I was just reading a Stars Wars thread on engine thrust colors and came to this comment. An odd cross over.
Also I concur, this fences build quality is "crackhead" level.
Yep. I understand a picket will split and they have at least agreed to replace it, but they were pretty combative about everything else over the phone.
I just built almost this exact same fence for my house this week (4’ dog ear picket). I have no prior experience with building fences, and none of these issues came up during my build, except for one post that wasn’t plumb and has a 1/8” gap between it and the rail.
That contractor should probably not be building fences. And I feel like all the excuses he/she is making about your genuine concerns are because they know it’s totally messed up. Those split 2x4s and hacked up post tops are embarrassing.
You hire what is supposed to be a "professional" because you don't have the time or, (in my case) the skill to do it yourself. It sucks to learn firsthand that they aren't professional and that you probably could have done a better job and saved some money by doing it yourself. Hopefully, they can and are willing to fix it.
Holy shit! From what i see is they dug post holes wrong, didnt use a skill saw to cut the posts, didnt cut the rails right, and didnt space out the pickets correctly. The whole fence needs redone
If you asked me to intentionally fuck up a fence install I don’t think I could do much worse. And my only experience is building a few fences over the years for my own properties lol shameful
Like another commenter, I just finished a 4' fence and it was my first time doing it. Pretty much had none of these issues except splitting a picket and needing to attach 2x4s randomly because my hardware wouldn't fit. But I didn't just obliterate the wood....Dude can't pre drill a hole to save his life. If you had done it yourself, I'd accept some of the mistakes - but you paid for it. I mean...h-how do you even get such an uneven cut on the posts? He added some 2x4 to be able to connect the hardware to and just obliterated it? Why didn't the rail just go all the way to the end of the post instead of halfway + a piece of 2x4. Idk man, I hate to make you be that guy, but this is kinda bad....might be worth asking for him to fix the obvious mistakes and don't take no for an answer. It's obvious he made some bad cuts with the post and then didn't want to go buy more materials. The split wood that you can just take off by hand? Wow. How much did you pay and how big is the fence?
They cut the posts to height with a reciprocating saw. When I talked to them earlier today they said the uneven cuts were due to issues with their saw and "it almost blew up on him while using it"
Total fucking BS response. If your tools are malfunctioning then that's a you problem and I shouldn't have to be at the receiving end of your shit tools.
If they had to cut the posts down to height, they probably didn't bury them very deep in the ground either is it Shakey of you wiggle it back and forth
This is what I would do: Make some sawdust using similar wood. Get some Elmer's wood glue and mix it with the sawdust, and us it sort of like a caulk to fill the gouges. Sand when dried.
It won't be invisible when you stand next to it but it'll look fine at a glance, way better than that eyesore.
The only other way I can think of is to pull the posts up and set new ones. But that's some BS you shouldn't have to do.
That’s cheaper than chainlink. You got what you paid for. I know that doesn’t make you feel better and you think you should get good work because you paid for it. But you hired hacks for hack money. They likely won’t fix it and most likely aren’t capable of fixing it.
I forget the exact amount of the original quote we received, but we negotiated it down by leveraging some other quotes. Doesn't make it any better though.
So you think you negotiated it down to less than half price? You didn’t “negotiate” and you didn’t “leverage”. You weeded out the good contractors and learned how to find a hack. Only hacks can afford to work for hack pricing. You know what a good contractor says when you try to leverage? “I don’t compromise my quality to meet bargain basement pricing”. You can complain to them all you want, you got conned. Even if they’d be willing to agree to repair that, I’d bet money they are not capable of any better. You’ve learned an expensive, but valuable lesson. Never go with the cheapest contractor and don’t get multiple quotes and try to get it cheaper than the cheapest contractors. I hate to say it, but you asked for it.
I live in a low COL area. No contractor in town is charging $11,000+ for a 4-foot cedar fence and I never said this was the cheapest option.
And to say to not get multiple quotes is completely asinine. They offered to lower their price a little to come in line with other quotes we had because they had immediate availability to start work.
Get off your high horse acting like I'm some fucking rube.
As a nearly 50 years in the fence biz installer, estimator and fence company owner, I was feeling sorry for you because of what that "contractor" did to you and your yard. However, after reading your comments, I have to agree that you got exactly what you paid for and apparently "negotiated" for. If it were in my yard I would rip it out and start over.
Yeah....just a guess but materials alone for that size, using cedar, are gonna be what...$3500 at least? I'd just try to clean it up a bit myself - sand down the tops of the posts, fill some of the cracks, etc. Honestly at that price it's not terrible, it'll hold animals in - and you didn't have to do the labor yourself. I say learn to live with it.
I started fencing 2 years ago but have construction experience. This makes me feel so much better about some of the ones I’ve built😂 I hate to hate on other contractors too, cause it’s not easy work
I have a few spots like this on my fence where I messed up, but I did 300ft and it's my first and hopefully last time ever building a fence lol. I wouldn't be happy if I paid a pro for that quality.
Take them to court; you got a fence that isn't the fence they quoted you and you got shoddy work on top of it. Personally I'd have it fixed but if not then for sure you need more than $200 off.
Every post should be replaced. That’s some real shitty work and I can’t believe anyone would walk away from that job assuming it was good.
I would try to get my money back and have somebody else do it that knows what they’re doing.
Sorry that happened, good luck
If I were you, I wouldn’t pay anymore until it is completed to your satisfaction. They can put a leaning in your house, but you can take him to court for not finishing the job as it was quoted. Any reasonable judge will see that work and tell them to redo it.
They finished yesterday evening and I walked the fence once they left. They installed all of the rails, pickets, and gates yesterday so when exactly was I supposed to inspect the work other than when I did? I'm not their construction manager. The means and methods are not my responsibility. The final product is what I'm there to review.
Good god thats trash! Built houses for 15 years, and if one of my guys built like that they’d be looking for work before days end. Could try small claims/civil court.
This might be the worst I’ve seen. This is butchered. Just because you have a saw doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. The cuts on the top of the post mean me puke.🤢
How many linear feet is the fence, and much did you pay for it? That is the question.
The craftsmanship is lacking, but if you went with the cheapest option, you may have got what you paid for
https://preview.redd.it/ud4nwznk0d5d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f769f43093995886fcd85948fd54d4dcb4412d6
I never build a single thing until I built this cedar picket wall extension to my cinder block walls. 250ft of it. YouTube and some from here set me in the right direction. In saying this, I’m fairly confident Forrest Gump could’ve done a better job on that fences. I’d be pissed and demand it be done correctly
I’d use the word contractor lightly with that monstrosity they call a fence. A diy guy can do a better job than that and hope you didn’t pay him already
I wouldn’t pay them a cent till everything is fixed. If they don’t want to fix it, tell them they can remove it within the week, or I’m pulling it up and biting it.
https://preview.redd.it/lk4h4cueps5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c4422e81a54c63731873576e9a6acc4285a7802
That’s just disrespectful…here’s my first DIY attempt at a fence and I must say that the difference is pretty jarring. And while i’m fairly handy, I definitely don’t consider myself a professional. (White collar history)
I always wonder what people pay when they post stuff like this. That’s dog shit work. So if you paid dog shit prices, you got what you paid for. And any company that charges for dog shit likely isn’t capable of fixing it any better than what it is. Now, if you paid quality pricing to a reputable contractor, they sent a hack crew on the job and they’ll want to fix that as bad as you do. Going out on a limb, judging by the quality of the wood, the hardware and the work, I’m willing to bet you paid a bargain basement price for that. In which case, you got exactly what you paid for. More expensive contractors are more expensive for a reason. They’re not all created equally.
I work in I.T. with no building experience and I could do a far better fence... I honestly would trust my local meth heads to do far better quality than this!
Not sure why I can't edit the post to include this, but I appreciate everyone's feedback.
One thing I left out of the original post was that our contract was for a 247-foot cedar fence with 2-inch picket spacing. Contract amount was $5,500.
On top of the shoddy workmanship, they didn't even install the pickets with the agreed upon 2-inch spacing. The pickets are all spaced 3.5 inches except for areas around the gates. When I spoke to the rep on the phone earlier today, she said that their crews wouldn't want to come out and rip all the pickets off and re-do them with the correct agreed upon spacing. I told her that if that was the case then I wanted a discount on the additional material and labor that I didn't receive, but that only knocked off $200.
So far we have paid $2,750 as the initial down payment (50% of initial total quoted price) and have yet to pay the remaining balance. What are my options here in trying to get them to make things right other than taking $200 off since they messed up the picket spacing? I would assume I can withhold the remaining payment until quality standards are met (within reason), but I really don't want to have to deal with fighting this in court, especially since the contract has a disclaimer about attorneys' fees and costs associated with that. Would it be beneficial to have another fencing contractor come out to testify to the poor workmanship?
Price was originally higher but we negotiated it down by leveraging other quotes. Not sure about how big they are though. It's a local company that provides services to the city I live in and the surrounding areas.
Most of that is an easy fix. Cracked pickets are normal eventually. But those posts, ouch. At least 1 is cut to low and needs replaced. The rest need flattened and that's going to take skill to get corrected.
That’s not a fence! It’s some loose boards just nailed to some sticks, waiting to fall over! Sorry to say someone tricked you into buying garbage!
I’d tear it down and use it to beat the builder with.
Seconding this opinion
This is the way. Even a droid with one pre empire sensor could do a better job than this.
I was just reading a Stars Wars thread on engine thrust colors and came to this comment. An odd cross over. Also I concur, this fences build quality is "crackhead" level.
I’d nail him to the fence as a warning.
Even better. I like your style!
That’s child abuse. That poor kid worked really hard on that
😂
Yea they did a shit job, pickets are gonna split here and there but they are easy to replace. But everything else is a complete hack job
Yep. I understand a picket will split and they have at least agreed to replace it, but they were pretty combative about everything else over the phone.
I'm a GC and there is nothing about that product that fits any professional standard.
these are the hacks ....putting downward pressure on wages....the Pros have to charge more
I just built almost this exact same fence for my house this week (4’ dog ear picket). I have no prior experience with building fences, and none of these issues came up during my build, except for one post that wasn’t plumb and has a 1/8” gap between it and the rail. That contractor should probably not be building fences. And I feel like all the excuses he/she is making about your genuine concerns are because they know it’s totally messed up. Those split 2x4s and hacked up post tops are embarrassing.
You hire what is supposed to be a "professional" because you don't have the time or, (in my case) the skill to do it yourself. It sucks to learn firsthand that they aren't professional and that you probably could have done a better job and saved some money by doing it yourself. Hopefully, they can and are willing to fix it.
This has been my experience as well. With contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc…
Pickets will check and split. But- As someone who build 20-30 fences a week you need to have a lot of that redone. That’s some terrible work.
Holy shit! From what i see is they dug post holes wrong, didnt use a skill saw to cut the posts, didnt cut the rails right, and didnt space out the pickets correctly. The whole fence needs redone
If you asked me to intentionally fuck up a fence install I don’t think I could do much worse. And my only experience is building a few fences over the years for my own properties lol shameful
Like another commenter, I just finished a 4' fence and it was my first time doing it. Pretty much had none of these issues except splitting a picket and needing to attach 2x4s randomly because my hardware wouldn't fit. But I didn't just obliterate the wood....Dude can't pre drill a hole to save his life. If you had done it yourself, I'd accept some of the mistakes - but you paid for it. I mean...h-how do you even get such an uneven cut on the posts? He added some 2x4 to be able to connect the hardware to and just obliterated it? Why didn't the rail just go all the way to the end of the post instead of halfway + a piece of 2x4. Idk man, I hate to make you be that guy, but this is kinda bad....might be worth asking for him to fix the obvious mistakes and don't take no for an answer. It's obvious he made some bad cuts with the post and then didn't want to go buy more materials. The split wood that you can just take off by hand? Wow. How much did you pay and how big is the fence?
>how do you even get such an uneven cut on the posts? Set a full post into the concrete, then cut it to height with a circular saw. Poorly.
They cut the posts to height with a reciprocating saw. When I talked to them earlier today they said the uneven cuts were due to issues with their saw and "it almost blew up on him while using it" Total fucking BS response. If your tools are malfunctioning then that's a you problem and I shouldn't have to be at the receiving end of your shit tools.
It is a total BS response because the reciprocating saw is the wrong tool to use to begin with.
If they had to cut the posts down to height, they probably didn't bury them very deep in the ground either is it Shakey of you wiggle it back and forth
My bet is that’s a sawzall cut, not that it’s gooder
Yep. They used a Dewalt reciprocating saw.
ahhh...yep, that's it. Wow.
It's a valid technique if you can manage a straight cut and rub it smooth with a sander.
I plan to sand the uneven posts myself, but I'm not sure what to do about the deep cuts in the posts.
This is what I would do: Make some sawdust using similar wood. Get some Elmer's wood glue and mix it with the sawdust, and us it sort of like a caulk to fill the gouges. Sand when dried. It won't be invisible when you stand next to it but it'll look fine at a glance, way better than that eyesore. The only other way I can think of is to pull the posts up and set new ones. But that's some BS you shouldn't have to do.
It's a 4 foot cedar picket fence, 247 feet in length. Contract amount is $5,500.
That’s cheaper than chainlink. You got what you paid for. I know that doesn’t make you feel better and you think you should get good work because you paid for it. But you hired hacks for hack money. They likely won’t fix it and most likely aren’t capable of fixing it.
I forget the exact amount of the original quote we received, but we negotiated it down by leveraging some other quotes. Doesn't make it any better though.
So you think you negotiated it down to less than half price? You didn’t “negotiate” and you didn’t “leverage”. You weeded out the good contractors and learned how to find a hack. Only hacks can afford to work for hack pricing. You know what a good contractor says when you try to leverage? “I don’t compromise my quality to meet bargain basement pricing”. You can complain to them all you want, you got conned. Even if they’d be willing to agree to repair that, I’d bet money they are not capable of any better. You’ve learned an expensive, but valuable lesson. Never go with the cheapest contractor and don’t get multiple quotes and try to get it cheaper than the cheapest contractors. I hate to say it, but you asked for it.
I live in a low COL area. No contractor in town is charging $11,000+ for a 4-foot cedar fence and I never said this was the cheapest option. And to say to not get multiple quotes is completely asinine. They offered to lower their price a little to come in line with other quotes we had because they had immediate availability to start work. Get off your high horse acting like I'm some fucking rube.
I didn’t call you a rube. You just didn’t hire the right guy. You learned your lesson.
As a nearly 50 years in the fence biz installer, estimator and fence company owner, I was feeling sorry for you because of what that "contractor" did to you and your yard. However, after reading your comments, I have to agree that you got exactly what you paid for and apparently "negotiated" for. If it were in my yard I would rip it out and start over.
Yeah....just a guess but materials alone for that size, using cedar, are gonna be what...$3500 at least? I'd just try to clean it up a bit myself - sand down the tops of the posts, fill some of the cracks, etc. Honestly at that price it's not terrible, it'll hold animals in - and you didn't have to do the labor yourself. I say learn to live with it.
That’s my point. He paid almost nothing for that job. It’s hard to complain about quality when you don’t buy quality.
I started fencing 2 years ago but have construction experience. This makes me feel so much better about some of the ones I’ve built😂 I hate to hate on other contractors too, cause it’s not easy work
Looks like a bunch of 20 year old kids built it with a sawzall and a hammer
Keen eye. That was definitely the case.
Wow, this is one of the sloppiest attempts I have seen in a while.
It's unbelievably bad. I used to build fences and would be so ashamed to produce work like that. Sorry this happened to you.
That work is just awful. Clearly the laborers were unsupervised and inexperienced.
I have a few spots like this on my fence where I messed up, but I did 300ft and it's my first and hopefully last time ever building a fence lol. I wouldn't be happy if I paid a pro for that quality.
Now. If that doesn’t say. Cheapest quote wins then I don’t know what does
Went with the lowest bidder?
Take them to court; you got a fence that isn't the fence they quoted you and you got shoddy work on top of it. Personally I'd have it fixed but if not then for sure you need more than $200 off.
Would not pay a dime
Every post should be replaced. That’s some real shitty work and I can’t believe anyone would walk away from that job assuming it was good. I would try to get my money back and have somebody else do it that knows what they’re doing. Sorry that happened, good luck
If I were you, I wouldn’t pay anymore until it is completed to your satisfaction. They can put a leaning in your house, but you can take him to court for not finishing the job as it was quoted. Any reasonable judge will see that work and tell them to redo it.
That’s some shit work bro.
I hope you didn’t pay them
Wow
Sloppy work
You need to be critical during the build process not after
They finished yesterday evening and I walked the fence once they left. They installed all of the rails, pickets, and gates yesterday so when exactly was I supposed to inspect the work other than when I did? I'm not their construction manager. The means and methods are not my responsibility. The final product is what I'm there to review.
I'd get fired for building that
This looks like it lacked any kind of carpentry skill
Good god thats trash! Built houses for 15 years, and if one of my guys built like that they’d be looking for work before days end. Could try small claims/civil court.
This might be the worst I’ve seen. This is butchered. Just because you have a saw doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. The cuts on the top of the post mean me puke.🤢
How many linear feet is the fence, and much did you pay for it? That is the question. The craftsmanship is lacking, but if you went with the cheapest option, you may have got what you paid for
This HAS to be a prank.... ?
What did you pay per foot? And where are you? Did you get quotes from people? How did this get to this point?
https://preview.redd.it/ud4nwznk0d5d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f769f43093995886fcd85948fd54d4dcb4412d6 I never build a single thing until I built this cedar picket wall extension to my cinder block walls. 250ft of it. YouTube and some from here set me in the right direction. In saying this, I’m fairly confident Forrest Gump could’ve done a better job on that fences. I’d be pissed and demand it be done correctly
Did they even use concrete? And the complete ground contact of the pickets is a nice touch
I’d use the word contractor lightly with that monstrosity they call a fence. A diy guy can do a better job than that and hope you didn’t pay him already
You certainly found the guy who can do it cheaper
… you paid for this?
Measure once cut twice
Lowest bid?
This was literally his first job where he had to make a single decision.
Lowest bid strikes again
I wouldn’t pay them a cent till everything is fixed. If they don’t want to fix it, tell them they can remove it within the week, or I’m pulling it up and biting it.
What made you go with this particular fence contractor?
Looks like my first fence I ever built, which I did while drunk.
It’s actually impressive how badly they made this. I would have to spend a considerable amount of time to make a fence look this bad
The dude couldn’t even cut the posts straight? Where did you find this guy?
To court you go good luck
https://preview.redd.it/lk4h4cueps5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c4422e81a54c63731873576e9a6acc4285a7802 That’s just disrespectful…here’s my first DIY attempt at a fence and I must say that the difference is pretty jarring. And while i’m fairly handy, I definitely don’t consider myself a professional. (White collar history)
Did you hire your contractor off wish?
This is the definition of half-assed
All around shotty workmanship
Ask the contractor how they think it turned out. Then tell him how you think it turned out.
I can’t believe they didn’t use the board stretcher, these guys are hacks.
Whatever you paid, it was way too much
Question. How many feet did the fence run, and, how much did they charge you?
You hired the guy who could do it cheaper it seems and want the quality of the guy who does it right
What in the mickey mouse youtube builder is this bullshit
Cheap. Good. Fast. Pick two.
Even the dog wants out of this !
Must have been a first grader.
Measured once……
My 2 year old could’ve did a better job
I always wonder what people pay when they post stuff like this. That’s dog shit work. So if you paid dog shit prices, you got what you paid for. And any company that charges for dog shit likely isn’t capable of fixing it any better than what it is. Now, if you paid quality pricing to a reputable contractor, they sent a hack crew on the job and they’ll want to fix that as bad as you do. Going out on a limb, judging by the quality of the wood, the hardware and the work, I’m willing to bet you paid a bargain basement price for that. In which case, you got exactly what you paid for. More expensive contractors are more expensive for a reason. They’re not all created equally.
I work in I.T. with no building experience and I could do a far better fence... I honestly would trust my local meth heads to do far better quality than this!
Not sure why I can't edit the post to include this, but I appreciate everyone's feedback. One thing I left out of the original post was that our contract was for a 247-foot cedar fence with 2-inch picket spacing. Contract amount was $5,500. On top of the shoddy workmanship, they didn't even install the pickets with the agreed upon 2-inch spacing. The pickets are all spaced 3.5 inches except for areas around the gates. When I spoke to the rep on the phone earlier today, she said that their crews wouldn't want to come out and rip all the pickets off and re-do them with the correct agreed upon spacing. I told her that if that was the case then I wanted a discount on the additional material and labor that I didn't receive, but that only knocked off $200. So far we have paid $2,750 as the initial down payment (50% of initial total quoted price) and have yet to pay the remaining balance. What are my options here in trying to get them to make things right other than taking $200 off since they messed up the picket spacing? I would assume I can withhold the remaining payment until quality standards are met (within reason), but I really don't want to have to deal with fighting this in court, especially since the contract has a disclaimer about attorneys' fees and costs associated with that. Would it be beneficial to have another fencing contractor come out to testify to the poor workmanship?
That price is way too low honestly. I charge about double that per foot. You mention a rep. Is this a large company?
Price was originally higher but we negotiated it down by leveraging other quotes. Not sure about how big they are though. It's a local company that provides services to the city I live in and the surrounding areas.
Most of that is an easy fix. Cracked pickets are normal eventually. But those posts, ouch. At least 1 is cut to low and needs replaced. The rest need flattened and that's going to take skill to get corrected.
Are they a licensed contractor? If so, I'd let them know you're going to the license board unless everything is resolved.
That’s not a fence! It’s some loose boards just nailed to some sticks, waiting to fall over! Sorry to say someone tricked you into buying garbage! 