Fence Armor, NAFTA and Giving Back with Al Martin

Hey,

Hey.

All

Right. All right. We are on. Al, how are you, man? I'm doing great, Brian. How are you doing? Good. Good. Man, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming on the show. We've been talking about this for what, a month or two, right? It has been. It has uh you've been so booked. I always got time for you, Al. So, while I may know you and I may talk to you all the time, let's tell everybody about you and who you are and um who you're here to talk about. I mean, you're you're more than just Fence Armor. You're uh you also are the president of NAFA and you've got so much other stuff going on. So, give us a quick background about you and and what you do in the industry. All right. Well, in the fence world, I am certainly privileged to be president of NAFTA, the North American Fence Contractors Association. It is a mouthful. So, NAFTA is is all you really need to know. And you know, but the deeper meaning is North America. So, it includes Canada. It includes Mexico. Um, we don't have I I we used to have one or two members out in Mexico. I don't think we do, but we have several in Canada and we have obviously many in in the States. But, you know, we wanted to encompass uh the let's say the the continent that we're on and that's where the name came from. So, I'm gladly president and I'm enjoying that time uh with the group. We had the the pandemic at the beginning, so we didn't get too much done. Uh but now we're we're we're looking at uh continuing to do more volunteering, more philanthropic kind of work. And you're up in Canada yourself, aren't you not? I'm here half the time. I I I like to uh to stay where it's warm, so I kind of follow the sun. Yeah, I hear you. Our corporation's in Fort Lauderdale and uh I like to spend as much time there as I can. Oh, do Well, I mean, if if you're missing some sun, come down to Las Vegas. We got plenty of that. We got plenty of that. We're storing it up for the whole country this next month or so. But but now you mention I also like coconuts. But but you got your share in Florida, too. You're not without sun down there. No. But um you did mention NAFA, and I know um Fence Armor, you'll be at the fence show with Fence Armor and stuff, but I want I want to talk a little bit more about NAFTA because I think it's a it's an important part of our industry and um you know, and and you recently changed your mission statement if if I'm correct. I mean, I went on there and I saw empowering the fence industry to build a better world together. Um what what does that mean? Where did that that whole that whole new mission statement come from? Well, you know, the reality is we have a a couple of associations. We're we're going to say we're an association. We are truly an association but with the fence workers association and the uh American um AFA uh focused on aspects of defense industry that are related let's say symbiotically. I think NAFA from its beginning had always the the volunteer aspect in mind. So I think most people in defense industry will know that we've really uh back in the days of Scott and and maybe before him uh Ruit uh really brought on the work that we did at the National Cemetery in Arlington. And that's uh we've been carrying that on for years now. Um I think almost 10 years if I remember. And um this year is no different in October. So, we want to be an association that fencers would love to join to be able to give their time and energy back to well-deserving causes such as the Arlington Cemetery um and Victory Junction and many other things that we've done to give back to uh we'll say society in general. Yeah. Yeah. And I think most of us know about Arlington uh the Arlington Cemetery project because you you complete what another couple hundred feet of fence a year or something out there. What what exactly is that? You remove some fence and install um install fence and to replace what's existing. Exactly. So you know they we we have a window of a day typically. We try to get everything done on the day. Uh the day before we'll have our board meeting. the day of uh day after we should say uh we start on the project and that usually

Includes ripping out some fence uh and putting in some new fence and we have great um sponsors as it were who provide us the the materials. We have great great fence companies who join in to help us. And you know, the the small membership fees that we we ask, you know, $250 a year is a small membership fee. Really end up going back to really helping in these causes. Yeah. And you guys give back a lot, a lot more than most. I mean, if I remember your last one uh training you were doing in Florida, it was it you were actually helping people with rooms or something, too, weren't you? Yeah. Well, what happens in in our training in Florida, the fence training school when we have it, last year we actually turned that fence training school again into another project to um help put in the fences to a memorial site for uh I think it was the US Navy and that was a real nice tribute. So last year we did a couple of different projects. So, we're we're real good at that and certainly we'd love you to think about as fence companies maybe deserving individuals or organizations in your state that may uh need some help. And that's something we can uh bring up in our board meetings and look at where we can apply our energies and find fence companies and and sponsors to help us uh help others who who've given so much. Yeah. So, come on everybody. I know there's going to be thousands of people watching this at some point throughout the next week. So, get in those comments. If you got if you got a project or if you got something worthwhile um for Al to take a look at and his team or us or if you can donate some time, uh drop in the comments and let's see if we can get more of these projects going around because it looks like you guys are going to be focusing a lot more time um on these things as you do. So, so besides the Arlington one, you mentioned a Victory, what is it? Victory something. Yeah, a few years back we did another project, Victory Junction. Uh, and that was a a a really I want to say special because that's where we we met Richard Petty and certainly uh that whole family and how that ti tied into together. Uh Chris was involved in that one and he got things kind of uh rolling for us out in Georgia. Uh, but it was in the Carolinas. And Victory Junction is a we'll call it a a theme park for we'll say disadvantaged children, potentially those who aren't going to make it. Yeah. And they uh they get a week at this location to be able to enjoy uh those moments in life uh that um they can't normally enjoy. So we were busy building uh paddics for llamas and and horses. So we put up a lot of vinyl fence there. We had a great crew and we had a it was a real nice feeling when you you finished working there. That's for sure. So for 10 years you've been working on this Arlington fence. How many more years you think you got left on that? Well, it's it's a big cemetery. I I don't see that ending anytime soon. You know, sadly, the world's not getting any safer. And what they've been finding is their standard six foot high fences haven't been doing the trick. So, they're pulling a lot of those out and putting in 10-ft fences. So, there's a lot of that around the property. Now, I don't foresee uh a time where that's going to stop. Now, we can only do so much as a volunteer association and we can only get so many things. So, when we go in um we typically look at a a segment of the fence that we can do and um we're very very happy to do that for them and they're happy to have us obviously. So, yeah, works well. Have you tallied up a footage yet that you've done out there? That's it. It'll be hundreds and hundreds of feet over the years. It would be yeah, maybe maybe thousands. I don't know. We we try to do um it really depends on the segment. If it's, you know, if it's a 4ft or 5ft ornamental fence, then it's going to be real fast, right? But it also depends on what we're tearing out. Sometimes we've got stuff in there that is, you know, been in the ground for uh decades. Yep. Uh so that sometimes pulling that stuff out is is a challenge for sure. Yeah. So, what um what's the what's the next date you're going to be out there

To Arlington? How do people get involved in this? Where do I mean is there an email? Is there a website we go to? How if we had to tell everybody maybe Susan can type it into a comment or something and pull it up about um where they can contact you or get involved? they can certainly go to uh four the number fournafa.com and on there there'll be uh you know abilities to join us there and find out more about what's going on um at uh the next events. They're typically in um October. So, you know, the challenge with doing these things is getting the right window because, you know, typically, you know, most guys are really deep in their fencing business from May till September, So, you we trying to get things done at the beginning or maybe a couple of things at the beginning of the year before they get too deep and a couple of things at the end. Um, so it's a bit of a challenge in that aspect. So October, sometime in October is what you're you're Yeah, Arlington will be in October. Okay. And we'll do more um, you know, we'll do more um shout outs for that to kind of get get see what we can do about getting involved and maybe um I know Susan I think was out there at the last one possibly if I remember correctly. Susan and Michael, I believe. Yeah. So they were out there at that one. So um hopefully this will be after our show in September. So So I I'll be under a little less pressure too. So we'll get out there and uh try to make an appearance and see what we can do to help too. And maybe even maybe we can help get some more fencing in. um you know get some more more materials donated over there. And it's a it's a learning experience as well. So you do more than just build this fence. You turn this into a training exercise, Yeah. In in like we did in in Florida for that um uh memorial, I think it was for the Navy, we really took what was going to be our regular training and turned it into training slash practical application. So, that's one of the things that's that's typically different with us when we're we're we're doing training. It's usually uh an application where the fence is actually being built for purpose as opposed to let's put in a post and let's pull it out. Right. So, it it it gives it a different dynamic at that point because you have to do it right. So, is NAFA is there is there um a heavy veteran association with this? a lot of veterans that are that kind of started this. Is that why we see a lot more on, you know, Arlington, the Navy projects, things like that? I don't know. There certainly are veterans. Scott Ruit was in the uh Coast Guard for a lot of years. Um and there there are veterans in the association, but I I think really um it stems from the initial group and founders who broke away and decided that they wanted to create a an organization that was closer to the fence builder as opposed to uh manufacturers or organizations that are let's say not as needing to learn about fencing. Right. Right. All right. I think you guys did a good job at that. And um I know we'll recap probably on another show about uh your your training you do in Florida and some of the other educational stuff you have. Um but uh I do want to talk about fence armor as well because uh fence armor I you know until I met you I think at the um it was maybe it was the last show really or we kind of got to really know each other after the last show. Um I didn't know a lot about fence armor. I don't do wood vinyl but then I hear that there is some stuff that's for steel and aluminum as well. So, it's not just something to protect a wood post from rotten away if I remember correctly. Right. So, yeah, you you are right. Absolutely. And I I see our catchphrase is at the bottom there. I was trying to pull that up at the same time, but yeah, the three Ps. The three Ps are important. So, prevent, protect, and prolong. Ultimately, you know, our product is is designed uh initially to solve a problem. And the problem was uh mine. I had a a fence. I still have a fence. And I had landscapers who worked on my property and um every Friday they would find an opportunity to let's say violate the posts on my fence and this violation kept happening and my cedar posts were deteriorating every

Week. Yeah. And I I just felt that it was egregious that this was continuing to go on. I hired another landscaper and I finally after three landscapers firing them all, uh realized there's nothing for this. They said there was nothing they could do about it. The equipment they use is what it is. Y that it's not really it's it's not really their fault. So yeah, we went ahead and invented something that would uh take care of that problem and that's how the fence guard or fence armor started and we uh trademarked the name. We patented the product. We made it all uh in North America, all US steel. We stamp it here. We powder coat some down in Florida. And we have a solution that is a great upsell to uh the fence builders. Yeah, I want to circle back to that. um made in North America because you you you know you guys have a whole story around that as well. But um so your first product was the actual uh the actual product that protected a wood post. That's what started the whole thing. Yeah. So there you see a fence armor guard there. That's a small one. It's a 3-in high. Okay. And uh this part of this what we call a totem pole and we can get into that. This piece right here is uh, you know, our our bread and butter. And it's really simple. It's galvanized steel, 22 gauge, uh, G90 galve. Then we powder coat it with a polyester American powder coat. Uh, even the screws are made in America. Pittsburgh steel powder coated to match. And what happens is when the filament comes across here, a couple of things happen. That radius here deflects the filament from the face. It also deflects the filament so that the filament doesn't break landscapers don't want to have their filaments breaking every time they they come up against fence armor. So it works uh to manage both that criteria. Interesting. And it comes pre that comes pre-bent right right out of the box. And they have multiple sizes or are all the wood posts typically the same? It's a 4 in three and a half inch boat or is that is that is that an issue that comes up sometimes? We have 113 SKs. Oh god. And you say to me, Al, why is that possible? It's possible because wood is not what you imagine. And you know, I remember being, you know, on the equivalent of the the Shark Tank, the uh the Canadian version called um Dragon's Den. And I, you know, some of the investors would say, "Well, you're getting ripped off." And I said, "Well, that's just the way it is. A 4x4 at Home Depot and Lowe's is 3 and 1 half by 3 and 1/2." And those of you who who remember the lawsuit that was put up against Menard's for that very reason. Um, they had to change. And if you look, if you go to a store today, a box store, and you'll see the name, it no longer has 4 in by 4 in. It just says 4 by 4. So in that lawsuit, it said that is just a name. It's not a quantifier of its reality. So the name 4x4 is just that. If they had the the inch marks above it, that was what the lawsuit was, then it's actually suggesting that that post should measure 4x4, And today, when you guys go out to those stores, have a look at those numbers. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. We all know that a 2x6 is not 2x6. We know it's an inch and a half by five and a half. I guess we just learned that over time, but I guess I never paid attention to whether they put the the inch symbol on it or not. So 113 SKs though, I mean, is is a 4x4 that different in at different stores that you would have to have different uh different SKs for that? A 4x4 will range in the US and Canada from 3 and 38 all the way to 4 and 1/8. Oh my gosh. So, uh, that's why our post caps are the only post caps that'll fit any 4x4 ever made because it's a universal clip inside. the claw grabs the the post and locks on. So if you're in Washington State, uh Oregon, British Columbia, most of those mills are cutting wood for the Japan. [ __ ] Japan requires 105 mil, which is 4 and 1 e. So Home Depot and Lowe's will still sell a 4x4 as 3 and 1/2. But if you went to an independent lumber store, in many

Cases that 4x4 would be 4 and 1 eigh. So, but they still call it 4x4. 4x4. So, you got to know, you got to check everything before you do it. I mean, you could order I guess that's an important thing when you're ordering up the product, too. To get the stuff shipped out to you. Exactly. And then, you know, we've got it down. And that's why we we traditionally sell online as opposed to in a brickandmortar store, right? as a consumer isn't going to get it right. And fencers oftentimes don't get it right. In Pennsylvania, you know what? Typically three and 58 and three and 78 lumber is everywhere. Um why? Who knows? And a lot of times it's rectangular. It's, you know, maybe 3 and 78 on one side and three and 58 on the other side. And fence armor, of course, what's nice about that is it's adjustable this way. So you can marry up that that size. And our screws are self drilling, so you can always marry up and drill right through the fence armor through the other side. Um so you don't have to use a pre-drill. It's built into the screw. So yeah, we we've learned a lot and we we really um suggest to people strongly that they measure first, right? Yeah, that's what I was saying. It's a big deal, especially if you're ordering the things up. So, they're easy to install and that and that's, you know, that's important. That's important for people to know. I mean, it doesn't take doesn't take a lot of tools. A drill with it sounds like self selftapping screws and these things are these things are on and uh if you get the right size, I'm sure it goes goes a pretty smooth process. Um, you mentioned Japan earlier and I know you didn't do all this forever. So, uh you know, obviously before you were developing these these guards and these shields. Um, did you have some experience developing market? It's in in Japan, New Zealand, things like that. What were you what were you doing back then? Well, we still have, you know, the engineering side of our business. And at that time, I was living uh in uh Ventura County in California. And I really spent most of my time Asia-Pacific and uh Brazil to grow those territories um in the world of uh CNC. So uh those markets were developed on the engineering side of things. So introduc Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, you know, throughout that that part of the uh Pacific and then Brazil. Wow. That's interesting because a lot of people aren't that that that involved in it. They send it off. But sounds like you stay pretty active in it. Well, yes. I mean, as far as the engineering side of things, I I love that part. That that is uh really a big part of what we do. Uh become very passionate with fence armor over the years because it's it's a baby we created. Uh and it was really an underserved market and it takes a while for the industry to understand. Um they see something new, they what is this stuff? Why is it important? Well, all you have to do is look at the bottom of any any post, whether it's a vinyl post or ornamental post or wood post, they get hacked up by lawn equipment. And our our biggest customer bases are HOAs. We don't have to sell it to them. They just call us. And you know, we they're doing it right now. you know, they see the the landscapers come in and they they So, yes, we get calls from them all the time and there's there were two opportunities there. One for the fence builder to have offered it right off the bat and we did have a fence company down in Florida who who actually called us and thanked us because we'd sent them some brochures and samples. He was the only fence company who introduced fence armor in that association. And even though he was more expensive, he was the only one who spoke to them about the realities of what was and since they knew it so well, they put fence armor on all their vinyl fences uh to protect them from uh from the damage that was going to happen. But you have other products, too. So, it's not I mean it start may have started off like that, but you've expanded a lot um into tell me tell me a little bit about and I I'm I'm curious

About this probably more than more than some that may be more experienced in uh wood and vinyl fences and stuff. Um a wood post. Why would you want to you know you have some stuff that actually goes down and protect not just protects the wood post up above but below. Um would tell me about some of those products. Yeah, so we have what we call and and again we'll we'll go back here to our our totem pole. what we call our signature series fence. And on our uh training day, September the 11th at 11:00, um we'll be in in one of the rooms doing some training and talking about uh the opportunity for fence companies to uh be able to increase their profits by offering something a solution that we call the signature series. So to that end, we have the fence armor rot barrier which lives here. This particular one is 14 inches long. 2 in live above the ground up here and the rest is in the ground. Now, we know from 0 to minus 8 is where you're going to find rot, right? So, the the three things that that encourage rot are warmth, oxygen, and moisture. With those three things, you end up with that um very quickly. sometimes in four years, three years, seven years, and the treatments for wood aren't what they used to be. They can't use arsenic anymore. They can't use the the amount of copper they used before. You know, the the world is beautiful and we must keep it uh blah blah blah and blah blah blah. So, something's going to be suffer. So, what happens? You have to cut down more trees. Uh or you can give your customer a 20-year warranty on a solution like this to protect it from rotting in the ground. So, you've done studies, I'm sure, that would show um do you have do you have some have you done some studies where you set a post in the ground, then you put that around it and put it next to it and and test? Obviously this study would take forever I'm sure but you know how long you know we use Post Saver for these uh barriers and Post Saver has done these studies since 94 and they do have posts in the ground that have been that long and and they work. Um we have you know organic farmers and the rest of it who also use the product and for them they're happy to have you know there's there's organic and then there's organic. Y the semi-organic guys will use a treated post, but then they'll want to protect it. So in this area, the leeching doesn't happen. The treatment doesn't get into the ground. So they're happy about that. For the true organic guys, they don't use any treated post. They just use raw wood. And those things last two or three years because the diameter is like three inches typically. So with a sleeve on it, they're going to get at least twice the life. At least there's hope. Yeah. That's interesting. That's interesting. I mean, because I've I'll be honest, we don't have much wood fence out here or vinyl. In fact, we don't even have much lawn. I think as a 2000 I got filled 2026 to remove the lawn at my house. It's going to be illegal to have lawn in Las Vegas. So, hurry up and sell those in Las Vegas because then the bureaucrats are done. We'll have no lawn. That's that's that's sad, you know. I mean, it's um I never knew that that first 8 in is where most of the damage happens. But now that I now that I think about it, I mean, any post you pull out of the ground, that is typically where you see all the rotten and they do kind of fall off. And I just assume the whole post was rotting. I don't even I you know, I haven't even thought about the fact that maybe it's not the whole post, it's just that that first eight or eight or 10 inches. And I'm sure I saw Nathan DS on here a second ago, I think, from Protecting Your Radius podcast. They do a lot of, you know, a lot of uh wood and stuff out there. So, he's probably like, "Yep, that's what it rots off right there." Anybody who pulls it pulls it out. I mean, and and post typically Tennessee and South are only 24 in deep in the ground. No. So, below here, this post can be in water all day long. Doesn't doesn't matter. And in fact, you know, we have images, many images with the price tag still on the bottom. Yeah. Wow. And you we know this. I mean,

We we have boat wrecks and we have people collecting logs out of rivers and swamps that have been in there for hundreds of years. Water by itself doesn't destroy the wood. So, um it is an interesting solution. So if you we are able to keep this air and water tight when moisture tries to come up into here that capillary reaction is stopped because there isn't enough moisture to draw up above the post. So it stays down here in the ground and obviously you have a post that's going to last longer. And then you can't damage the post. So fence armor is ideal because now you're not damaging the membrane. And then of course at the top we have our beautiful caps. Yep. And tell me about your caps. I noticed I've seen them before. Um what do you need to protect the top of the posts? Yes. Look at all these wood wood I mean ask ask me to build, you know, 10,000 ft of chain link fence 12 foot tall. I'm good. But this this wood fence and vinyl fence I'm just like going why would you need that? Why don't you know I'm still like why don't they pound steel post in the ground? Why I mean you guys deal with a lot more variables that we don't have to deal with in the dry ground out here and things like that. So um why would you protect the top of a of a wood post? Well, you think of wood as a straw and you you have at the top of of of your fence a a bare post. um it will take in the moisture and over time it obviously starts to expand and contract and expand and contract and it will fail and it will rot from the top. And we have plenty in of pictures like this just you know it's complete common sense. Now, it really depends on the fencer of record at a specific territory and and and I know you you talk about this often. You know, what is the most popular fence in your area? Well, it depends on who the fence company is. Um, whoever that is, they kind of control what people like and they say, "I want a fence like that guy." Um, people don't often think independently. They they kind of sort of say, "Well, I want a fence like my neighbor." And and that could make sense. And if you're in an HOA, well, they're going to get the fence that you're going to get. Whatever they'll tell you, you can do. Exactly. So, when fencers are building fence and they leave a post uncovered, now sometimes they they use a top rail which will cover everything. Uh but if they're exposed at the top, they cut it at the top rail and it just sits there open. they're presenting um a failure that didn't have to be and there's an opportunity to, you know, just cut it up 2 inches higher and put a post cap on it and you're a hero. People will love you. Yeah. Yeah. And and and they're decorative. They look nice. So that, you know, there's no doubt. And will are we going to be seeing some of these at the fence show? I I hear you are building one heck of a booth. One heck of a booth for this the fence show and security expo in Las Vegas. Tell me about that. Tell me what are we going to expect to see? Will you share some of the details on it? I don't know. You know, I I think of Jurassic Park where where he said we spared no expense. You know, we uh we're, you know, not the biggest company in the world, but we we really are excited about what you've put together, and you should be very proud, Brian, what you've done over the years. I'm truly impressed and and so is my business partner, Luise. We we really um think what you've been able to do has speared on the competition to uh wake up a little bit and uh realize uh you know, hey, we could do better and um I think they're aspiring to that. So, I really like the location. I don't know anybody who really doesn't like Vegas. It's sunny. It's warm. That follows under my criteria. It doesn't have an ocean next to it, but you know, there's a lot of fake water. We got the Blagio fountain. Um, so I I I'm always drawn to the the the warm weather and and there is fantastic food. I think Caleb and some of the others will will tell you that I I enjoy food immensely. And in that hotel, believe it or not, is probably one of the best steakouses I've ever been to. Which one? You can get steak at two or three different places. Which one do you

Like? The the one that will the the most expensive one. I don't remember the name of it. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Right in the hallway. I've forgotten the name right now. I have plenty of pictures of it. Is it Don Vito or um No. Um Gosh, I know what you're talking I haven't ate there yet. I ate at the other two restaurants all the time, but I haven't splurged for the steakhouse yet, but everybody says it's amazing. It is outstanding. You You got to be ready to pay for it, but it is worth it. Um the only other one I know in in Vegas that is of its caliber is um at the uh Golden Nugget. Really? Um and it'll come to me. Uh but they do probably the best crab cake that I've ever had in the world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Incredible. We go to Echo and Rig if you get a chance. We got an Echo and Rig out here that's pretty good. Um little off the strip stuff. Uh we don't go down to the strip and eat probably as much as we used to when we were younger. Um, all the work to park and walk and stuff, it uh it changes a little bit, you know, but yeah, it's always a workout in Vegas. You've always always walking for what seems to be, you know, miles to get anywhere. But it's good because, you know, the destination is worth it. Are you coming in for the demo days at all? The name was Vic and Anthony. Vic. Vic. I'm gonna see if Susan will allow us to go out to a nice big steak dinner after all this is over. But you know those executive directors, they are cheap asses. Should I be talking about Clint here? I don't know. Like I gotta eat. Vick and Anony's will be the best uh crab cake you'll have ever eaten. Really? Hey, I'm going to bring on a YouTube video that I watched. I I kind of was creeping on your YouTube channel a little bit um earlier and I don't think people realize how much information you guys have on your YouTube channel. So, if you go to Fence Armor on YouTube, there is just endless. You could watch for days and days and days. I don't know how many hours worth of videos you have. These all videos you guys put up or some people are posting up there for you. Yeah, it's amazing. I'm going to pull one up and have you tell us a little bit about it. um and and let everybody kind of watch a little bit about your products and what other people think of it because you guys have made a huge impact on a lot of fence companies um you know throughout the country and I think that uh the word needs to get out. So, let me pull this up and see see if we can get this thing to work here for you. Nice. I swear by fence armor. This stuff's amazing. It uh does nothing but create longevity on your posts. You don't have to worry about your trimmers. you don't have to worry about uh pesky landscapers from uh commercial properties coming by and cutting your post down without you even knowing. So So Andy, what what made you want to find a solution for that? I want it to be different and I want it to be above everybody else. And when we build things, we do it once and once only. This product adds to that philosophy.

Well, with our customers has given us another great option to give them to protect the length of their fence that they are paying a lot of money for and it's just been an absolutely great product.

How we came in touch with the product was the customer here. We had already sold the fence itself. So, the customer comes to us and says, "Well, how can we protect our investment on this project, but also they already had a mile of existing PVC fence here?" We'll take some pictures and show some video of of some of the existing uh posts that are already here. And it's 8 years old and uh half of the posts are already gone from weed whackers. He has a he has a company come in and I'm sure that they do the best that they can, but over time, no matter what, the weed whacker is going to go through. So I thought about the product that I had seen in the world fence news which was fence armor which can save his existing product and help his investment on this project. So that's what we're to try in find a product that protected the post. Customers were always asking can we do extra concrete? Can we do extra this extra? So let's just kill that and get to the bottom. And that's where I found all fence armor and it's been great ever since. 99% of customers are going with it. is protecting from above ground and now below ground with the P saver.

Well, with the C length fence armor at the bottom of the post would definitely keep the weed whacker from hitting the wood itself. Hey guys, Ian Robson here with Davis Fencing. We're using the uh fence armor today on our new fence post that we're putting in installing. um set them 3 in off the uh bottom of the ground for uh lawn maintenance and protection of the post. And uh the same galvanized steel we use for our fence hangers. So nothing rusts. It's good for moisture and uh great product to use for sure on your fence and we trust it. The best defense for your fence. Got these in today from Fence Armor. This is cool, man. I mean these guys are on top of it. These are um galvanized steel caps that will fit about any wood post you can dream of that's in a uh like a 4x4. You know, there's oftent times they're different 3 and 58, 3 and 1/2, 3 and 38, 3 and 3/4. They even fit a vinyl post. So, these tops are interchangeable. This is galvanized steel with this adjustable claw on the inside. No screws, stainless steel claw. When you push that down on the post, it locks on there. So, super simple. Slide on the post. Done deal. You can have a point on it or none. So, here's the cap with no point on it. I think we know that voice. You can order the finials to go on top. So, you have different Definitely know that voice. This is kind of cool because you put a flag in that like an American flag or something for the holidays. You can slide those little bitty wood wood stake flags in there and display them on top of your fence. Definitely pretty uh definitely awesome. Check them out. Fence armor. Nice. Nice. Very nice. So, um, yeah, your product's been out around for a while. So, when how how when when did you first start selling these? How long's it been? I I don't think we actually kind of got on that. I mean, is it been How many of these things do you think you have out there? Well, they'd be there'd be tens of thousands and uh all over the world. Um, all over the world. We we ship everywhere. So, wow. uh whether it's Australia or Switzerland or Denmark or England or Portugal uh we have fence armor uh all over the world but our obviously our our biggest uh customer base is where we are and and that's in the US uh Canada is growing for us too which is which is great um and it's really word of mouth people are are neighbors are talking to other neighbors and and fence companies are talking to other fence companies uh there's an opportunity there for you know again when when you're you're you're speaking about the customer you know Mr. customer, this is an option. Our normal price for the for the fence is this. Or I can give you the signature series. It's going to cost a little more. Fence Armor is going to plant a tree for every one you buy, and you're going to get a 20-year warranty. So even if the customer says no, you're presenting the latest and greatest technology to the customer, just for his enlightenment, he might say, "Wow, maybe I should consider this because everybody wins because ultimately, you know, do you want that? Because that is going to happen." Yeah. Yeah. No, I I I love the product. I mean, I I you know, I I I'm trying to figure out wrap my head around how I'd use them on uh steel fences out here. Give me a a quick uh you know a quick idea what what would you use these for on a steel fence on a commercial fence or a residential in Las Vegas. Well, you know, a a traditional chain link fence. You don't really need fence armor per se to protect the posts, but we do have two great products uh that we one is just coming into the market now. It's called um Trim Buster um by Fence Armor. And what it is effectively is a panel that lives under the fabric between the posts so that the grass doesn't grow up. You don't have grass over there. So you don't have to worry about this doesn't grow up and interweave in in the fabric. And that's true also for ornamental. For ornamental fences, we have a clip-on version which will just clip onto that ornamental post. So that's what we have for for that part of the world. But if you're really putting in uh post or chain link or ornamental into an area where there is no grass and there is no lawn equipment, then um you don't really need uh to prevent, protect, and

Prolong because there's nothing that's ever going to really affect them. Hey, maybe that shield will help keep the rattlesnakes and the scorpions out. I don't know. You never know. We can always find a use for something, right? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Hey, I want to thank you for um coming on. I know I I promised we'd keep it around 30 40 minutes and I can't I mean it went by quick. Always love talking to It did. It did. I really appreciate the time and I really look forward to the show. Come to our booth 10 and 1011. I think it is 1001 I think it is. You'll have a you'll have a great time over there. There'll be exciting things for you to do and win great prizes too. You handing out any beer or poker chips or anything at your booth? anything they need to run over there and get before they're all gone. I think it's even better. They got to keep a little bit of It's definitely worthwhile coming to our booth. I know. And I asked you for some sneak peek pictures of uh your booth as it's being built because uh you got a pretty good sized booth 20 by 20 and uh you know those are goodsized booths at the show there. So um I'm super excited to see what you're building out there. Um, uh, go to fenco.com if somebody wants to register, get a hold of you because you have a code that will help them get a free exhibitor hall pass as well. Um, I'm sure you got that to hand out to people. So, if anybody wants to reach out to um, Al Martins through Facebook, LinkedIn, reach out to us and we'll get you in contact with them. Um, where do they go to purchase anything if they're going to get Fence Armor? Is there somebody they should get a hold of? Well, you go to fence armor.com. Okay. And certainly if you're a contractor, um, you know, feel free to contact. There is a portal that you can sign into and uh get yourself registered automatically which will be uh very helpful. But reach out to us. We have great contractor pricing. We have all the assets you need to develop uh the affiliate page on your websites. Um and as another little tease for the show, look up Woodbully. Woodbully. and uh he'll uh anyway look up wood bully and see what you find and uh they'll uh they'll be there at the uh at the show. Wood bully. That's interesting. If you just look up bully, you'll find Susan. you know, I guess Woodbully, I guess you'll find something different. Media and you look up wood bully, you'll see you'll see um he's he's a real really interesting fellow and an interesting company. Um, very unique, not a traditional we we'll say he's a carpenter officially. Uh, Gordon South. Um, him and his lovely wife will be Cool. And they'll be working the booth with us. But, uh, if you, uh, look at his channel, you'll see he has some really interesting things to to talk about, too. Cool. And I heard if, uh, if anybody uses any of their products and you still get damage to your posts, I will come out and mow your lawn for six months for free. I haven't heard about it. That must be their extra fine trade. I can't back that up, by the way. But so, all right, great. Thanks again. I will I'm sure I'll talk to you before September, but I'm sure the next time I'll see you is September 10th to the 13th out there in Las Vegas. Go to fenceshow.com and register. Get if you get a hold of us or get a hold of um Al to get a free code to get an expo pass. We'll see you guys in September, but I'll see you guys next Wednesday as well online. All right, I'll have a good one. Cheers. Good to see everybody. Thanks for having me.