Bollards & Post Covers

Historical Looks Using Decorative Plastic Bollard Covers

Four slender black bollards with three sets of decorative rings protect office building

Capturing the shape of traditional cast iron, while protecting from wear and rust

Four slender black bollards with three sets of decorative rings protect office building
Plastic covers like this R-7171 look graceful and neat on industrial posts.

Bollards, sometimes called security posts, are a necessity to delineate areas and to protect people, vehicles, buildings and property. However, drab steel bollards can sometimes detract from the surrounding architecture, particularly as they develop dents and scratches over time. The good news is that there is an easy, economical way to not only add new life to bollards, but to turn them into visual assets with traditionally styled, decorative plastic bollard covers.

Affordable elegance

When people think of plastic post covers, they often picture brightly-colored plastic sleeves that are often found in the parking lots of retail stores, gas stations, or fast food restaurants.

Two bright yellow bollard covers with blue stripes stand beside a No Entry sign near gas pumps
High-visibility plastic bollard sleeves are common in industrial or commercial areas.

The great utility of plastic is that it can be formed in many shapes and colors. This allows plastic bollard sleeves to have many aesthetic possibilities. High-visibility bollard covers need to be maximally attention grabbing. Yet the same material can combine the aesthetics of traditional iron bollards with the toughness and cost-effectiveness of thermoplastic, UV-resistant plastic bollard covers. Elegant designs and ornamentation similar to traditional metal bollards distinguish these decorative plastic bollard covers from standard ones.

Where uncovered steel pipe bollards detract from their surrounding architecture, and high visibility covers draw attention primarily to guide in busy traffic zones, there are sites that need the protection of a bollard without creating an architectural eyesore. Architectural plastic covers allow a site owner to enhance elegance without breaking the bank.

Grey, columnar post covers with curved caps and bases shape a perimeter around a low building
Historical post covers protect security bollards outside a government building.

The R-7174, available in ten colors, has a shape that recalls the origins of 17th century bollards: decommissioned cannons buried into the ground when they were no longer useful in war efforts. This profile is common around government buildings as historically it is public buildings that would be framed by cannon bollards. These post covers provide this classic ornamentation not out of old cannons, which are no longer articles that need recycling, but rather out of functional thermoplastic.

Durable steel and iron bollard in covers are available in similar attractive shapes. However, polyethylene thermoplastic can be made and sold at a fraction of the cost and weight of metal versions.

Protecting bollards while looking good

Decorative plastic bollard covers, like our standard ones, contain ultra-violet and anti-static additives that deliver the ultimate in environmental durability. They protect steel pipe bollards and bumper posts from snow, rain, harmful UV rays, dents and scratches, and road chemicals such as solvents and de-icing salts. Because they protect steel security posts from oxidation and rust, they eliminate most of the post’s maintenance requirements; yearly painting is no longer required. Plastic covers last 5 to 15 years depending upon environmental conditions, and at the end of its service life, each plastic bollard cover is fully recyclable.

Fast and easy install

Like standard covers, decorative plastic bollard covers can be installed in a matter of minutes without hardware. Although our covers will disguise dented or scratched posts, a plastic bollard cover will only perform as well as the post on which it has been installed; if the post is crooked or damaged severely, it should be replaced. If the post is rusty, you will need to remove the rust before installing the cover to prevent further damage to the post. Small amounts of rust can be removed with a steel brush, steel wool anti-scouring pads or fine sandpaper. Once the post has been cleaned and allowed to dry, you just affix provided Ideal Shield™ tape to the post and slide the plastic bollard cover over it. The tape permanently sets the post cover to reduce the likelihood of theft. Some people also use spray foam insulation to install decorative plastic bollard covers. Check out various bollard installation methods.

Shorter lead times

Plastic can be easily stored, and so larger inventories are on hand than with metal lines. After an order is placed, covers will generally ship within 24 hours.

When specifying a project that has a traditional aesthetic, plastic bollard covers can provide a touch of refinement without the price of iron. For those sites for whom historical iron or a custom casting is more appropriate, plastic can offer protection of security pipe until maintenance budgets or development times allow for the installation of the final solution. Otherwise, plastic can provide 5-15 years of wear at an affordable price that allows upgrade or a switch of style, for a site whose aesthetics are still developing.