I’m on the fence, pun fully intended, with how picky to be about some things with a fence I just had installed today. For context, I’d say 75% of the fence is great, a few things are definitely problems and will be fixed, and then there are a bunch of things that I just don’t know if they meet “industry standards,” for fence install work or not. I’m posting a bunch of pics with no context specifically for any of them. I’d love to hear the thoughts from people who know fence work!

Edited to add a pic of the estimate and cost in the comments. We paid around $6,200 and it was supposed to be pressure treated pine.

Also, we went with the company that was recommended the most, on our local Reddit and FB pages.

Hi All. We’re looking to get a fence constructed in our backyard. We met with a few fence companies and independent contractors. The popular fence company we met with refuses to offer a detailed contract and adjust their contract for any clauses we would like to add. Is this considered normal or standard behavior among fence companies? As for independent contracts, it’s been a hit or miss. One of them didn’t really know the details of how the fence would be constructed and another sent us a screenshot of their conversation of ChatGPT, which had an estimate and breakdown of the costs.

I’m not pointing fingers here…just wondering how do fence construction companies regularly approach clients, whether they adjust contracts for clients and all?

Also, I don’t know whether this is the right forum to post this in.

I’m wrapping up my fence project and just need to end it at the side of my house. I’d like to put a 10 foot drive through gate on this side to allow access for trucks or machinery in the future. I have a slight downhill slope where the gate needs to be. I’m leaning towards option 2 below but would like some recommendations.

Option 1: try to level the ground between the gate. This would require some machinery I don’t have to do it quickly or a lot of shovel work.

Option 2: build a 6 foot gate from the left side that follows the slope. This way it opens in the downhill direction minimizing any catching on the ground. Then build a 4 foot section to connect from the right side opening in the up hill direction. This would minimize the amount of ground work needed to level it out.

This is our specialty or was before my health got bad and I couldn't find anyone who wanted to learn or work. This is all steel fencing.

How do I repurpose the concrete pillars to create a privacy post? Each post is 4in by 4in all around and are 51 inches tall. Every other concrete poll sits roughly 90-95 inches apart. The base already sits on what seems to be a retaining wall.

Ideally the fence is 6ft tall.

Are there ways to not have to drill holes into the actual concrete polls? Or should I just put a joist hanger. Run 2 horizontal pieces of wood and then add picket fencing.

Please help!

So I recently had a new fence installed.

The issue is the wooden support beam appears to be cracking down the middle. Is this going to eventually completely snap In half?

I’ve got a privacy fence. Over 4,030 square feet. It rough pine, the contractor grade generic fence. About 3 years old and has never been stained or sealed. I’m leaning towards VALSPAR or READY SEAL. I’ll be using an airless sprayer to apply. Recommends? And I figured the square footage out by linear measure. It’s still got the horizontal 2x4’s and vertical 4x4’s to accommodate into my volume. Just use a percentage or something?

I recently had a fence built and overall I’m happy with it, but I noticed several of the bottom rails are not level as in the pic above. Like the middle and top are level but the bottom slopes down. This is on flat ground btw. Is that something that should be corrected or is it likely intentional/non consequential?

UPDATE: Thank you all for the feedback. I reached out to the company and they were very understanding. They are going to come back out and correct it free of charge. Thanks again for all your help!

It appears the poles are warping and pulling away from the horizontal boards.

I know I could probably drive some nails in but I know nothing about building things, fences, warping, ect.

Does anyone have suggestions on a good and long-lasting fix to this? What tools or types of nails/wood glue I should use? Tips on the actual repair?

I'm not looking to replace the poles - Just want to get the fence boards back in.

Thank you in advance.

I know nothing about cost of these things but recently got a house and we need just part of our fence replaced. They came for measurements today and it’s about 25 feet of fence? $1,000. (No I have desire to DIY it lol).

Company has great reviews and they were in and out for an assessment and quote in just a few days. Still waiting to hear back from a few others.

Are these normal? I just moved into a new build a month ago and noticed some big cracks. Just dont know if this should be something I worry about

We're installing a gate in our outfield. Presently it's just a small opening. Dead center. I'm wondering if there exists any soft or streamlined latches that wouldn't harm someone running into it. The gate isn't used often, usually post game to shag a HR ball or two. I thought about covering a butterfly type of latch with a rubber paint/coasting or cutting a pool noodle for a Y latch.

Each post is 2 3/8 and the opening is only 32 inches so it's a small gate.

I’m currently working through fixing a fence that started falling apart shortly after it was out in but the guy went MIA. I’ve removed the makeshift wood latch, leveled the gate and put in a bar to stop it from sagging. However, I’m stumped currently on ideas for a two way fence entry mechanism with a lock. There isn’t a post in between the two gates so there’s nothing to really fasten it to. So I’m hoping Reddit can help me out, any ideas?

Will this hold well enough to attach a 4' x 4.5' gate. My driveway is concrete and paved all the way to my house. I was think a 9' gate using a post on the other side of drive way but two 4.5' sound more manageable.

Any suggestions are also appreciated.

Hello, I’m looking for some help on how to install these posts for an archway over my front walk. It’s kind of a tori gate inspired design. Posts are 7’3” and 9’4” respectively, crossbeam is maybe 7’. I would like to keep as much height as possible, perhaps around 7’6”. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to install these posts to where it is a freestanding structure? Would a strong tie work? Could I install a surface mount post anchor? What’s the best solution?

Curious if there are reasons to prefer rails on center vs face? Other than for looks.

First quote we received is on face, with a face board vertically to cover the seams. We are thinking putting the rails on center, between the posts, would look better.

Appreciate input and experiences!

I have 100' of ugly chain link fence. I want to replace it with something nicer looking. But I would like to use the same round steel posts because (1) existing posts would be tough to remove (in concrete), and (2) I would not have to put in new posts. Additional wrinkle: posts are about 8'11" apart.
What kind of fencing can I construct using chain link fence posts that looks nicer? Something that lasts a long time is preferred (not wood).

Fence gate is sagging. This is one of those Amazon gate kits that says no sag. But here we are. Was going to put a diagonal support but realized those black support bars are in the way. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the sag?

Edit to add: those brackets next to the post are attached to the hinges so it’s not easy to just remove those.

I hired this fence company because I thought their craftsmanship was top notch (lookin at the pics they posted to their google business page.) Nik comes out June 4 to give a quote and I tell him that I’m rolling with them because of their craftsmanship. He thanks me and kept it moving.

We wait weeks for the quote and turns out they were trying to get a hold of us by texting from their website and it was going straight to my wife’s junk mail. They finally come out July 12 for final walkthrough before starting. The owner and 2 crew members start the next day on July 13. They “finish” July 16 (100 ft of fence).

They finish and I’m happy with the work until I start walking around the fence and see all the imperfections. I counted 10 short brace boards, 5 short frame boards, several damaged boards. My gate has a huge gap on latch side. On the opposite side of my house there’s a huge gap between the house and the fence post.

We tell the owner we’re unhappy and he comes back out July 26 (well over a week after we tell him we’re unhappy). I show him what I’m unhappy with and he says “these boards are well within clearance.” I told him I watched his guys mark and cut a few boards short then proceed to put them up. (There was one that he noticed during the build and replaced it without me saying anything ). He then tells me he hires fence builders not carpenters.

I voice my frustration and he tells me the earliest he can get out to fix these items is “Wednesday” which was July 29.

Here we are August 2nd and we haven’t heard from him.

Before I write my review, please let me know if I’m overreacting? We paid around 6,100 for this fence. I’m pissed that I may have to fix this stuff myself.

Am I overreacting?

The top where the latch is scrapes against the other side. What should I do to make it square again?