The Fence Post

Part 2:

After you have looked into the many different types, styles, heights, and materials used for fence building in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area, (I am not familiar with areas other than the southeast United States) and you are pretty sure you have a good idea of the fence you would like to install, lets work on where the fence needs to be located on your property.

There are several ways to look at determining where to locate your fence on your property. Is it going to be located at property lines? Or, maybe there is just a portion of your fence you would like to have fenced in. Either way, the best way for you to really see where your fence will be located is to mark it out with wooden stakes, and a bright colored string line. These are easily purchased for a few dollars at the local hardware or home improvement store.

If at all possible, have your property survey with you during this process, it will help you in determining where your property lines are. Use the wooden stakes to mark your fence location. It is not important to have multiple stakes running down the same line for this, only on the corners and changes in direction. After you have marked it out with the stakes, attach the string to each stake, and pull tight to keep the string off the ground. If your property slopes up and down, you may need more stakes to keep the string off the ground.

Now that you have done this, take a good look, walk around trying to visualize your new fence. Try to see problem areas; does the fence run through heavily wooded or overgrown areas? Is there a steep slope on your property? Have you thought about where to put the gate(s) and what size gate you will need? (There will be a future post just about gates)

Now that you have taken a more visual look at your fence location, there maybe some issues to contend with. Take care of these issues before moving on. Also, after this step, you may realize that the type of fence you wanted won’t work in your yard, for instance; a vinyl privacy fence does not install well on steep sloping areas, you may need to consider wood.

Stay Tuned, More to Come . . . . . .
Keith R. Bloemendaal

Tags: aluminum fence, diy fence, fence, fence contractor, fence design, fence how to, fence location, fence picket, fence post, fence project, fence raleigh, north carolina fence, picket fence, post and rail fence, raleigh fence, raleigh fence contractor, raleigh nc fence, vinyl fence, wake county fence, wake forest fence, wood fence, wooden fence

Tags: aluminum fence, diy fence, fence, fence contractor, fence design, fence how to, fence location, fence picket, fence post, fence project, fence raleigh, north carolina fence, picket fence, post and rail fence, raleigh fence, raleigh fence contractor, raleigh nc fence, vinyl fence, wake county fence, wake forest fence, wood fence, wooden fence

Now that we have determined the type of fence you need, read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of Guide to Choosing the Right Fence in Raleigh, NC for more information on the types of fence, unless you plan to install the fence yourself, you will need to hire a fence contractor.

• Insurance
• Three estimates
• Pricing
• References
• Address

Insurance:

No matter how you plan to find your fence contraor, probably the most important thing I can stress to you about choosing the fence contractor for your project is to be sure the contractor has general liability and workers compensation insurance policies. It doesn’t hurt to see copies of the policies and a legitimate contractor will have these policies, and will not mind showing them to you. Chances are the contractor pays a rather large premium to have these policies and rarely gets asked for it, so he will probably be more than happy to show it to you.

Three Estimates:

Try your best to get three estimates for your fence project. Here in the Raleigh / Durham, NC. area, there are plenty of reputable fence contractors to choose from. I find that most of my customers find us online by searching Google for “Raleigh fence” or another search term. My customers usually do one of three things to initiate contact with me:

1. Fill out the estimate sheet on my website, providing me with some basic information about the type, style, height and length of their fence. This form also has a place to put all your basic contact information so I can get in touch with the customer.
2. Call my number, which is on every page of our site, to schedule an appointment with me or to ask for a quote over the phone if all the information needed is already determined.
3. Email me to request a quote or an appointment for a quote.

I find that more and more of my customers are good at having all the information that is needed for the fence estimate before they make contact with me. This helps us to keep costs down as I am not required to drive to each and every estimate request (at the time of writing this gas is near $4per gallon in Raleigh, NC.) and initial quotes can be emailed to the customer to help the customer get an idea of what the fence will cost them. When the customer decides they are ready to proceed, I verify the measurements and inspect the property for where the fence will be located and contract with the customer for building their fence.

Getting three estimates not only gives you the chance to get three prices, it also gives you more information, each contractor may have different methods of building a fence, may use different suppliers (research manufacturers as well), and will certainly have different sales methods.

Pricing:

Some customers believe that the lowest price will be where they should get there fence from. I don’t always agree with this practice. Granted, we win fence contracts by being the lowest price, we are not always the lowest price. Be weary of a price that is much lower than that of the other two or more prices you received. This contractor could be using lower grade materials, paying installers less (sometimes results in less experienced installers), and also could be a part time fence guy which may or may not be around to honor any warranty work.

Ideally, all three estimates will be within a few hundred dollars of each other (depending on the size of the project). If that happens, go with the contractor you felt best about his/her ability to make you happy throughout the entire process. The estimator should be willing to provide any information about your fence and not try to hide or conceal anything. Be weary of contractors who try to push something on you that you didn’t want (there is a difference between suggesting something and being pushy). The contractor should encourage you to get three estimates.

References:

Don’t be afraid to ask for references from your fence contractor. They should be willing to provide this information. At the very least you should try to get some addresses of properties the contractor has installed fence on so you can drive by and see it. I usually have both available (references with phone numbers and addresses to drive by).

Address:

Be weary of any contractor who doesn’t have a physical address! P.O. Boxes are not the best sign for a reputable contractor. Now, I am not saying that contractors can’t have a P.O. Box, just that they should have a physical address as well.

I hope this has helped to enlighten you on this process, please feel free to comment on this or any other of my posts.

Keith Bloemendaal

Tags: aluminum fence, diy fence, fence, fence contractor, fence design, fence how to, fence news, fence picket, fence project, home and garden, picket, picket fence, raleigh fence, vinyl fence, wood fence, wood picket, yellow picket

Here in the Raleigh / Durham area of North Carolina, the industry standard is to set wooden posts in concrete. I am well aware of pros and cons of doing this, and maybe at another time I will post on that subject. In the area I live in, the standard is to set the posts in concrete, and having signed a contract to install a fence this morning in Holly Springs, NC., the customer questioned our practices for doing this. I immediately thought this would be a great topic for the blog.

Retention Level:

Retention level may or may not be something you are aware of when it comes to having your fence installed. Retention level refers to the amount of preservative that remains in the wood after the treatment process is complete. It is measured on a weight basis and is typically expressed as pounds of preservative per cubic foot (pcf) of wood. There are a number of typical retention levels available. Generally, the harsher the condition the wood is exposed to, the higher the retention level must be. Typically, the pcf for above ground use (wood not in contact with soil) is .25, and the rating for ground contact (wood in contact with soil) is .40 or higher. The wood we use for our posts is rated at .40.

How Far in the Ground Should the Posts Be?

This question comes up often, and surprisingly, you will get different answers from different contractors on this one. Typically, we set posts 24″ in the ground for five and six foot tall wooden fences, and 18″ in the ground for a 4′ fence. Now, there are instances where this is completely impossible to achieve. Some examples are: close to the building you can run into the footing, the terrain you are digging in has very large rocks under the soil, and there are other instances where this happens. In these situations, we try to go at least 18″ and make a wider hole to add more concrete to add to the stability of the post.

Digging the Holes:

Typically, we use a gas powered, two man auger to dig the holes for our posts. When that is not possible (underground utilities present) we hand dig with post hole diggers. Obviously, the gas powered auger is the most efficient way to dig the holes, but there are other important reasons for this. When digging with post hole diggers, it is very easy to dig a hole which is more narrow at the bottom than at the top, this could create issues of the posts rising during extreme weather where the ground freezes. Using the auger allows more of a uniform hole to work with.

The Concrete Has to Set!:

After we have laid out the line of the fence, and dug the holes, we set the posts in wet concrete. Typically, 40lbs of concrete per hole on line posts, and up to 80lbs for the corners and gate posts (we use 6×6 posts for ALL gates). Here is where my customer from this morning questioned our policy. He told me the neighbor behind him recently had a fence built, and the contractor came and finished in one day. At Carolina Custom Fences, LLC., we ALWAYS let the posts set in the concrete overnight, allowing the concrete the time it needs to properly set up. If this is not done, the chances of the fence becoming “shaky” or developing a “lean” are much greater.

Conclusion:

As we are constantly trying to set ourselves apart from the “typical” fence contractor, here is another example of something that may take a little longer but achieves a much higher grade of installation. So, when you decide to choose to hire a fence contractor, ask some questions about their installation methods, and choose accordingly. It may cost you a little more now, but it will save you much more later!

Keith R. Bloemendaal

keithbloemendaal@gmail.com

Tags: aluminum fence, fence, fence contractor, fence design, fence how to, fence location, fence news, fence picket, fence post, fence project, fence raleigh, north carolina fence, picket fence, post and rail fence, raleigh fence, raleigh fence contractor, raleigh nc fence, vinyl fence, wake county fence, wake forest fence, wood fence, wooden fence

I probably get asked this question more than any other question from my customers here in Raleigh, NC.

First, I would like to clarify that when I am speaking of wood fence, it will generally be pressure treated pine, or cypress wood. These are the two types of wood that I have worked with most. Pressure treated pine is used throughout the southeast United States, and I used cypress more when I lived in the central Florida area.

My customers generally want to know how to care for their fence, as they just spent anywhere from $1500.00 to over $10,000.00 for there fence and want to make sure the investment they made can be protected.

Keep the fence path clear:

• Keep tree limbs away from your fence.
• Trim shrubbery back 12″ to 24″ from the fence.
• Adjust your sprinkler heads so you are not watering your fence, it promotes rot.
• If at all possible, don’t build your fence up close to trees that will grow into the fence.
• NEVER allow vines or ivy to grow on your fence!

Wood Sealer:

I recommend Thompson’s Water Seal for sealing your wood fence. There are other good products out there to use and you can check with your local hardware or home improvement store to see your options. Always follow the instructions on the can of the brand you buy. Thompson’s has two main sealers that I use for fence: the oil based Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Wood Protectors, and the water-based Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Advanced Wood Protectors. A clear or “natural” wood protector maintains the natural color of the wood. A tinted wood protector adds wood color without obscuring the wood. Both Thompson’s® WaterSeal® Wood Protectors and Thompson’s® WaterSeal® stains offer color choices, effective waterproofing protection, UV and mildew resistance, all in one coat. Semi-transparent and solid stains come in a wide range of colors and provide progressively more coverage of the wood grain.Generally, the “advanced” can be used right away on pressure treated wood, and the “non-advanced” version should be applied 30 days after the fence installation.

That’s all for now, check back for more on how to care for your fence!

Keith R. Bloemendaal

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Tags: aluminum fence, aluminum fence products, diy fence, fence, fence contractor, fence design, fence estimate, fence how to, fence news, fence picket, fence project, fence raleigh, home and garden, north carolina fence, OnGuard Fence System, picket, picket fence, powder coating, raleigh fence, raleigh fence contractor, raleigh fence estimates, raleigh nc fence, raleigh real estate, real estate, relocation, vinyl fence, wake county fence, wake forest fence, wood fence, wood picket, wooden fence, yellow picket | Tags: aluminum fence

There are many reasons to purchase and have a fence installed on your residential or commercial property. Maybe you have just purchased a new home and have pets, or you have newly acquired a pet, or you have installed a pool and by code must have a fence installed, maybe you have small children that need an area for playing in that is contained.

Whatever the reason, it can be a worrisome process as you search the internet or pull out the phone book (people still do that?!?) to see what options are available to you. You start to make contact with fence contractors in your area, only to find out, this will not be nearly as easy as you imagined.

This post is the first in a series about being better informed to help you make an educated decision on a major purchase for your home. Let’s face it, a fence project qualifies as something you should do your homework on.

I have had customers that contact me that know just as much about fence as I do (if not more, although I would never admit this, oops! I just did!) because they have done their homework and researched the subject. On the flip side of that coin, I have many more customers, who just call or email me for a fence estimate, and have no idea what they need out of a fence.

So, first things first. What kind of fence you need, sometimes, is much different than what you want. Think first about the purpose of the fence. If you are wanting to contain a tiny dog, you may not want a fence with large spacing between pickets, maybe you have a very large dog; you might not want a four foot tall chain link fence that he/she could easily climb over, or maybe you just don’t want your neighbors looking at you while you are in your back yard. So think about why you really need the fence, not what you think looks the best. Do some research on fences, I have several links on this page to fence manufacturers that we use for our customers. You can click on their web sites for pictures and specifications of different types of fence. Of course, I do not have one for wood fences, because they are built as per the customers specifications and needs. I will, however, be writing another post (or series of posts) dedicated
to wood fence.

Keith R. Bloemendaal

Tags: aluminum fence, diy fence, fence, fence advice, fence contractor, fence design, fence estimate, fence how to, fence news, fence picket, fence project, fence raleigh, home and garden, north carolina fence, picket, picket fence, raleigh fence, raleigh fence contractor, raleigh fence estimates, raleigh nc fence, raleigh real estate, relocation, wake county fence, wake forest fence, wood fence, wood picket, wooden fence, yellow picket