Do the posts have to be reinforced?

Trex posts are immensely strong and do not need to be reinforced in normal situations. For example, a 6 foot or even 8 tall Trex fence does not need to be reinforced. The posts can be placed directly in the ground in concrete just like a wood post. 

We get this question a lot from customers because the hollow design of the Trex posts remind them of vinyl posts that require inserts in order to reinforce them. A Trex post, however, is a completely different animal.

Trex posts sport a 5/8'' thick wall, which is over 4x thicker than traditional vinyl posts. With vinyl posts, it is not uncommon for rocks or other debris to smash and crack the material, making your fence look less than stellar.

Trex posts, on the other hand, can take a beating. And not only that, but the posts look beautiful with their wood aesthetic.

There are some some scenarios in which we would recommend reinforcing the post, and these have to do with instances in which the posts will be bearing a heavier weight than is typical. For example, we strongly recommend steel post inserts to reinforce the hinge post. This helps to stabilize the gate for long term usage. 

Without the reinforced steel, the gate would end up tearing through the composite material.

While most customers desire fencing that is 6' to 8' high, there are some instances in which customers want to build a fence that is taller. These requests are common for industrial or commercial properties.

For any fence material, you will need to provide some sort of additional reinforcement if the fence gets much higher than 8 feet. This is because the material becomes increasingly top heavy the higher it sticks up out of the ground, and wind has a much easier time toppling over the fence (think back on your childhood days when you tried to see how tall you could stack your Legos). For these instances, we strongly recommend steel inserts within the posts. Configurations for these fence designs are available in our Shop Drawings.