How we quote
Fencing quotes vary wildly between firms for the same boundary, and most of the difference is in what has been left off the sheet. Here is exactly how ours is put together.
What we measure
Five things, on site, with a tape rather than a map.
- Length along the actual line, not the straight distance between two corners. A boundary that steps or bends is longer than it looks.
- Height from the ground on the higher side, because that is how the planning limit is measured and because a garden that falls away changes the answer.
- The fall of the ground. A stepped run costs more than a level run of the same length: more posts, more cutting, more setting out.
- The route in. Off the road, down a side return, or through the house. On a Bristol terrace this moves the number more than the fence does.
- What is already there. What has to come out, what it is fixed to, and whether anything of it is worth keeping.
What we check before we price
Two questions that are cheaper to answer now than later.
- Whose boundary is it. The deeds are the only reliable answer, and neither the side the rails face nor the shape of the posts proves anything. A T mark on the plan sits on the boundary with its crossbar pointing into the responsible owner's garden.
- What your street allows. Which council you are under, whether the address sits inside a conservation area, and whether an Article 4 Direction removes the normal permitted development right. In parts of Bristol it does, and taking an old wall or gate down there needs permission.
We put what we find in writing with the quote. If the answer is that you need consent before anything can start, we say so then rather than after the fence is on the lawn.
What is on the sheet
One page, and every one of these lines is on it.
- Length in metres and the finished height.
- Post type, post spacing and how the posts are set.
- Panel or board type, and gravel boards where they are going in.
- Removal and disposal of the old fence as its own visible line, not folded into the total.
- What is excluded, in plain words, so an extra is never a surprise.
- The total, fixed, and how long the price stands.
What we will not do
- No deposit before you accept. Nothing changes hands until the written price is in your hand and you have said yes to it.
- No pressure and no expiring discount. If a price is only good today, it was never the real price.
- No cold calling and no doorstep visits. Every job we do starts with you contacting us.
- No quoting a boundary that is not yours to instruct. If the deeds say it is next door's, we tell you, even though that is a job we lose.
Why two quotes for the same fence can differ so much
Usually one of four reasons, and none of them is mysterious. Post type: concrete costs more than timber and lasts longer. Whether gravel boards are in the price or added later. Whether waste removal is included. And whether the ground was looked at, because a quote given over the phone assumes a post hole that behaves. If you are comparing us against someone else, compare those four lines rather than the totals.
For published market figures rather than our own, see the cost section of our FAQ. Those are third party numbers and they are there so you have something independent to check any quote against, including ours.
Ready for a proper measure?
Free visit, a measured quote, and nothing to pay until you have accepted it.