A price is a bundle of answers
A fence quote folds many decisions into one total. Pull those decisions back out and each becomes a question you can put to every bidder. Asked in the same order of each company, the questions help show whether two proposals describe the same fence, and where one price parts ways with another.
How long is the run, and how many times does it turn?
Material and labor are often counted along the length of the fence, so footage can anchor a price. Turns count too: corners and ends can call for heavier posts and extra layout time. Ask each bidder for the footage it measured and the number of corners, ends and changes of direction it priced. If your tape and theirs disagree, find out why before comparing totals. Ask, as well, whether a straighter route would still serve the fence's purpose, and what that version would cost.
How tall, and how solid is the face?
Height can change the length of boards or panels, the number of fasteners and sometimes the post size. The face counts as well. Pickets set with gaps between them can use fewer boards than a closed privacy face, and styles that look finished from both sides can use more again. Decorative tops, trim and lattice are each worth pricing as separate lines. If only one stretch needs full privacy, ask for a split price: the taller, closed style there, and a simpler style along the rest.
What holds it up?
Posts carry the fence, and much of their work happens out of sight. Ask each company:
- what the posts are made of, and their size;
- how far apart the line posts stand;
- how deep the holes go, and how that depth was chosen;
- what fills the hole around each post;
- whether corner, end and gate posts are heavier than the rest;
- how many rails each section carries, and how they are fastened.
Two proposals with the same height and style can differ here, and the difference may not show until years later.
What will the auger meet?
On any lot, digging can run into roots, rock, an old footing or buried debris, and a crew may have to finish a hole by hand. Ask how the company prices a hole that strikes something unexpected, and whether it will stop and call you before adding a charge. Where the yard slopes, ask whether the fence will step down in level sections or rack to follow the grade, and how the gap that can open under the bottom rail will be closed.
How many openings, and what kind?
An opening brings its own parts list: posts on both sides, a frame, hinges, a latch and the time to hang it square. Ask whether a pair of gates or a wide drive opening was priced with sturdier posts and extra bracing. Self-closing hinges, a lockable latch or a drop rod can each add a line. Ask for every opening to be priced separately, with its hardware named.
What comes out before anything goes in?
If an old fence or a hedge stands on the route, ask whether clearing it is in the price. An old fence raises its own questions: are its posts dug out whole or sawn off flush, does the concrete around them come up, and does the debris leave with the crew or stay for you to handle?
What will it ask of you later?
For wood, ask whether a protective finish is in the price at all, and if so, when it is applied. Ask what cleaning vinyl or metal will need, and whether touch-up paint comes with a metal fence. Ask for the workmanship warranty and the material warranty separately, and what each one leaves out.
Arizona's livestock lawful-fence definition
Arizona law (A.R.S. 3-1426) deems a fence a lawful fence when it has good and substantial posts no more than thirty feet apart carrying at least four tightly stretched barbed wires, the top wire fifty inches above the ground; fences of other materials equally as strong and otherwise effective to turn livestock are also lawful fences. This is the state's livestock-fence definition, not a residential fence rule.
For a fence around a house lot, ask the city which rules apply to a residential fence, and ask each bidder the same question.
Wind, rainfall and freeze-thaw figures for Fort Huachuca/Libby
NOAA's engineering weather data for Fort Huachuca/Libby lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.0 inches per hour and about 16 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
Deposits, payments and the calendar
Ask what share of the price is due at signing, what is due when the last section is up, and whether materials are ordered before or after the deposit. Ask for a start window in writing, and what happens to it if materials are late. Keep every payment on a record you can trace, such as a check or a card.
The 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 note both answers on its proposal.
Comparing proposals one question at a time
Read the proposals by question rather than by company: every answer on footage first, then every answer on height and face, then posts, digging, openings, removal and upkeep. Where one proposal is silent, ask that company to answer in writing. Leave the totals until last, once each proposal describes the same fence.