Bad Built Fences!

          Man you won't believe it. He said as he came back into the door with that half smile/smirk on his face. Steve one of our on site planner/estimaters seemed on a roll, so I bit. What won't I believe. All the crappy fences in this neighborhood. What neighborhood I asked.   ------  over by North Highschool. Now this is something I hear all the time, being a contractor. Shoddy work. After pouring a cup of joe he went on and on about fences leaning, fences being propped up, 10' gates with only 2 hinges. 3 hinges on each side is the standard for 10 ' DDG gates, 2 hinges for 8' DDG gates. (DDG- Double Drive Gate) It was all one company. An out of county company. Most times when you see a fence prematurely falling down its due to a homeowner job. But these fences had a company name on them. I felt bad. I mean this is my business. I feel that when someone does shoddy work it is a reflection on all of the good guys out there who do great work. In advertising any company can place an advertisement in any medium, in any location. This is the case with this company, they advertise in Rutherford County, get the job. Then a home owner ends up with a sagging gate, heaved posts, and generally, a badly constructed fence. It doesn't 5 yrs. much less 25 that it should last if properly maintained.
          Beware the lowest estimate! It's natural to want a good deal. As you already know everyone is in business to make a profit. The guy with the cheapest estimate is trying to make a profit the same as the guy with the highest bid. Basically a quality job will always take longer to do than a average job. No way around it, "Book It". There is a wide range in quality of materials for fencing. If you go with the lowest estimate you can rest assured you will get the lower grade materials, or the "Hurry up it's good enough" treatment, during the building.
          I recommend you always hire local, in town, or county businesses. Especially small contractors like Carpenters, Painters, Garage door Guys, Concrete Guys, Fence Builders and so forth. The reason is simple, who do you think will come back first if there is a problem, a company located in Evansville, or a company up in Indianapolis. Ask the right questions. Is your work guaranteed. What do you mean by guaranteed. Explain how you set a post. What size connectors do you use. Think about your needs as a customer - timeline, financial arrangements, someone needs to be home, or maybe schedule the work for while you are on vacation. What building codes are important? Basically any question you can think of. Unfortunately even if they are good at answering question and they should be, it is only one indication they are qualified to do your work. Do they look like a "successful"contractor? Do they talk the lingo? Look for signs of advertising. Consider having your work completed during the winter instead of the summer. While no company may get a 100 on your test they should be in the "A" category.        Good Luck!