Among quality builders--yes, we are competitive.Do we build fences cheaper than the guy down the street that started last week and is using mom's k-car? Unlikely.
Every spring there are 500 new fence builders in most major cities in the US and Canada.
And every summer, most of them quit after only a few weeks in the business. Often they leave with customer's deposits and jobs undone--and the warranty they promised? That ended as you saw their brake lights turn on when they left with your check.
Rookie fence builders often don't have the first clue about actually building a fence. They may have gone to the library and pulled a book first published in the 1950's to learn how to build fences. Using those outdated methods the fence will look terrible in a few years--since most of those instructions were designed for a frost free California climate.
They often buy sub standard materials, they often don't put fasteners where they need to be, typically they build the gates backwards and don't know what a headpiece is for.
Often the fence touches the ground, and in areas where frost is an issue this will cause premature failure or rot.
Typically they put too much concrete in the hole and every year the posts will grow out of the ground a little more.
As a rule the wood fences they build won't be level, or straight and you may have issues with pieces falling out and the fence looking weak prematurely, (because they didn't place the structural members crown up).
There is a littany of errors to be made... and that is precisely why they will often charge much less than professionals.
They feel that you deserve a bargain for letting them learn on your job--and often it is no bargain at all.
This year, those that get burned by their local low bid fence builder will likely lose their deposit--and then when you have to hire a real fence builder later on, you will have to pay 8% more in Ontario and BC. The provincial government is doing a cash grab... and the harmonized sales tax will apply to fences and decks and any other repairs and renovations in your home.
L
