Three prices for one tired fence
When a fence already stands in the yard, the question is not only what a new one costs. A leaning stretch, a gate that drags or a few broken boards can be fixed, the worst section can be replaced, or the whole line can come out and start again. Each path carries its own price and its own trade-offs. Asking companies to price more than one of them, on the same visit, can show you where the money goes.
Walking the old fence first
Before anyone comes out, walk the fence with a pad and pen. Mark each post that leans, each one that moves when you push it, each rail that sags or has pulled loose, each board or picket that is split or missing, and each gate that will not latch. Note where the damage gathers: one corner, one side, or spread through the whole line. Photograph each problem spot. That record lets you ask every company about the same list rather than whatever each one happens to notice.
What a repair price covers
A repair bid can be short, but it is worth reading closely. Ask each company:
- which posts it would reset or replace, and how the new ones are set;
- whether rails and boards are replaced one by one, and from what stock;
- how a sagging gate is fixed: new hinges, a brace, a new post, or all three;
- whether there is a minimum charge for a trip out;
- what warranty, if any, applies to repaired sections and to old parts left in place.
Ask, too, how much of the old fence the company expects to be sound once the work is done. Ask, as well, whether any post left in place shows rot at the ground.
What a partial replacement asks about
Replacing one side or one damaged run raises a question a full replacement does not: how will the new section sit beside the old? New wood can look different from weathered boards until it ages or takes a finish. A vinyl or metal style may have changed since the original went in. Ask each company whether it can match the existing style and color, what it would do if it cannot, and whether a clean break at a corner or a gate would look better than a joint in the middle of a run.
Ask how the new section ties into the old posts, and whether those posts will be replaced at the joint. Ask for the partial job and the rest of the line priced separately, so you can see what finishing the job later would add.
What a full replacement adds
Starting over brings in costs that a repair may avoid:
- taking down the whole old fence and hauling it away;
- pulling old posts or cutting them at the ground, and dealing with old concrete around them;
- new holes, which may land beside the old ones or in fresh ground;
- a new layout, which is a chance to change the route, the height or the number of gates.
It also opens choices. Ask each bidder to price the same route in more than one material, and to say what each one will need from you later: stain or sealer for wood, cleaning for vinyl, touch-up for a metal coating, and the wire gauge and top rail for chain link.
The ground under any of the three
Whichever path you take, new posts mean new holes. Ask each company how deep it plans each hole, what goes around the post, and how a hole that strikes rock, a root, old concrete or buried debris is priced. Ask that the crew stop and call you before adding a charge. Ask who requests utility marks before digging, and tell the crew about any lines you know of on your side of the meters.
Wind, rainfall and freeze-thaw figures for Albany
NOAA's engineering weather data lists, for the station named Albany, a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 2.5 inches per hour and about 69 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
A note on drinking water
Albany's water treatment plant at Feura Bush was constructed from 1928 to 1932 and can process up to 32 million gallons a day.
One license question and proof of coverage
Ask each company: "What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?" Ask for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation, and keep it with that company's bid. Questions about how your homeowner's policy treats work on the property go to your insurer.
Paying for each kind of job
A small repair may be billed on completion; a larger job may ask for a deposit. Ask what is due at signing, what is due once materials arrive or posts are set, and what is held until a final walk-through. Ask that any change after work starts be written up, priced and signed by you first. Pay in a way that leaves a record.
A three-column comparison
For each company, make three columns: repair, partial replacement and full replacement. Down the side, list the posts touched, rails and boards, gates, tear-out and hauling, matching, material, digging terms, warranty, payment steps and the license answer. Fill in what each bid says. A blank square is a question for that company. When the columns are complete, compare not only the totals, but what each path leaves you with: how much of the old fence remains, and what it will need next.