Start with the board's own words
Before color samples or post spacing, an Alexandria fence project can start with two passages from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. Both come from the board's FAQ, and both are worth reading slowly, word for word, before any company comes out to the yard.
In its FAQ, the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors says that for commercial projects, if the total project amount exceeds $50,000, a contractor's license is required, and for home improvement projects, if the total project amount exceeds $7,500 but does not exceed $50,000, a home improvement registration is required.
In the same FAQ, the Board states that total project value means the cost of labor and materials combined, no matter who supplies the materials, and that a local occupational license is not a contractor's license — it only gives authority to operate a business in that city or parish.
One question, asked the same way each time
Put the same question to every company, in the same words, and write each answer on that company's page with the date and the name of the person who gave it:
"At this job's total project value, labor and materials combined, does the work call for an LSLBC license or home improvement registration, and if so, what is the number?"
If you hear different answers from different companies, keep each one as it was given and ask each company to put its answer in writing on its proposal.
Alexandria Intl in NOAA's engineering weather data
NOAA's engineering weather data for Alexandria Intl lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.5 inches per hour and about 16 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
A scope sheet every company prices alike
Three companies handed three different descriptions of a fence will return three prices that cannot be compared. A single scope sheet, written by you and handed to each of them, fixes that. Fill in a line for each of these:
- Route: where the fence starts and stops, every corner, and the rough length of each straight run as you paced it.
- Height: what you want along each run, since the back of a yard and the front may not need the same.
- Style: solid privacy boards, spaced pickets, open rails, ornamental metal or chain link, run by run.
- Material: wood species, vinyl, aluminum, steel or coated wire, and any finish you want.
- Openings: each gate, how wide, which way it swings and how it latches.
- What goes first: an old fence, a hedge, brush or roots along the route.
Ask every company to price exactly that sheet, then add, as a separate option, anything it thinks you have left out.
Who supplies what
Some owners buy part of the materials themselves, perhaps a set of gate hardware they like or panels they found on sale. If you plan to do that, list each item on the scope sheet with a note saying you will provide it. Ask each company how it shows owner-supplied items on its proposal, and whether its workmanship warranty covers parts it did not furnish.
The boundary and the neighbors
A fence placed a little off the line can be awkward to sort out later. Look through the papers from the purchase of the house for a survey drawing, and look for iron pins at the corners of the lot. When neither turns up, or the two disagree, a land surveyor can mark the corners. Then talk with the households on each side before stakes go in: which face of the fence they will see, how close it will sit to their beds or driveway, and whether anyone needs to reach the far side to maintain it.
Lines underground
Ask each company who arranges for public utility lines to be marked before the first hole is dug, and how long its crew waits after asking. Private lines are a separate matter. Make your own list of anything buried that belongs to the house: irrigation pipe, wiring to a yard light or an outbuilding, a pet containment wire, a drain line from a gutter. Sketch each one's path and show it to the crew lead before digging begins.
Low spots in the yard
After rain, walk the planned route and note where water stands or runs across it. Mark those places on the scope sheet and ask each company how it would set posts there, whether the bottom of the fence should sit higher above the ground in those stretches, and whether a gate in a low spot would still swing freely.
Proof of coverage
Ask each company for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation, and clip it to that company's proposal.
Comparing what comes back
When the proposals arrive, read each against your scope sheet. Check that every run, height, style and gate you listed is there, that removal and hauling of anything old is spelled out, that the material warranty and the workmanship warranty are written separately, and that the payment steps and a start window are stated. Look, too, for the company's written answer to your one question. Where something is missing, send it back with a note asking for that line before you set the totals side by side.