Frequently Asked Questions

Southern's list price is available in our online catalog. The online catalog is located on the left hand side of our website.  Click on the large red rectangular button called "View our online catalog" for more information. See the link at our home page at www.svmllc.com.

Don’t see the product listed you want in the catalog? Call Southern’s customer service department at 888-919-1941. You will be amazed at the number of additional items they can find for you.

If you are a current customer, (a building material professional), have you considered signing up for Partner View?  It is a free service from Southern.  Partner View has an online shopping cart that allows real time, 24x7 online inquiries to prices, orders, quotes, delivery status and more. Partner View is the fastest way to place an order with Southern. You receive an instant order confirmation. Instead of list prices, Partner View contains your Building Material Professional day-to-day discounted net price. As a Southern customer, you access Partner View via the online catalog. Call us at 888-919-1941 to sign up for Partner View. Additional information is available at our 6.22.09 Southern Blog introducing Partner View, or by clicking on the following link for a brief introductory video: https://svm.webex.com/svm/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=30998822&rKey=7b2135c3c4d06fab
 

Another option: Southern can provide you a fractional multiplier for use with the online catalog. Use your multiplier times the list price to determine your buy price. Our Customer Service team can help with an easy export to aid in your calculations. We can help you move information from our online catalog to your spreadsheet software. From there, you can produce a buy price number. A tip: you can also produce your sell price number, too, and use the online catalog as a selling aid to quote your end use customer.

If you are a consumer, the list price provides you some guidance on your project and we welcome you to browse around. If you like what you see, Southern will be happy to refer you to one of our building material professionals for a final quote.

More than 90 new fences were added to the catalog. We feel the number of fence styles in the catalog truly follows the 80/20 rule and will help our customers obtain job-costing information much quicker. Should you need assistance navigating through the catalog or if you are a building material professional and need your fractional multiplier please contact our customer service representatives at 888-919-1941 or 252-523-2520.

For custom fences and rail designs, Southern’s customer service representatives will prepare the quote and fax it back to you, typically in the same day.

If you use Partner View, you get to request your delivery date. And, you can track your order's up to the minute status all the way through production and shipment.  Real time. 24x7.

Customer Service will confirm immediately whether Southern can hit the delivery date upon you entering a Partner View order, or whether the date needs to be adjusted.  It most cases with Partner View orders, we find we deliver your order on or before the day you request.  This is a very easy way for you to plan your time.

For non-Partner View orders, Southern's Customer Service Representative always provides an estimated delivery date. We provide this date very early in the ordering process, at the time we send you an order acknowledgement. (Look for this date in the upper left hand corner of your acknowledgment). Providing the estimated delivery date this early in the order-make-ship-bill process allows you to plan your time more effectively.

We strive to maintain a 1 to 2 week cycle time, from the time you place your order until the time the product arrives at your destination. Orders for alternative colored materials or custom orders may take longer, due to the long lead times for raw material delivery.

For more on our order-make-ship-bill process, see the free 8-page literature piece, "Southern Vinyl's Order >Make >Ship>Bill Process, sku 88523, in Southern's online catalog.

Yes. 99 times out of 100, we can custom fabricate a fence using Enduris materials that matches a non-Enduris style perfectly.  And in the case of the exception: we can closely match another manufacturer's profiles for an extremely similar look.
Ask Southern's customer service representative how we can help you get this job. Smile as together we snatch the order away from your competition with a matching style fence.

Shipping can be free.

We require a minimum purchase for free delivery.  Individual orders can be consolidated, so that the total shipment meets the free shipping threshold.

The minimum purchase for free freight varies, depending on what shipping zone/state you are in. Here is an example of one shipping zone map for items shipped on a pallet. (Hold the control button and press the + key, to zoom in).

For items not requiring a pallet that Southern can ship by FedEx or UPS, lower fees apply.

If your order does not meet the minimum, a shipping and handling charge will apply.  We have an extensive network of shippers. We strive to keep shipping costs to their lowest by exploring the most cost efficient option among these shippers. We pass on all savings directly to you.

Here is an example of an LTL pallet shipment.  If you were located in Winston-Salem, this 1120 lb. load would incur a possible charge of $77.50, per the zone map above.  Or, if the total sale met the free freight requirements, there might be no delivery charge to you at all.

Shipping and handling charges also apply to all expedites, regardless of order amount, since Southern must incur additional charges to get emergency orders to you.

Shipping and handling charges appear on your quote and on your order acknowledgment, very early in the order-make-ship-bill process, to remove any guesswork. You know right from your initial order placement what these costs will be, so you can help us manage delivery costs, too.

Coming 4th quarter 2009: FREE PASS.  A program that rewards our customers by providing free delivery on fill in items.  An announcement from the sales department is expected soon. 

Call Customer Service at 888-919-1941 to see how you can receive free freight.

Here is a new chart (10.20.09), with newly negotiated freight rates (better rates, certain lower sales minimums) that will help you understand pallet charges and freight minimums.  A $7.50 handling charge per pallet is in addition to these charges. This chart assumes delivery to a business address and no unusual delivery requirements:

Our products are made-to-order. While we strive to maintain a 1 to 2 week cycle, we realize there are times when a ‘gotta have it now’ situation comes up that requires a faster turn around. We will always attempt to meet your needs when feasible. Please ask your customer service representative if an opportunity to expedite the order is possible.

With Partner View, your quote is available instantly.  No more wait time. Partner View is a free service from Southern Vinyl. See https://svm.webex.com/svm/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=30998822&rKey=7b2135c3c4d06fab for more details.

Southern's Customer Service Team can prepare the quote for you, too.  Since 1997, this group has prepared tens of thousands of quotes.  Quote preparation is something our company treats as a core competency.

Normally, Customer Service should have your quotes prepared and faxed back to you the same day. We strive for a 2-hour turnaround, depending on the complexity of the job. Do you need a technical CAD drawing for a custom job?  Call us.  We can provide that for you free of charge, usually within 24 hours.

All quotes must be signed by the customer and faxed back to Southern before we can call this an accepted and acknowledged order. And then we will place your order in the queue for production and shipping.

Occasionally, the volume of business causes a delay in returning a quote. Please contact customer service at 888-919-1941 if you are experiencing difficulty receiving a quote. They will be happy to help get this through the system for you.

We realize, as a Building Material Professional in the heat of the battle, with everything else you have to do, finding where you placed that Southern Vinyl quote or order confirmation can sometimes be problematic.

The fastest solution to finding your information: Partner View, a free service for Building Material Professionals. Partner View provides you instant access to all your orders in process. Real time. 24x7.  You also have access to all open and closed quotes, invoices, statements and key shipping information, anytime you need it. See https://svm.webex.com/svm/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=30998822&rKey=7b2135c3c4d06fab for more information.
 

In addition, your Southern customer service representative tracks all of your quotes and orders and can answer this question quickly and at the click of a mouse. Contact them at 888-919-1941 or 252-523-2520 or email at svm@svmllc.com.

Resending an order confirmation (or prior quote; or old invoice; or statement; etc) is just a moment away. We can do it while you are still on the phone. We send to your e-mail or fax machine, wherever you instruct us to, automatically.

Racking refers to the ability of the fence to smoothly follow the contour of the land.  An alternative method to racking is called stair-stepping: installing the panels stair-step fashion throughout the project.  Either method results in a beautiful finished project when installed properly.

We can expand the routing holes on any/all of the rails of a fence panel. Expanding the routs allows the product to rack along limited pitches in line with the terrain.  A tip: Southern does not recommend racking a scalloped fence system.  The smooth look of a scalloped fence distorts when racked. We can do it. You may not be happy with the result.

If you can provide Southern the slope/grade of the land you are working on, our Customer Service team can assist you with whether or not we can create a fence system that racks and is aesthetically pleasing.  We also can recommend the correct size of the expanded routs to meet your project's needs.

Our trained customer service representatives can help you with these questions. Before they are allowed to speak with customers on the phone, Southern's Customer Service Team has gone through extensive training. The CSR is an expert in producing, delivering and installing fence and rail systems. Southern has accumulated decades of experience, talking to customers about their installation needs. Plus we have plenty of hands-on, real-world experience with the types of issues you might face on the job.

CAD drawings sometimes help answer a question.  CAD drawings can be found in our online catalog.  Find your product and click on the thumbnail image. A wealth of information is available on the CAD drawings provided.

Do you need a technical CAD drawing for a custom job?  Call us.  We can provide that for you free of charge, usually within 24 hours.

In addition, Southern has added a new section to our website called ASK SOUTHERN.  ASK SOUTHERN contains a series of informational videos for the Building Material Professional.  We take the best tips shared by our customers, film an informational video and place them on this site. Updates occur frequently, so check back often.  We get our best ideas for videos from our customers.

The informational videos are usually introduced on the Southern Blog, first.  We hope you can visit our Blog from time to time.  It is updated two to three times per week and is found at the top of our website or at www.svmllc.com/blog.

Call us at 888-919-1941 or 252-523-2520 or email at svm@svmllc.com and let us help you with any product or installation question.  We are here for you M-F EST 7am to 5pm.  And our website is available any time you want.

Southern offers all fences in white as the standard. Almond colors are also available, but can take as long as 2-4 weeks to complete the order if the raw materials are not in stock. For all other colors, please speak with your customer service representative about timing and special order requirements.

Vinyl is a product consisting of a predetermined mix of select raw materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), stabilizers, colorants, UV inhibitors (TiO2), and impact modifiers.  It is an unplasticized or rigid product.  Here is a link for more information on the main ingredient, Polyvinyl Chloride: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

For more information, visit http://www.vinylnewsservice.com/MainMenu/Factsheets.

Titanium Dioxide or TiO2 is a chemical additive that acts as a UV inhibitor and whitening agent for vinyl. This product is mixed in with the other raw materials during the blending and extrusion process. Ti02 is critical to the long-term weatherability of vinyl products.

Titanium Dioxide is the whitener in PVC fence and rail. Also in paints, coatings, plastics, papers, inks, foods, medicine.  Even in toothpaste and to mark the white lines at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.  Ti02 is the most widely used white pigment in the world and performs very important functions for Southern's PVC products. 

For more information on titanium dioxide, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide.

Impact modifiers are supplements added to the compounded material that provide performance features for vinyl.  Impact modifiers provide the product enough strength during impact to resist breaking; yet, also enough rigidity to prevent the product from warping or sagging under normal use and conditions.

Southern's product is constructed from a rigid PVC, also known as a uPVC or unplasticized PVC.  No phthalate plasticizers are included in the extruded lineals we purchase. The fabricated products you receive from Southern are made from these purchased lineals. Unlike the potential with flexible products, our rigid product can not leach phthalate softeners, since these additives are never part of the process.

The raw materials to make vinyl are mixed, heated and extruded into lineals that look similar to lumber.  Southern then purchases these lineals from suppliers.

Southern adds value by making-to-order. When we receive your order, we schedule for production. Southern cuts the lineals to size, routs holes for pickets, assembles the desired style ordered, packages the order and then ships. Southern's >order >make >ship >bill process is one of the most efficient in the industry.

Your fence has an appropriate level of UV inhibitors (TiO2) which prevents the sun’s rays from turning your fence yellow. We do recommend that you keep your fence clean from dirt and grime to avoid discoloration from foreign contaminant.

Mildew is a living organism and grows on organic materials. Vinyl is a non-organic material. Mildew, will, however, attach to dirt on the vinyl if the vinyl is not cleaned periodically.

The product can be cleaned with a mild detergent and water. For more difficult stains or dirt, use a non-abrasive cleaner like Simple Green.

Vinyl fence and rails can be pressure washed, the same as you might do the exterior of your home.

An annual cleaning is usually sufficient.  Or not.  As long as the dirt does not accumulate on the product, Southern's products will continue to look great. That is one big advantage to a Southern vinyl product: very low maintenance.  We agree you have better things to do with your time than spending it on maintainence.

Vinyl, like most all materials, will expand and contract. Extreme cold will cause vinyl to contract, making it slightly less flexible. Extreme heat will cause vinyl to expand. However, our designs and installation instructions take these conditions into account and allow for normal expansion and contraction.

Your Southern Vinyl product contains two warranties.

As a fabricator, Southern warrants against fabrication defects caused by our company.  If we don't make it right, we make it right. Fortunately, our Lean Manufacturing processes keep fabrication defects to almost zero.

Your product also carries a transferable, limited lifetime warranty as provided by our lineal extrusion supplier. See http://www.enduris.com/pdf/Warranty%20rev%2006.pdf for our lineal supplier's warranty.  The warranty is very powerful. 

Other manufacturer's warranties apply to accessory products we distribute.  We would be happy to provide these warranties upon request.

Our designs of vinyl fencing are produced in accordance with testing required to meet specific wind loads if installed according to the installation instructions. See the technical section of the online catalog at www.svmllc.com for more information.

No, unless abused. Direct contact with weed whackers and other lawn equipment can and will damage vinyl, metal and wood products. Please use caution when operating equipment around these materials.

It depends on the region, the soil makeup and the frost line. In certain parts of the country a hole can be dug to the appropriate depth, say 24" to 36", the post inserted, and the hole is then backfilled with dirt or dry concrete and packed.
 
Best practices include: knowing your property line offset; knowing your easement offset; any right-of-way restrictions; required set backs from sidewalks and driveways; and knowing the applicable city ordinances and codes with a quick call to your local building code official.
 
And make sure you call 811 before you dig. A new, federally-mandated national "Call Before You Dig" number, 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on digging projects. Every digging job requires a call – even small projects like planting trees or shrubs. If you hit an underground utility line while digging, you can harm yourself or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood and potentially be responsible for fines and repair costs. One call to 811 gets your underground utility lines marked for FREE.

 
For alternate installations, please contact our customer service department directly for assistance. See the technical section of the online catalog at www.svmllc.com for more information.

Yes, we supply many designs that when properly installed can make a very stable and preferred rail system for these applications.

PVC is the world's most versatile plastic. PVC's performance has been very well known for decades. More than 50% of all PVC is used in construction materials.  Southern's products are very durable, easy to install and very safe.

Southern's vinyl products do not support combustion and are not toxic. They will not break down and have adverse effects on the environment. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride for more resources on the effect uPVC/rigid vinyl products have on the environment.  The molecular structure is made up of hydrogen, oxygen and chlorine atoms. Southern's product is constructed from a rigid PVC, also known as a uPVC or unplasticized PVC.  No softening phthalate plasticizers are included in the extruded lineals we purchase. Our products must be rigid in order to perform as a fence or rail system.

Less than 50% of the final uPVC product is derived from fossil fuels, requiring approximately .5 kg of natural gas to produce 1 kg of uPVC.  Competing materials require up to 1.75 kg of oil to produce 1 kg of product, and are approximately 98% derived from fossil fuels. Not uPVC. uPVC is roughly 50% natural gas and 50% salt (the source of the chlorine that results in poly vinyl chloride).

Vinyl products are recyclable.  Southern recycles nearly 100% of the offware product generated from our fabrication processes. (See The Southern Blog for a related article about how the Southern team made this happen: http://www.svmllc.com/blog/green-means-gold). These offware materials are sent to recyclers, who produce regrind. 

The regrind is sent to lineal extruders, who use these recycled materials in their manufacturing processes.   Finally, Southern purchases raw material lineals made partially with regrind, completing the cycle. Southern's Essential line of products contain a high percentage of regrind, as much as 87% post industrial recycled material in the substrate, which saves our customers money and has the added bonus of being very good for the environment.

Most uPVC fence and rail products are still in use. Some installations have been around for decades. uPVC products are just as recyclable as any other plastic product, post-consumer. However, not a lot of consumer uPVC has been recycled.  Why?  Much of the product is still in use and does not need to be replaced.  Because it is so durable, the products have not needed to be recycled post consumer.  However, given the robust model for recycling pre-consumer uPVC within our industry, we suggest that when uPVC does reach the end of its useful life, there will be a mechanism to recycle these materials, post-consumer.