How to Hire a Fence Contractor Without Getting Burned
How to hire a fence contractor: verify the license and insurance yourself, get a written scope that spells out material gauge, post depth, and concrete, confirm property lines and permits before anyone digs, and treat the cheapest bid as a warning, not a win. The lowest quote almost always means corners are getting cut where you can't see them.
I'm a fence contractor, and I'm about to tell you how to vet people like me. I do this because the bad operators in my trade make all of us look bad, and because I've been called out too many times to fix a fence somebody paid good money for that was built wrong from the first post. A fence is buried infrastructure. You can't inspect the part that matters once it's done. So your protection is everything you do before the work starts. Here's exactly how to hire well.
If you want to know what fair pricing looks like before you collect bids, read my fence installation cost guide first so you can tell a real number from a fantasy.
Verify License And Insurance Yourself
Don't take "yes, I'm licensed and insured" at face value. Anyone can say that on the phone.
- License. Many states and cities require a contractor's license for fence work over a certain value. Ask for the license number and look it up on your state's licensing board website. It takes two minutes and tells you whether it's active and whether there are complaints.
- General liability insurance. This covers damage to your property. Ask for a certificate of insurance, and for a bigger job, ask to be named as a certificate holder so the insurer notifies you if the policy lapses.
- Workers' comp. This is the big one. If a worker gets hurt in your yard and the contractor doesn't carry workers' comp, you can be on the hook. Confirm it exists.
A legitimate contractor hands this over without flinching. If someone gets cagey or annoyed when you ask for proof, that's your answer. Walk.
Demand A Written Scope With Real Specs
This is where most homeowners get burned, and it's the section I most want you to internalize. A quote that just says "install 150 ft of 6-foot privacy fence, $7,500" protects you from nothing. The whole job lives in the specs that quote leaves out. Get these in writing:
| Spec to demand in writing | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Material and grade | Cedar vs pine, vinyl wall thickness, aluminum gauge. "Wood" tells you nothing. |
| Post depth | The single biggest predictor of whether your fence lasts. Demand a number. |
| Concrete | How much per post, and that posts are concrete-set, not dirt-tamped. |
| Post spacing | 6 to 8 foot centers. Wider sags. |
| Number of rails | Three on a 6-foot fence. Two sags. |
| Gravel under posts | Drainage that prevents rot. |
| Gate hardware | Heavy-duty hinges and a braced gate, specified by name if possible. |
| Cleanup and haul-off | Who removes the old fence and the dirt spoils. |
When I bid a job, I'll tell a customer "9-foot posts, set 3 feet deep, one bag of concrete each, on gravel, three rails." If a contractor can't or won't put his post depth in writing, he's leaving himself room to set them shallow, and shallow posts are the leaning fences I get called to fix. My how to build a fence guide explains why each of these specs matters, so you'll know what good answers sound like.
Settle Property Lines, Permits, And HOA First
Get these nailed down before a single bid turns into a contract.
- Property lines. Don't let anyone build off the neighbor's old fence as the assumed line. If there's any doubt, pay for a survey. Building over the line means tearing a finished fence back down, and the contractor will charge you for that even though the disagreement was about boundaries you should have settled first.
- Permits. Ask who pulls the permit. A real contractor knows your town's rules and handles the permit and inspection. If a contractor wants to skip the permit to save you a fee, that's a red flag, because unpermitted work can force a teardown later and torpedo a home sale.
- HOA. If you've got a homeowners association, get written approval on height, style, and which side of the fence faces the street before you sign anything. HOAs make people tear down finished fences. Don't let that be you.
Deposit Norms And Payment
A reasonable deposit is normal. I typically take something in the range of a third up front to cover materials, with the balance due on completion. Be wary at the extremes. If someone wants the full amount before they've driven a single post, that's how people get ghosted with a half-dug yard. A normal structure is a modest deposit, sometimes a progress payment on a large job, and the rest when the work is done and you've walked it. Never pay the final balance until you've inspected the finished fence and the cleanup.
Get The Warranty In Writing
Ask what's warranted and for how long. A solid fence contractor stands behind both the workmanship and, separately, the materials (which often carry their own manufacturer warranty, especially vinyl and aluminum). Get the workmanship warranty in writing with a time frame. A leaning post at year two should be the contractor's problem, not yours. A vague verbal "oh yeah, we stand behind our work" is worth exactly nothing when the truck doesn't come back.
Lowball Red Flags
Here's the part people don't want to hear. The cheapest bid is usually cheap for a reason, and the reason is almost always hidden in the ground. Watch for these:
- A price way under the other quotes. If three contractors are around $7,000 and one's at $4,200, that fourth guy is skipping something. Usually post depth or concrete.
- Vague specs. "We'll set the posts good and deep" is not a number. Get the number.
- No license, no insurance, cash only. This combination is a hard pass.
- Pressure to sign today. "This price is only good if you commit right now" is a sales tactic, not a fair deal.
- No written contract. If it's a handshake and a number scrawled on a notepad, you have no recourse when it leans.
- No references and no reviews. A contractor who's been around can point you at finished jobs. Ask to drive by one.
A fair quote that's a little higher because the posts go deeper and the concrete is real is the cheapest fence you'll ever buy, because it's the one you don't pay for twice.
Reading References And Reviews The Right Way
Online reviews are useful but you have to read them like a contractor, not like a shopper. A handful of five-star reviews that all say "great job, friendly crew" tell you less than one detailed review that says the fence is still tight after four winters. Look for reviews that mention the long term, because fence problems show up in years two and three, not week one. Anybody can hang a fence that looks great on the day they collect the check. The question is whether it leans by the third spring.
When you ask for references, ask specifically for jobs that are a few years old, not last month's. Then ask the reference the questions that matter: did the posts stay plumb, did the gate keep swinging true, did the contractor come back if something needed attention. Better yet, ask to drive by an older finished job. A fence three or four years out tells you everything a fresh install can't.
Get Multiple Bids, But Bid The Same Fence
Always get at least three quotes. One quote gives you no reference point and makes it easy to overpay or to accept a lowball without knowing it. But here's the catch most people miss: the bids only mean something if every contractor is quoting the same fence. If you tell one "6-foot privacy fence" and let each contractor fill in the blanks, you'll get three prices for three different fences and the comparison is worthless. Write down your own spec first, the post depth, the rail count, the material grade, the gate hardware, then hand the same spec to every bidder. Now the prices are comparable, and the contractor who quietly priced a cheaper, weaker fence stands out instead of looking like a bargain.
A Couple Things You Can Verify Yourself
You don't need a full toolkit to keep a contractor honest, but a few cheap items help. A post level lets you spot-check that finished posts are actually plumb before you pay, and a simple tape measure and string line lets you confirm post spacing and a straight run. If a post is leaning or the line wanders on day one, you want to catch it before the final check clears.
My Honest Take
Hiring a fence contractor isn't complicated, but it does take a little spine. Verify the license and insurance yourself. Make them write down the post depth, the concrete, and the rails. Settle your lines and permits up front. And when one bid comes in suspiciously low, believe that it's low for a reason you'll be living with for twenty years. The good contractors in my trade have nothing to hide and will happily put it all in writing. The ones who get squirrelly about specs are telling you something. Listen. When you're ready, you can browse vetted fence pros or, if you're a contractor who does it right, get your business listed.