# Pricing question. Don't flame me to death till you read it!



## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

I'm moving to Mississippi up near the Tennessee border. Looking at a new home that needs fencing, and have no idea what I'll have to pay. Simple 6' good neighbor fence. I know what I'd charge, but no one East of the Rockies is stupid enough to shell out that kind of cash for a fence. One of the near useless home improvement sites said 12$ to 25$ a foot. Seems way to cheap, but I guess if it's Scooter and Buba doing the work with stolen material it could be right.
Thoughts?


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

If you build it yourself, you'd know exactly how much to charge. Can you afford you?


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## Joe Fairplay (Aug 26, 2021)

HDMP = Home Depot Material Price
RIP = Retail Installed Price
HDMP X 3.50 = RIP


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## Big Johnson (Jun 2, 2017)

I got a quote for a fence, it was about double the hd material cost. PT/DE. I’d have to look it up to be sure but I think it was about $20/ft for ~5xx’.


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

I quoted one yesterday at about $67/lf for 95’

6’ Privacy, 3 pt rails, man gate.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

Tinstaafl said:


> If you build it yourself, you'd know exactly how much to charge. Can you afford you?


No. I'm surprised every time someone signs the contract.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

Mordekyle said:


> I quoted one yesterday at about $67/lf for 95’
> 
> 6’ Privacy, 3 pt rails, man gate.
> 
> ...


If I could get that for 6' fence consistently I'd have 4 crews running within a week.

So maybe 20 to 25 a foot is in the ballpark? The last time I did any serious amount of fencing was 30 years ago and that's about what I was charging.
Fun story. A friend of mine had an add in the local yellow pages for fencing, it was the only one. We had several weeks of heavy rain then a wind storm, his phone rang non stop for two weeks. Three months of that and I was pretty much done with fencing.


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## 530Foreman (3 mo ago)

Last one I did was just over $67/ft for 3 rails, top cap, #1 8" boards, and double coverage on the boards, and I probably should have charged a bit more. I gave them the option of single coverage and it was about $52/ft. I'm in California though, so our pricing may be bonkers.


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## Half-fast Eddie (Aug 21, 2020)

Double coverage … like board & batten?


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## 530Foreman (3 mo ago)

Half-fast Eddie said:


> Double coverage … like board & batten?


Kinda, overlapping boards of the same size


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Pounder said:


> I'm moving to Mississippi up near the Tennessee border. Looking at a new home that needs fencing, and have no idea what I'll have to pay. Simple 6' good neighbor fence. I know what I'd charge, but no one East of the Rockies is stupid enough to shell out that kind of cash for a fence. One of the near useless home improvement sites said 12$ to 25$ a foot. Seems way to cheap, but I guess if it's Scooter and Buba doing the work with stolen material it could be right.
> Thoughts?



This would be a good time to find small local sawmills or even some hobby operations. Depending on the exact location, some areas may have multiple small operations.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

530Foreman said:


> Kinda, overlapping boards of the same size
> View attachment 537883


Odd to use dog eared boards upside down. What was the reason for that?


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## 530Foreman (3 mo ago)

Pounder said:


> Odd to use dog eared boards upside down. What was the reason for that?


Couldn't source square topped boards in less than a full unit, and I didn't think to cut the DE off. Went over this in the current job thread, I went back with 1x4 cedar to hide my screwup and the customer didn't want it, said no one would notice once the mural was up


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Pounder said:


> I'm moving to Mississippi up near the Tennessee border. Looking at a new home that needs fencing, and have no idea what I'll have to pay. Simple 6' good neighbor fence. I know what I'd charge, but no one East of the Rockies is stupid enough to shell out that kind of cash for a fence. One of the near useless home improvement sites said 12$ to 25$ a foot. Seems way to cheap, but I guess if it's Scooter and Buba doing the work with stolen material it could be right.
> Thoughts?


Who's potentially doing the work and what would they actually charge? The $12-$25 a foot range on those home improvement sites should be an indicator that those numbers aren't reality if they're off by over a 100%... unfortunately, no short cut in getting some estimates if you're not doing the work...

At least you know the questions to ask whomever comes out to do your estimates and what to look for...


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## Half-fast Eddie (Aug 21, 2020)

Pounder said:


> Odd to use dog eared boards upside down. What was the reason for that?


Mouse holes.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

KAP said:


> Who's potentially doing the work and what would they actually charge? The $12-$25 a foot range on those home improvement sites should be an indicator that those numbers aren't reality if they're off by over a 100%... unfortunately, no short cut in getting some estimates if you're not doing the work...
> 
> At least you know the questions to ask whomever comes out to do your estimates and what to look for...


All true, but I'm 2100 miles away and don't own the house yet.

Edit: Just spoke to a fence builder in that area, $25 a foot is the number.


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## TPS BOCO (Jan 30, 2018)

That seems stupid cheap even doing it real ****ty. I’m all cedar for that and $20-$25/ft is basically material.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

TPS BOCO said:


> That seems stupid cheap even doing it real ****ty. I’m all cedar for that and $20-$25/ft is basically material.


I got no idea. Never met the person and didn't ask for referrals. I was told they got a good price on material because they buy a lot of it, but I haven't seen the wood or the work.


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Pounder said:


> I'm moving to Mississippi up near the Tennessee border. Looking at a new home that needs fencing, and have no idea what I'll have to pay. Simple 6' good neighbor fence. I know what I'd charge, but no one East of the Rockies is stupid enough to shell out that kind of cash for a fence. One of the near useless home improvement sites said 12$ to 25$ a foot. Seems way to cheap, but I guess if it's Scooter and Buba doing the work with stolen material it could be right.
> Thoughts?


Retiring?


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

MarkJames said:


> Retiring?


Indeed.
And just discovered the completion of my current project is going to be pushed back till the end of January. My house closes the end of December. The universe had to get one last shot in before I hang it up.


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Pounder said:


> Indeed.
> And just discovered the completion of my current project is going to be pushed back till the end of January. My house closes the end of December. The universe had to get one last shot in before I hang it up.


Well congratulations, sir!

(No interest in doing a fence in Tennessee "for old times sake"?)


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

MarkJames said:


> Well congratulations, sir!
> 
> (No interest in doing a fence in Tennessee "for old times sake"?)


I may have to, I'm cheap old bastard and hate paying for something I can do myself. 

Lets skip the masturbation jokes.


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

Pounder said:


> Odd to use dog eared boards upside down. What was the reason for that?


Expansion joints/ drainage.

Barometric pressure relief vents.

Insect habitat/thoroughfare.

Snow depth indicator.

Lots of reasons.


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Was charging about $30 a linear foot up here in Michigan as of a couple of years ago, would definitely be a bit more now. If I could get $60+ a foot, I'd sell everything except a coil nailer and a post hole digger, and do fences three days a week while i fuc*ed off around the barn the other four.


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## Joe Fairplay (Aug 26, 2021)

530Foreman said:


> Couldn't source square topped boards in less than a full unit, and I didn't think to cut the DE off.


Seriously, how did you get past installing the third board without stopping and saying WTF am I doing.


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

Joe Fairplay said:


> Seriously, how did you get past installing the third board without stopping and saying WTF am I doing.


Time, cost, schedule, looked at third board and thought "I'm sure it will be fine". We've all done it at one time or another.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Because then your fence would be 5'11", not 6 feet.

After crap grows, dirt piles up and dogs wizz on it, nobody will know or care.

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## 530Foreman (3 mo ago)

Joe Fairplay said:


> Seriously, how did you get past installing the third board without stopping and saying WTF am I doing.


There are 1000 excuses, but the bottom line is that I let myself get in a hurry and didn't do as good of a job as I should have. I'm lucky the customer is happy anyway, but it was a learning experience.


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## Joe Fairplay (Aug 26, 2021)

530Foreman said:


> There are 1000 excuses, but the bottom line is that I let myself get in a hurry and didn't do as good of a job as I should have. I'm lucky the customer is happy anyway, but it was a learning experience.


It happens. It's all part of the growth process.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Keeps from daming up surface water....


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## goneelkn (Jan 9, 2010)




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## Big Johnson (Jun 2, 2017)

I think that fence is up on an embankment


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