I plan to hire a contractor to build a basic good neighbour fence to mark my property line and provide privacy. The requirements are:
- no old fence to remove
- 24' straight run, level ground, sandy soil (loose, easy to dig)
- 6" gap along the bottom, 6' pickets, for a total fence height of 6'6"
- "shadow box" good-neighbour design
- framed with a top cap and a bottom cap
- pressure treated wood
- no gates
I got a quote from a fencing contractor for $2,130 (not including tax), which works out to almost $90/ft for a very basic fence design using basic materials, on a very easy to work surface.
Their quote seems unreasonably high to me. I priced out the retail cost of the required material (using 4x4x10' pressure treated posts, 2x4x8' rails, 2x6x8' top and bottom caps,1x6x6' pickets, cement, screws, delivery) and it was $712 (not incl tax).
This means that they are charging me for over $1,400 for labour, depreciation, profit, etc for a small, simple, easy job. This seems completely unreasonable. Everything I've seen on this forum indicates that a job like this should be about $45 per linear foot.
Can I get some comments from people who have had similar work done by contractors, and from contractors who have done similar jobs?
Thank You
Many factors come into this,
Materials available, the contractors availability and time to get to the job.
Distance of travel. All this can bump the price up. And the size of the job. This is a small job. Doing quick math 24' x 45 linear foot minus materials you have your asking labour to be only $300+hst. Dig 4 post holes and kwik cement, and put fence up?
Remember the contractor has to cover his liability, warranty costs associated to the project. I would keep looking as I think you will find linear foot price to be more around 60 to 75 depending on demand. Hope this helps
Hello
You definitely won t be able to find someone to do it for $45 per LFT because the cost of PT wood went up significantly over this summer.
I usually charge $75 per LFT if using 6x6 posts or $65 per LFT using 4x4 posts.
Emilio
Canadian Property Care
437-881-0020
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