By: Alicia Schnell
With all the different types, materials, and designs of fencing to choose from, it can get a bit confusing. SimTek is one of the newest materials on the market with little understanding of what it is. So I’ll tell you. SimTek is made from polyethylene, which is the most popular form of plastic used in the world to create not only fencing, but grocery bags, shampoo bottles, children’s toys, and even bulletproof vests.
SimTek started out with one stone wall design, but recently, panels looking like wood have been introduced too. There are six colors to choose from: Brown granite, Beige granite, Grey granite, Black granite, Desert granite, and White granite. The panels come in heights of 3’, 4’, and 6’ and the 4’ can be stacked to create an 8’ tall fence. Make sure you check with your county on what heights are allowed around your property before putting up the 8’ first. Posts are reinforced with galvanized steel. You can also select gates in widths of 3’, 4’, 5’ and 6’ at 6’ tall. 4’ and 8’ heights are only available in the 4’ width. A cool feature of SimTek comes from its resistance to ultraviolet light – meaning the color isn’t supposed to fade. Also, the material is resistant to weather, water, chemicals, algae, and moss. If any moss or algae do start to cling to the wall, all you have to do is pressure wash the invader off and your fence is as good as new. Even better, termites and other pesky insects can’t sink their teeth into this material.
The company who produces SimTek fencing has gone to great lengths to ensure your fence will never suffer any damage. They’ve thrown baseballs, golf balls, rocks, and other such abusers at the product and they all bounced right off. The wall wasn’t even bruised, making this fence very kid friendly. Seriously, check out the videos on www.fence-works.com and watch a professional baseball player throw a 90 mph fastball at the wall as well as multiple hockey pucks smash into a panel on an ice rink. Live on a busy street? According to the website, SimTek acts as a sound barrier and blocks about 98% of the noise; where studies show wood only blocks about 75%. Live around an artist? SimTek is graffiti resistant. Supposedly, most paints are removable by pressure-washer. If a particularly tough paint is stuck to your wall, carburetor cleaner seems to do the trick. Just leave it on the paint for a few minutes until the paint softens and then pressure-wash it off. Plus, SimTek comes with a Lifetime warranty (with some exclusions of course).