residential cedar fence by All Aspects Fencing

Shadow Box your Residential Fence Posts

Time for another Good Fence / Bad Fence entry.

Wood Fence Worries

What if we told you that it’s possible to have a beautiful wood fence without worrying about the posts rotting away under the soil line? Sounds a bit like magic, doesn’t it? But it’s not, trust us. We do it all the time.  Now, what if we told you we could build that fence without looking at ugly galvanized fence posts?

The way it often works

Let’s back up a moment and go over some details. Here’s what you need to know about residential wood fences. There are several standard ways to install fence posts. If your builder wants to cut costs, he will bury your untreated 4×4 directly in the ground. That fence isn’t going to last very long before it starts to sag or sway as the wood rots away. If you don’t care what your fence looks like in 3 to 4 years, then we suppose you got what you paid for.

How it’s done better

More reputable builders will use treated 4x4s. When buried in the soil, these definitely last longer. Longer being a relative term. If you’re investing in your home, you probably aren’t going to want to rebuild your fence in 7 or 8 years. Central Oregon may be a dry climate, but soil is soil is soil.

For homeowners who understand the value of investing in quality products, an exceptional residential fence build means galvanized metal fence posts. Yup… they’re strong, and they aren’t going to rot.

Some builders go with galvanized posts

unattractive-galvanized-pipes-on-fence

This is *not* how All Aspects Fencing will leave your fence.

OK, we’re not going to lie. Those pipes? They can be pretty ugly to look at. You’ve already got the more utility side of the fence, why make it unattractive? You’ll probably sell it some day.

How we do it best

At All Aspects Fencing, we’ve got the fix for that too. We use shadow-boxes for our fence posts. You get the strength and longevity of galvanized fence posts, without the unattractive look.

We set your posts the normal way – concreted in below frost depth – and then build the box around them above ground level. Here’s a view mid-way through.

shadow-box-galvanized-fence-post

Partially boxed residential fence post, the All Aspects Fencing way!

 

Maintain the value of your investment

If you’re a homeowner who plans on maintaining the value of your investment – both structurally and visually – give All Aspects Fencing a call today. We’ll give you all your options and work within your budget to give you a residential fence that can maintain or even add value to your home.

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all aspects fencing quality and value image

Fence Contractor bids: Don’t go cheap.

Selecting a fence contractor.

When purchasing fencing services – be it a residential fence, arena fence, corral or maybe a no climb fence- we all want to be smart shoppers. We call a bunch of fence contractors, get estimates, compare bids and make a (hopefully) well-researched decision.

Before you decide, there are a couple of things you should know and do.

contractor board logo

In Oregon, you should check out the Oregon Licensing requirements for contractors. Make sure the company building your fence has the proper licenses, liability insurance (if someone gets hurt building a fence on your property, who do you think is paying for it?), and only uses qualified labor.  You’d also want a fence company that maintains their continuing education, to be up on the latest state rules and regulations. You can check out All Aspects Fencing right here. Whether you select us or someone else, make sure you are getting what you pay for. Verify they are licensed, bonded and have no actions against their business by searching the database.

But how bad could it really be…

This version of Good Fence/Bad Fence will *not* be including pictures, as we don’t want to embarrass the neighbor. Last week I had a homeowner call and ask me to come out and look at a fence their neighbor had built that they didn’t like and wanted to have it fixed. When I showed up to the home I remembered I had provided their neighbor an estimate on building that same fence, but the neighbor chose to go with a less expensive bid by another person / “fence builder.” The person that built the fence – and I put the term fence builder in quotes for a reason – did not have a contractor’s license and it showed.

It was one of the worst jobs I have seen all year!

The “fence builder” had concreted the posts in between rocks on the retaining wall. A licensed contractor would know that this is never an OK way to set posts. The end result was not pretty; the top of the fence was straight enough, but the bottom was another story altogether.

The bottom of the fence had large holes that a dog or child could have crawled through easily – coming in or going out. The “fence builder” probably did the best he could with the conditions he had to work with and his lack of professional knowledge, but if the homeowner would have hired All Aspects Fencing, LLC to build their fence, we would have addressed the issue prior to commencing work.

The answer to this Bad Fence conundrum?

The neighbors should have agreed to move the fence to one side or the other of the retaining wall, thus making sure the end product would be stable, long-lived and do what a fence should do: keep things in or out.

By not adequately completing their fence contractor research – or worse yet, simply picking *cheap* rather than good – the homeowners got the fence they paid for. They now need to hire a licensed fence contractor and pay them accordingly to have the fence fixed right the second time. It would have been less costly overall to do the job right the first time.

What’s the takeaway?

Do your research and always hire a licensed contractor for any home improvements or building, be it fence or otherwise. Why take a chance with a lowball bid that may end up costing you much more than expected?

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Good example of All Aspects Fencing T Post fence

Do you need support wire on a T-post fence?

This month’s “Good Fence/Bad Fence” post highlights the importance of support wire on your T-post fence.

Time to learn about support wire in our Good Fence/Bad Fence section. We’ll be trying to post some good and not so good examples of what you should expect when you hire a fencing contractor.

The good examples come from us – All Aspects Fencing. The bad examples … well, we won’t name names, but make sure you talk to your potential fencing contractor’s former customers and see samples of the company’s work. Find out where previous work was done and drive by yourself. Two or three years later, the fence quality will continue to show.

Now for the details:

Example of a competitor's poorly installed fence.

A bad example of support wire. All Aspects Fencing did NOT build this!

If you’ve ever paid attention to a T-post fence you might notice one or two wires clipped above the main weave. Those wires aren’t just for show, but are an integral part of the fence, and just as important as the bulk of the woven wire.

What does the safety wire do?

If you’ve got a no climb or T-post fence, you’ll want the safety wire to protect the woven wire from damage. This damage is often caused by animals crushing it while leaning over to enjoy the proverbial grass on the other side of the fence, or when deer jump over in their daily forays. Either way, good decisions by your fence contractor today mean a longer life for your fence.

Support wire on All Aspects Fencing job.

This is one of All Aspect Fencing’s jobs. Note how we make sure it’s done right.

At All Aspects Fencing you will never see one of our fences without at least one support wire clipped above the woven wire. In some instance – depending upon location and expected usage – we may use more. The barbed wire or barbless wire we use as the T-post safety wire is very inexpensive, but it can save you thousands in repair work over the life of your fence.

Let us provide you with an estimate for your T-post fence. We’re fair, dependable, do exceptional work and are available in Central Oregon – Bend, Redmond, Madras, Prineville, Sisters and beyond. Give us a call at 541-668-7005.

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