What Is a Palisade Fence Anti-Sag, and How Is It Used?
You might have noticed, on a palisade fence material take-off (including the one you get from our palisade fence material calculator), that there’s a component of many palisade fence systems called an anti-sag.
Let’s take a closer look at what palisade fence anti-sags are, how they are used, and why your fence might need them.
What Is a Palisade Fence Anti-Sag?
A palisade fence anti-sag is a piece of palisade pale that extends below the fence and is usually planted in a small concrete footing. It’s usually made from the same material as the pales on your palisade fence.
Why Are Palisade Fence Anti-Sags Used?
Palisade fence is a higher security fence system that is usually made from fairly thick angle iron horizontal rails and fairly thick roll-formed or angle iron palisade pales.
Of course, those materials are quite heavy, and because many typical palisade fence systems are 3 meters or about 10 feet wide, that often leads to sagging in the middle of the palisade fence panel.
An anti-sag, properly installed, helps to carry the weight of the fence panel where it’s exerting the most force – in the center of the panel, and that helps to prevent sagging.
How are Palisade Fence Anti Sags Installed?
There are a few ways that palisade fence anti-sags could be installed.
If you are using a bolted palisade fence system, you might be given an additional piece of pale that is about a foot or 30 centimeters long. This pale is bolted to the horizontal rails using the same bolt that is used to attach the pale – essentially sandwiching it between the pale and the rail.
Another common method of including a palisade fence anti-sag in your palisade fence system is to have a longer pale in the center of the panel. This can be done with bolted palisade fence systems as well as welded palisade fence systems.
Can You Install Palisade Fence Anti Sags Later?
If you’ve had a palisade fence installed and it’s showing signs of sagging in the center of the panels, but you didn’t get anti-sags when your fence was installed, it may be possible to install palisade fence anti-sags later.
This might mean removing the center pale of each panel to install the anti-sag, or you could simply replace the center pale with a longer one.
Do You Need Palisade Fence Anti Sags?
This really depends on the type of palisade and the fence specification. If you have a very light-specification residential-style palisade fence, then you probably don’t need anti-sags because the rails should be able to support the weight of the panel.
However, if you have a heavier-duty, high-security palisade fence system, it’s almost certain that you will need anti-sags for your fence panels.
Always purchase palisade fencing from reputable manufacturers who provide quality fence systems, including things like anti-sags. Cheaper fence systems just don’t offer the same level of security and durability.
