Determining the Cost of Your Fence
The cost of your fencing project is determined mainly by the length of the fence, the terrain and the type of fence you select. Be sure to request separate material and labor estimates if you solicit bids from contractors.
Three factors primarily determine the cost of your aluminum fencing project. These are the length of your fence, the type of fence you select, and the terrain where you intend to install it. Gates also enter the picture. The style of gate is sometimes dependent on the fence style you’ve selected. If you install your fence yourself as most of our customers do, you don’t need to consider labor expenses outside of possibly hiring a handyman if you elect not to do the work personally.
Factors Affecting Cost
The cost of installing your fence will depend on the installation site. Here are some factors to consider.
Know your property boundaries. If you don’t know them, be sure to contact a surveyor who can determine them. If you don’t know your property line, you might inadvertently erect your fence on your neighbor’s property. Sometimes, local law requires you to maintain an offset, which means you must place the fence a specified distance back from the line. You can’t do that if you don’t know the line.
You should also take care not to build over a buried utility line. First of all, you could strike the line while digging post holes for your fence. In addition, the utility has the right to tear out your fence if it needs to dig down for maintenance or an emergency. Contact local utility providers to find out where they have buried lines.
If you hire someone to install your fence, it is going to cost more if your site is not easily accessible. That’s because it will cost the contractor more to transport materials and equipment. It can also cost more if your site is cluttered because that will impede progress. You can save money if you prepare the site beforehand by removing brush, rocks and other clutter.
The composition of the earth also matters. Digging post holes becomes sheer drudgery if you have a lot of wet, heavy clay. This is also true for shallow groundwater, and rocky ground is no fun, either.
Trees can be a problem. They may require removal, depending on their location. Also, some older trees can have roots that are literally all over the place, and that can make a nightmare out of post hole digging.
If you are working on slopes, your fence may cost more. You’ll have to accommodate the lay of the land when erecting the fence. It can be fairly simple if the slope is shallow. You will have to do what is called racking for steeper slopes, which involves the installation of aluminum fencing panels at staggered heights. We sell panels designed for this application.
Curved fences can also drive up costs. However, we can set you up to build a fence in almost any configuration, which is something that is not so easy to do with some other fencing materials and styles.
Evaluating Estimates
If you solicit contractor estimates, ask them to break down material and labor costs. This enables you to evaluate estimates on a comparable basis and determine whether materials might be of subpar quality.
GENERIC OSC
