How do I temporarily remove section of vinyl fence?

Question

I am repairing a shed that's next to a vinyl fence.  I would like to temporarily remove a section of the vinyl fence, but I can't find a good way to remove it.

Here's the picture of the fence, and a picture of inside of the fence post.  I notice the plastic is molded so it goes easily into the post but not out of it.  Is it simple as squeezing the plastic and pulling out?  I face a lot of resistance when I try this, which makes me question if there's a better way or a tool to help.

bib · Accepted Answer

In the picture of the interior, you can see the locking wedges (lugs) that hold the horizontal  beams in the posts. If you just pull out, the raised edge of the lug will prevent it.

One approach is to place a putty knife (or some other thin metal blade, not too sharp) inside the post, parallel to the beam, covering the lug and angled into the seam of the post's cutout. If there are two lugs, you need on on each side. The cutout should flex and let the lug pass.

You made need to cut down small putty knives to fit inside the post.

This assumes you have some starting point to move one of the beams horizontally.

Matt · Answer

Putty knifes work but if you are taking down more than one or two rails use a multitool. The blade will quickly and cleanly cut off the tab that is sticking out. You can then replace the rail and put one white screw at each end to hold the rail in place. I have just removed 45 rails, the first 9 with a putty knife and the rest with the multitool. 1 hour for the first 9, 1.5 hours for the next 36.

Answered by Matt on April 24, 2021

user90038 · Answer

For others trying to remove a section of vinyl fence, I looked down into a post, and it has a screw driven down into each horizontal beam to keep it from moving out of the slot, instead of a tab, as described above. I didn't see a screw in the bottom beam, so I suspect that they drove it in prior to setting the post in place, so it's not accessible from above, dang it. Now I need to figure out if the posts come out....

Answered by user90038 on April 24, 2021

Steve Donovan · Answer

I just dismantled a vinyl fence with horizontal rails (yard fence) and if your fortunate to have the tabs exposed (e.g. pushed through other side of the post) you can use vise grips or channel lock pliers to bend the tabs back in. The are merely cutouts in the material, as opposed to molded to the rail. If you can not access the tabs, as another writer indicated, you can use C-clamps to squeeze the material enough to put the rail out of the post.
Realize, if done correctly, each rail should be 16' long, alternating so that they do not break on the same post, so there should be one post in the middle of a rail that you will not have to deal with tabs, until you try to slide the post off.

Andrew R Smith · Answer

I know this is an older post but wanted to provide an alternative way to push in the tabs on a vinyl fence for others looking for alternatives. I had the same problem.  I could not get the tabs depressed enough to pull out the fence rail so I made a “U” shaped tool that slides over the rail inside the fence post to push in the tabs.  I found it easier and quicker then fishing a metal shims or putty knifes.  There is a YouTube how to video I made.  Search for “Fence Rail Tab Fork” it should come up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38gzaKz_Vg

How do I temporarily remove section of vinyl fence?

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