Fencing
Questions to ask a fence contractor
What should I ask a fence contractor before hiring them?
Three questions separate a real contractor from the rest: what exactly is going in the ground, what is and isn't included in the number, and who is physically building it. Everything else is detail.
1. What are the posts, and how deep?
This is the whole fence. Ask what material the posts are and how deep they're set, and listen for whether the answer is specific.
'Treated posts' and 'standard depth' are not answers. A contractor who builds fences that last will tell you the material, the depth, and why — because it's the part they're proud of and the part the cheap bid skipped.
2. What's not in this number?
Better than asking what's included, because it forces the exclusions into the open. Tear-out and haul-off, gates, stain, permit fees, and repairing the grade afterward are the usual omissions.
A quote that's cheaper because it excludes removing your old fence isn't cheaper. It's a quote for a different job.
3. Who is actually building it?
Ask whether the person quoting will be on site, and whether the crew works for them regularly or gets assigned per job.
It's a fair question and the answer tells you what recourse looks like when something needs fixing. If the person who scoped it never returns, nobody on site has any stake in the promises made at the kitchen table.
Worth asking too
Who pulls the permit, if one applies. What happens if something was missed in the scope. How gates are framed. Whether they've built on your soil before, which matters more here than it sounds.
And ask to see finished work that's a few years old, not a few weeks old. Any fence looks good the week it goes up.
Ask what's underground. The answer tells you everything about the rest.