moved into a new home she has been looking into getting pool fencing. She likes the idea but needs some pushing in the right direction. It may help her to know that pool fencing fits the backyard aesthetic that she is going for.
It got me when you said that removable fencing is a great choice since it can help you clean your area faster. With that in mind, I will be choosing the material that can be removed when needed. This will help me a lot because I do not have the luxury of time to clean the house a lot due to my hectic schedule at work which is why this information is advisable for me.
A friend of mine is thinking about getting a pool in their backyard, but we weren’t sure how to find the right type of fence. It makes sense that you would want to find something that would improve the beauty of your backyard. That way, you can match everything with your house, and keep your kids safe!
Glass pool fences are the most popular choice this days, and I couldn’t agree more! One thing you’ll love about it is that it gives you an uninterrupted flow of view, you can immediately see whose around the pool area. Great content and I hope to read more informative home safety related topics in your blog. Thanks!
It’s good to know that you should consider a locking mechanism for your pool fence to keep out crafty children. My wife and I would like to get a pool installed in our backyard, and we want to make sure that no kids from the neighborhood get in uninvited. We’ll be sure to look into getting a fence with a lock to stop them.
I never knew that you would need to consider aesthetics with pool enclosures. My family has been wanting to have a pool enclosure for our pool and we didn’t know what we should look for. I’ll remember this information if we ever do plan on getting a pool enclosure.