Pool Fence Materials & Components
The mesh, poles, deck sleeves, clips and gate hardware that make up a Katchakid removable mesh pool fence.
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A removable mesh pool fence is supplied and installed as one system, and this page covers what it is made of and how the parts go together. Below is what a typical Katchakid installation built to conform to ASTM F2286-16(2023) comprises. Not every fence is installed to that configuration: the route, the surfaces it crosses, the grade, local code and your own choices all shape the final specification, and your consultation confirms what applies to your pool.
What Makes Up a Katchakid Fence System
Included With Every Fence
- Tight-weave PVC-coated polyester mesh panels in 15-foot sections, bound top and bottom
- One-inch Quad-Plus aluminum support poles at 36-inch centers, with color-matched caps
- Deck sleeves at each pole position, with caps for when the fence is down
- Spring-loaded stainless steel clips joining each section, so a single section can be released and rejoined
- Your choice of finish: Sheer Black, Sable or Oakmont
- Installation and tensioning by a Katchakid technician
Required for Conformity — Quoted Separately
- A self-closing, self-latching, key-lockable gate on 1.25-inch square gate posts, hung to open away from the pool and set on firm decking. Nearly every fence we install has one.
Selected According to the Property
- Concrete footings where the route crosses lawn or other un-concreted ground
- Attachment fittings where the fence meets an existing wall, pillar or structure
- Five-foot panel height in place of the standard four-foot
- Additional gates, or a manual opening for occasional access (a secondary access point, never the everyday way in and out)
No barrier is childproof, and none replaces close, constant adult supervision.
Katchakid Pool Fencing – Mesh Panels and Binding
Our pool fencing mesh panels are manufactured from a tight-weave polyester mesh coated in PVC: the polyester yarn provides the structural strength, the PVC coating protects against weather, UV and moisture, and the open weave lets air and water pass through. The continuous weave of the mesh ensures uniformity, a quality appearance and a superior tensile strength. The mesh is made to resist ripping in normal use. Inspect it regularly and stop using the fence if you find wear or damage.
This material is flame retardant, heat sealable, and stable in either hot or cold temperatures. The mesh is resilient to abrasion, mildew and bacteria and does not hold or absorb water. The Katchakid pool fencing is resistant to fading, deterioration and or shrinkage.
PVC-coated polyester mesh is widely used for pool barrier fencing because it has a continuous weave with no ready footholds and is designed to resist climbing.
The mesh panels are bordered at the top and bottom by a reinforced polypropylene binding that is triple-stitched with triple-bonded marine thread to ensure strength. This binding prevents the fence from relaxing and reinforces each panel while assisting to maintain the required tension levels.
The finished mesh panel is held firmly to the aluminum pole with a convex aluminum molding, secured by zinc coated aluminum screws spaced at five-inch intervals. An extra set of screws is fitted at the top and bottom of each pole for additional strength. The support poles are completed with a color coordinating cap.
No barrier is childproof, and none replaces close, constant adult supervision.
Section Clips – How Sections Join and Release
Each 15-foot section is joined to the next by a spring-loaded stainless steel clip at the top of the pole. To release a section, lift the panel slightly, unhook the clip and lift the poles clear of their sleeves; to rejoin, drop the poles back in and hook the clip. Sections release individually, so you can open one run without taking down the whole fence.
Deck Sleeves and Caps
Each pole sits in a sleeve set into the deck at the pole position. When the fence is down, a cap closes each sleeve.
Katchakid Pool Fencing – Height Options
The Katchakid removable pool fence is available in heights of four feet or five feet.
Katchakid Pool Fencing – Quad-Plus Support Poles
The Katchakid Quad-Plus pole is one inch in diameter. The Interior core is reinforced at critical stress points by a central cross (X) which provides structural support from every angle.
Each 15-foot section of a Katchakid fence comprises five 36-inch mesh panels and six Quad-Plus support poles weighing approximately 12 lbs. A Quad-Plus support pole at every 36 inches enhances the strength of the fence and ensures the continuation of correct tension levels.
Pool Fencing Attachment Options
Quad-Plus Pole Finish
Katchakid Quad-Plus poles are finished with a powder coating rather than liquid paint. The coating — finely ground pigment and resin — is sprayed electrostatically onto the aluminum as a dry powder, then the poles go into a curing oven where heat fuses it into a smooth, seam-free film. The result is a hard-wearing, impact-resistant finish that is typically thicker than a liquid-paint coat and offers good resistance to chipping, flaking, scratching, corrosion, heat, and fading from sunlight and weather.
All three current finishes — Sheer Black, Sable and Oakmont — are powder-coated to match their mesh. Ask to see finish samples at your consultation.
Pool Fencing Color Options
Sheer Black
Sable
Oakmont
Concrete Footings
Product Summary: Specifications and Test Data
The specifications and independent test data behind the fence, taken from the materials laboratory reports.
Poles — horizontal load test
The fence is tested to withstand a 200 lb horizontal load applied as the standard specifies.
| Load applied | Result |
|---|---|
| 200 lb horizontal force, 48 in above grade | Maximum horizontal deflection of the top of any post less than 8 in; all posts returned to under 1 in of original position after the force was removed |
| 200 lb horizontal force, 36 in above grade | Maximum horizontal deflection of the top of any post less than 8 in; all posts returned to under 1 in of original position after the force was removed |
| 50 lb force from any direction | Maximum vertical clearance between the bottom of the barrier and the grade under 2 in; all posts returned to under 1 in of original position after the force was removed |
ASTM F2286-16(2023) — what the standard specifies, and how the fence is built to it
Depending on your pool and its surround, Katchakid removable mesh fencing can be installed to meet ASTM F2286-16(2023). Among other things, the standard specifies:
| Element | What the standard specifies | How the Katchakid fence is built |
|---|---|---|
| Gate | Opens away from the pool; self-closing and self-latching; latch placed no lower than 60 in above the ground, on the outside of the gate; gate hinged | Magna-Latch® latch and Tru-Close® self-closing hinges on 1.25 in square posts, hung to open away from the pool |
| Clear zone | At least 20 in between the barrier and the water | Route set out to keep the fence line clear of the water’s edge |
| Height | Above 48 in on both sides of the grade | 4 ft standard; 5 ft option |
| Ground clearance | No more than 1 in from grade to the bottom of the enclosure | Set at installation |
| Openings | No gap or void that would allow passage of a 4 in sphere | Panels bound top and bottom and screwed to every pole |
| Surface | Free of protrusions, cavities and other hand- or footholds; pole spacing sufficient to hinder a child’s ability to climb | Continuous-weave PVC-coated polyester mesh with no ready footholds; poles at 36 in centers |
| Posts | Extend 4 in into the grade and are spaced 36 in apart | 1 in Quad-Plus aluminum poles in deck sleeves at 36 in centers; concrete footings where the route crosses un-concreted ground |
| Fixings | — | Molding strips attach the mesh to each post with a minimum of 8 × ½ in screws — at least two at the top and two at the bottom, the rest a maximum of 6 in apart on center |
| Section joins | — | Each barrier section attaches by a spring-actuated safety gate hook placed no lower than 45 in |
Whether a given installation conforms depends on the pool, its surround, the grade and local code; your consultation confirms what applies to your layout. No barrier is childproof, and none replaces close, constant adult supervision.
