We have been busy the past couple weeks nailing down a lot of details pertaining to the upcoming fencing project for our yard and we have learned so much. Fence jargon–it exists! Our search to find something similar to our inspiration photo started out rough. A nearby fencing company with something very similar to our inspiration photo would not give us a pricing estimate and told us that the price would scare us away from that one anyhow. Consider us scared! I searched a lot of other fencing websites nearby, but none of them listed anything near what we had in mind.
I extended our search online and finally got a ballpark figure of what I thought we could expect financially (why is cost such a secret?!) when we received one quote for $9000. Ouch. That didn’t include labor or anything. I was starting to think that I was going to have to soften up on the look I was going for. My parents told me to go check out a local fencing company they used just to see if they had anything similar. They had about 15 designs displayed, but none of them were what we really wanted. But, I started talking to the owner about what we wanted and he took us back to their shop and basically let me design our fence. It’s not exact, but it’s real close. He told me he would email an estimate to us the next morning and I don’t think we slept a wink that night.
The price came back at $6771.50 with labor. We squealed. We screamed. That’s a lot of money, but for fencing our whole yard–and not having to do it ourselves– we learned that’s an excellent price. As with any major project, there are things that can go wrong, so we have some additional money set aside for that. For instance, Shane (the fence guy) warned us that the underground utilities may or may not be an issue. We called 811 and had the city come and mark where all the underground utilities are on our lot (for free!) so we know what we’re dealing with there. Another issue in Idaho is underground plastic sprinkler lines–they are impossible to mark and we should expect that there will be causalities–as there normally is in already established yards. And lastly, because we have a lot of trees and shrubs on your lot, we need to be prepared to move or lose some. The fencing equipment can dig through roots; however, once you start getting those larger roots, say 3-8 inch roots, the post placement/spacing may have to be adjusted slightly to avoid hitting a large root.
A few of you mentioned permits in our last post and I am so glad you did because I honestly hadn’t thought about that. Luckily, in our area, you don’t need a permit for a fence. BUT, we are kind of a corner lot, kind of in a cul-de-sac–GRAY AREA at its finest–and there are some rules about that. For instance, the side fence of a corner lot has to be 3ft tall OR 50% see-through. A 3-ft tall fence would basically diminish our reason for getting a fence in the first place, but the design of our fence is 50% open, so whether we count as a corner lot or not–we should be safe. We are going to double check with our Planning & Zoning office to make sure. The last thing we want to have to do is tear down our brand new fence.
I can’t tell you how not fun it is to drop $7K on a fence. We wish we were buying some new appliances for the kitchen to be honest! But, this is something extremely necessary in our lives and for our home. Not to mention, a huge step in updating our exterior. One reason this home had trouble selling was the back yard was so small. By installing this fence, we are actually expanding the “backyard” by enclosing our large side yards as well and adding a lot of privacy, too. It’s worth it? It’s worth it. It’s worth it! (On repeat in my head as I watch our savings deplete.)
As a side note, the estimate we received is for 161 ft of 6ft fence and 114 ft of 4ft fence (we’ll be using that along our back yard to blend with our neighbor’s existing fence). If you have had a fence installed, would you mind sharing the cost and your location? I think it could be really beneficial to others!
Thanks for this Chris and Julia. I think contractors opening up fencing prices are helpful and it gives the customers like me time to carefully study the budgeting and finances. Much like two years ago when I had my contractor https://www.trexfencingfds.com/get-pricing/material-costs/ put up my TREX composite fencing in my AZ home. I had time to prepare and know the budget ahead of time, helping me make the fence project a success!
Nice and helpful post without a doubt! Just fyi I come to know about numerous valuable things from your article.
Thanks for sharing!!
Looks great! I do have one question, though. Won’t Greta just learn how to open the lock and get out? Haha- that girl seems determined!
I have a 24′ x 24′ vegetable garden that I wanted to fence in to keep animals and children out. After calling a few contractors and researching fencing options, we went with a 4′ high no-dig vinyl picket from WamBam. We purchased about 98 ft. of fencing including gate for around 1.8K delivered. We installed it during our free time over the course of two weeks.
We went with this selection because we didn’t think we were getting the most out of our money with local options. For example, we received a quote of 1.4K for a 18′ x 18′ area with a 3′ high wood picket. I love the fence, and would install it again at our next house.
Wow – you all are confirming that any future fences we need will again be built with our own sweat – ouch the prices! (Okay, maybe it’s worth it if you have real jobs and kids or wouldn’t enjoy it…we are physics grad students with more energy than money)
We built just over 100 ft of privacy fencing in Oklahoma (setting posts in deep concrete, yay tornados) for around $600. We did the most basic dog-eared privacy fence and didn’t use the pre-made paneling in order to save money. We used deck screws to assemble (careful not to overdrill as another commenter mentioned – your drill setting helps with that) and that made it go a lot faster. I blogged about it although didn’t break down the costs in the blog post:
http://house-capades.blogspot.nl/2013/07/the-fence-that-jack-i-mean-we-built.html
Julia, it’s fun to see the fencing designs you’ve been looking at! It would be a fun challenge for my future self to try a more complex design next time…