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Fence me in!


MickinMD

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My contractor's financial person said there was some confusion: when I said I was going to replace more of the fence than State Farm was paying for, they thought I meant I would arrange the installation with the contractor after they removed the old fence.  They would partially pay for the new fence.

I've been phoning, entering info online, etc. with a bunch of local fence companies since late last week and gotten no return calls.

I visited Long Fence, and the receptionist handed me a business card and said, "There's no one here to meet with you, so call this number and they'll get back to you."  That was two days ago.

All I want is 220' of 4' aluminized-steel chainlink fence and 3 small gates. It's not cheap, but It should cost no more than $6000, about half of which the house-rebuild contractor will pay.

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7 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

My contractor's financial person said there was some confusion: when I said I was going to replace more of the fence than State Farm was paying for, they thought I meant I would arrange the installation with the contractor after they removed the old fence.  They would partially pay for the new fence.

I've been phoning, entering info online, etc. with a bunch of local fence companies since late last week and gotten no return calls.

I visited Long Fence, and the receptionist handed me a business card and said, "There's no one here to meet with you, so call this number and they'll get back to you."  That was two days ago.

All I want is 220' of 4' aluminized-steel chainlink fence and 3 small gates. It's not cheap, but It should cost no more than $6000, about half of which the house-rebuild contractor will pay.

Get in line.  Everyone is busy.  No one is around to talk to because they are busy taking someone else's money.  I had to wait 2 weeks to get someone to talk to me to sell a new AC unit and new furnace.  My needs are simple.  Stock AC unit - stock furnace.  No new duct work, wiring or refrigeration lines.  The installation lead time was quoted at 7 to 10 days.  The project was scheduled for 3 weeks from signing the order (3 hot muggy weeks I might add).

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Ultimately I am really happy with all of the work done to our house but getting the jobs scheduled  was tough.  There had to be an order to the jobs and we had to wait several weeks between jobs as everyone was just so busy.  Many of the contractors wouldn’t let us overlap jobs either due to their Covid protocols.

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5 minutes ago, denniS said:

A friend of mine is a contractor. He had a call for a small remodel. The guy wanted him to do it next week. He told the client he could schedule it for April 2022. The guy hung up. A couple hours later he called back and said pencil me in for April 2022. 

I had to get some work done on my Anthem that was beyond my skill level (replace suspension pivot bearings) last year & did the same… 12 weeks, uh no thanks…. After numerous calls to other shops I went back, OK fine schedule me in. What, 14 weeks now. Faaaahk….

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5 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I had to get some work done on my Anthem that was beyond my skill level (replace suspension pivot bearings) last year & did the same… 12 weeks, uh no thanks…. After numerous calls to other shops I went back, OK fine schedule me in. What, 14 weeks now. Faaaahk….

We have a mobile guy that's great. He can get to the work in a few days. He comes to you in his sprinter van/workshop. 

I tore apart my suspension last month to get rid of the creaking. It just needed to be cleaned. It's kind of a pain with the flip chip though. 

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15 minutes ago, denniS said:

We have a mobile guy that's great. He can get to the work in a few days. He comes to you in his sprinter van/workshop. 

I tore apart my suspension last month to get rid of the creaking. It just needed to be cleaned. It's kind of a pain with the flip chip though. 

I was told you need a bearing press to remove & replace the suspension bearings.   The wrench said labor on the job is way less than the tools needed to do it properly.   But the bearings themselves were the most expensive piece to the job at $130 for a full bearing replacement. 

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12 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I was told you need a bearing press to remove & replace the suspension bearings.   The wrench said labor on the job is way less than the tools needed to do it properly.   But the bearings themselves were the most expensive piece to the job at $130 for a full bearing replacement. 

I did not replace anything on my suspension. I just took it apart and cleaned the pivot points, as well as the headset, and seatpost. We did replace a set of hub bearings. That was a pain in the ass. We took the entire hub apart, cleaned it, greased it, put it back together and it was still sticky so we did it again and replaced the bearings. 

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3 hours ago, MickinMD said:

My contractor's financial person said there was some confusion

I'd suggest looking back at the contract to see what it says.  If your contract says in black and white that the contractor is replacing the fence on three sides of the yard, then he's obligated to do that.  Don't run around doing his work.  If you decided to replace more fence than what's in the contract, well then that's on you. 

But whatever you want to add can be piggybacked on what your contractor has to do under the contract.  If necessary you can even make two agreements with the fence installer - one contract for three sides with your general contractor and a second contract with you for the last side.

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9 hours ago, Tizeye said:

DIY…the only way. Just say’n

A summer job to help pay for college....   I installed fence for a contractor, who was a sub contractor for Sears.  I installed a LOT of chain link fence that summer.  And several wood panel fences.  Chain link was soooo much easier to install. 

Most of the chain link was steel.  Some was aluminum.  I had to be careful installing the fabric on aluminum fence.  We used a winch stretch (add tension) to the fence, steel just got tight and you knew you were done.  One day...  I was stretching an aluminum fence.   That was my first time for aluminum...  my partner.... holy crap STOP!!!  Yeah aluminum doesn't just stop stretching, it starts to deform.   opps..    I backed off on the tension, and I found that aluminum also springs back too.  

Me... I'd rent a post hole digger, and a small cement mixer and just get it done.  Most of my early jobs taught me a skill that were good to learn.  Some taught me about jobs I didn't want to do for a living.

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5 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

A summer job to help pay for college....   I installed fence for a contractor, who was a sub contractor for Sears.  I installed a LOT of chain link fence that summer.  And several wood panel fences.  Chain link was soooo much easier to install. 

Most of the chain link was steel.  Some was aluminum.  I had to be careful installing the fabric on aluminum fence.  We used a winch stretch (add tension) to the fence, steel just got tight and you knew you were done.  One day...  I was stretching an aluminum fence.   That was my first time for aluminum...  my partner.... holy crap STOP!!!  Yeah aluminum doesn't just stop stretching, it starts to deform.   opps..    I backed off on the tension, and I found that aluminum also springs back too.  

Me... I'd rent a post hole digger, and a small cement mixer and just get it done.  Most of my early jobs taught me a skill that were good to learn.  Some taught me about jobs I didn't want to do for a living.

Likewise, but "helping" dad at construction site during school vacation from age 6 on. One job I hate was roofing in FL heat and have the highest respect for installers. However, if after a hurricane when demand increases with long delays for overworked crews and faced with months of a "blue tarp" I may be forced to reconsider and DIY with the insurance proceeds. Already do minor stuff like replacing small section along eaves with dry rot, and hurricane last year had section of top ridge/vent blow off and while the old were in the yard, layers with new shingles.

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4 hours ago, Tizeye said:

Likewise, but "helping" dad at construction site during school vacation from age 6 on. One job I hate was roofing in FL heat and have the highest respect for installers.

My HS buddy, worked (ended up taking over) his dad's HVAC company.  They needed help over Christmas break.  We were on a roof of a business my friend Jim was working to get a commercial rooftop furnace working again.  I was the helper, getting the stuff he needed.  It was windy and about -5F without the wind.  OMG was that cold work.  That was horrible enough... 

Another job, at a place that heat treated and/of formed aluminum products they needed to install a gas line to a new furnace location.  They needed to attach to a gas pipe (maybe 2" of more in diameter) that was about 25 feet above the floor.  There was an end cap on the pipe.  The dad says you hold the ladder.  He takes a new valve up the ladder, the valve is open.  Takes the end cap off.   Whoooooooosh....  threads on the valve and closes the valve.  He comes down.  I ask OMG was the gas ON?    'Yeah. They can't shut down the heat treating process so you do what you need to do.'    I was wondering just how many rules we just broke... OSHA and/or the fire dept would have fined the shit out of us.   Never mind if he dropped the valve or the wrench on me.  Or if there was a spark, etc... and the place burned.  Yeah that scared me a LOT.   I was glad when classes started again.   

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1 hour ago, Bikeguy said:

My HS buddy, worked (ended up taking over) his dad's HVAC company.  They needed help over Christmas break.  We were on a roof of a business my friend Jim was working to get a commercial rooftop furnace working again.  I was the helper, getting the stuff he needed.  It was windy and about -5F without the wind.  OMG was that cold work.  That was horrible enough... 

Another job, at a place that heat treated and/of formed aluminum products they needed to install a gas line to a new furnace location.  They needed to attach to a gas pipe (maybe 2" of more in diameter) that was about 25 feet above the floor.  There was an end cap on the pipe.  The dad says you hold the ladder.  He takes a new valve up the ladder, the valve is open.  Takes the end cap off.   Whoooooooosh....  threads on the valve and closes the valve.  He comes down.  I ask OMG was the gas ON?    'Yeah. They can't shut down the heat treating process so you do what you need to do.'    I was wondering just how many rules we just broke... OSHA and/or the fire dept would have fined the shit out of us.   Never mind if he dropped the valve or the wrench on me.  Or if there was a spark, etc... and the place burned.  Yeah that scared me a LOT.   I was glad when classes started again.   

When I was an industrial research chemist, I had to work with the plant engineer when my process went into production and part of the plant was modified to suit the synthetic requirements.  An OSHA guy would come in to approve the new set-up and would find little picky things that meant nothing, but wouldn't notice the big things we hadn't fixed yet!

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2 hours ago, donkpow said:

I put in a few fences. You know, a lot of jurisdictions require permits. The other thing is clearance from the underground utilities people.

I was putting in water and sewer lines to my shop and office. Ripped up a phone line with a bazillion wires in it. The only phone that was affected was in my office. The phone company sent a repair person out. He was real nice about it. Told me to alway call and have them mark where the lines were. This phone line was deep, almost as deep as the sewer line.

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17 hours ago, donkpow said:

The other thing is clearance from the underground utilities people.

This part is easy in IL  (not sure about other states) https://www.illinois1call.com/  One free call and in a few days the public utilities are marked.  Underground stuff on your own property that you own... that's your problem to find.

14 hours ago, Longjohn said:

You know, a lot of jurisdictions require permits.

I recall some places (thinking about Cook County in IL) may require a land survey to locate the property lines.  Then there are setback rules.  My county may require a building permit.   I'd have to look for the requirements.   Some subdivisions have HOA rules about fence types and location, etc.. too.

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22 hours ago, Longjohn said:

I was putting in water and sewer lines to my shop and office. Ripped up a phone line with a bazillion wires in it. The only phone that was affected was in my office. The phone company sent a repair person out. He was real nice about it. Told me to alway call and have them mark where the lines were. This phone line was deep, almost as deep as the sewer line.

In my case, they're putting the fences in exactly the same place the old ones were torn down in June.  It's easy to see where the two underground lines for water and sewage are: the old not-to-current-code water line was replaced in June and the sewage line was replaced in the late 90's and the ground has settled just slightly lower where we dug it up.

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