Fencing & Decking

In the 1980s, vinyl fences had a nasty reputation for fading with sunlight and becoming brittle in cold climates. That’s because the initial vinyl fences didn’t account for the destructive power of ultraviolet rays.

Before the development of vinyl fences, PVC was almost always used inside a building or underground; early developers overlooked the fact that vinyl fences would be at the mercy of the elements, including sunlight.

Today, however, these issues have almost completely disappeared. Stronger PVC and improved manufacturing processes have strengthened vinyl fencing dramatically, as the existence of the now-standard lifetime warranty shows. The first change in construction has to do with layering—now, through a process called coextrusion, two layers of vinyl are bonded together. The top layer contains protective chemicals, including titanium dioxide, which decelerate the rate of decay. To reduce cracking, the thicker bottom layer contains special chemicals to help keep the vinyl flexible.