Composite Fencing

Composite, also called wood plastic composite or WPC, combines wood fiber with polyethylene. According to Gardenode, its Equinox slats are about 90% recycled material. The slats have the warm look of timber, but they do not rot, splinter or need paint or stain.

In a composite fence the slats stack on top of each other between two grooved aluminum posts. A bottom rail carries the first slat, a top rail closes the bay, and the result is a solid screen that blocks the view from neighbors and the street.

Every part in this category belongs to the Gardenode Equinox system. The grooves, clips and profiles are made for each other, so order posts, slats and accessories from the same range. A bay is 70-7/8" wide: the slats, rails and braces are all that length, and the posts stand 72-7/8" apart on center so one slat spans each bay.

Composite Fence Boards

The slats that fill the fence. Solid slats close the view completely: twelve of them build a bay about 70-7/8" tall. Louver slats are angled so air passes while the view stays blocked. Openwork slats are held apart by spacers for a lighter look.

Composite Fence Posts

Grooved aluminum posts in two sizes: 2-3/4" x 2" for lower runs and 3-1/8" x 3-1/8" for taller runs and privacy screens. An aluminum post insert stiffens a post for a fence taller than 70-7/8".

Composite Fence Gates

The Equinox garden gate: an aluminum frame filled with the same composite slats, hung on the heavier 3-7/8" x 3-7/8" Equinox gate post.

Composite Fence Accessories

The parts that build and finish a bay: top and bottom rails, caps, starter profiles for a wall, variable angle profiles for corners, slat spacers, fixing and adjusting blocks, steel slat braces and steel base plates for concrete.

• Solid slat: 70-7/8" x 5-7/8" x 13/16", brushed, wood grain or co-extruded.
• Openwork slat: 70-7/8" long and 3-3/8" or 5-3/8" wide, with a 5/8" gap between slats.
• Louver slat: 70-7/8" long, co-extruded, with a sloped profile.
• Post 2-3/4" x 2": lengths from 3'2-5/8" to 7'10-1/2", clip included, cap sold separately.
• Post 3-1/8" x 3-1/8": lengths of 6'2", 7'6-1/2", 8'6-3/8" and 10'6", cap and clip included.
• Gate: 39-3/8" or 47-1/4" wide and 63", 68-7/8" or 74-3/4" tall, on 3-7/8" x 3-7/8" gate posts.

A privacy fence blocks the view into a yard or onto a patio, marks the boundary and keeps children and pets in. A solid composite bay also cuts some noise from a street. Composite does this without the upkeep that a wood privacy fence needs every few seasons.

• No rot or splinters: composite does not rot or splinter the way timber can.
• No staining or painting: clean the fence once a year with a sponge and clean water.
• No knots: the slats are even along their length, without knot holes.
• Even color: co-extruded slats carry an outer skin against UV, scratches and stains.
• One system: posts, slats, rails and caps fit together without cutting grooves on site.

Composite does move with heat and weighs more than aluminum, which is why the system uses fixing blocks to keep an expansion gap and steel braces inside composite slats.

• Full privacy: solid slats. Twelve of them close a bay, with a steel brace in every third slat.
• Privacy with airflow: louver slats. The angle blocks the view but lets wind pass. Each slat takes a brace, and the bay is built on the louver bottom rail with two starter spacers, from a pack of 10 that covers five bays, and a pack of 24 intermediate spacers.
• A lighter screen: openwork slats, held 5/8" apart by spacers. A bay about 70-7/8" tall takes eleven slats, eleven braces and one pack of 22 spacers.
• An accent: Gardenode also makes laser-cut aluminum decorative panels that sit in the same posts, in place of two solid slats.

Aluminum posts, rails and caps are powder coated in Anthracite Gray RAL 7016, Quartz Gray RAL 7039, Black RAL 9005 or Teak. Solid composite slats come brushed in Anthracite Gray or Quartz Gray, with a wood grain in Anthracite Gray, or co-extruded in Graphite, Teak and Anthracite Gray. Louver and openwork composite slats are co-extruded.

1. Measure the run and divide it into bays of 70-7/8", with posts 72-7/8" apart on center.
2. Count the posts: one more than the number of bays on a straight run. Use a starter profile where the fence starts against a wall.
3. Choose the post length: the fence height plus the part set in concrete, or the fence height alone on a base plate.
4. Per bay, order the slats, a bottom rail, a top rail, at least two fixing blocks and the steel braces the slat type needs.
5. Add caps for the posts, an insert per post above 70-7/8", and base plates if the posts stand on concrete.

1. Dig a hole about 16" square and 20" deep for each post, the guide Gardenode gives for the 3-1/8" post, and set the post in concrete, plumb and in line.
2. Or stand the post on a steel base plate on a slab, deck or low wall. Gardenode advises keeping a fence on base plates to 5'3" for wind load.
3. Fit two fixing blocks in the post grooves and set the bottom rail on them; use adjusting blocks on sloping ground so each bay steps with the grade.
4. Stack the slats tongue up and groove down, aligned by the serial number on the top edge, with the braces in place.
5. Close the bay with the top rail, 1-3/16" below the top of the post, then fit the clip and cap on start and end posts.

A 90 degree corner uses the same post. For a corner between 45 and 135 degrees, the two-part variable angle profile clips onto the post and sets the angle. Against a house or wall, the 82-5/8" starter profile takes the place of the first post, with its cap included. On a slope, adjusting blocks set the height of each bay.

The Equinox garden gate is supplied without posts. It hangs between two Equinox gate posts set 24-3/4" deep in concrete, 39-3/8" apart for the 39-3/8" gate. Set the bottom hinge 3/4" above the ground, slide the leaf on, refit the top hinge and adjust the receiving plates. The gate is 63" tall with nine slats, 68-7/8" with ten or 74-3/4" with eleven, and can also hang on a wall or pillar.

New composite can show light marks from production dust after the first rains; they wash away. After that, a yearly clean with a sponge and clean water is enough. Skip the pressure washer. Fenceweb delivers the Gardenode Equinox system to every US state and to Canada, and a size without a price on its product page is sold on request.