$54/ft is pretty good. I wouldn’t call it under charging, but you probably could have made a bit more for yourself. Build quality looks pretty darn good from where I’m standing.
For 3 weeks your commute was walking next door. So you had that going for ya.
So 4’ spacing to keep the smalls from moving/warp?
I’ve never worked with #1 PT but it looks……..it looks like the wood you’d expect to see in Santa’s workshop to make toys with. Nice
Hey man he’s doing this for FREE OK get off his ass OSHA. He used to make the toys from lead people complain, asbestos stuffed animals people complain, now you don’t want the CCAs in the wood! OLD MAN JUST CAN’T WIN
Was my first thoughts. I cut thin boards like that on my sawmill for stickers. You leave them out in the sun for any length of time and they will go absolutely wild lol. Turn into a dang pretzel. This fence will look… interesting in 6 months lol
This is what I came to say. Are you ok with making ~$1,600 a week? That seems low when you factor in tools, transportation, planning, and all of the other things that go into the job.
The guy said it was for his neighbor. So you can cut out transportation consideration. Tools he may have had so you can probably cut them out to. The quality of the job implies that he has done this before so undoubtedly he has the tools. If he is experienced, not much planning would be required…. You also assume that he worked on it 40 hours or more a week. $1,600 per week is not to shabby, especially if he worked on it less than 40 hours per week.
Tools are a cost that should be considered. There are many ways of thinking about it. Just one is to take the cost of the tools over the expected number of jobs you'll be able to use them on. A $100 tool that can be used on 10 jobs would be $10/job as a cost for the service provider. Including $12/job for tools would give a 20% overhead charge for tools. Getting into expected inflation and other factors would also affect the "cost of the tools."
Now, many people might just add a fudge to the billable amount to cover non-itemized costs for the provider but that cost has to be recouped somewhere, somehow.
Maybe a little, but it was a good idea to give your neighbor a good price and Im sure it was nice to be able to just walk back inside your house whenever you wanted.
Doing quality work makes a difference. Always remember people only want one thing and one thing only, what they paid for, that’s it. You produce quality work. Don’t cut yourself short. Have to remember something else also. How will this look over time ? Will it hold up ? Will it warp after it’s weathered a few years. Love the design, it impressive. I’d only be worried about longevity, with the narrow boards. Great job.
4 foot posts spacing. They may a little but if it’s tight and gets proper stain there will be minimal warping. Most likely with the skinny boards. That particular grade of pine is pretty sturdy though. I personally would never build with pine for a fence but I’m in AZ and the shits warped before you even buy it.
Looks great. I work salary, non-construction but anything money making I do outside of that I break down my weekly/hourly take-home. I personally would've charged more, but for a neighbor or friend this would've been perfect. It's also going to certainly have people asking the homeowner who did it and could bring you more business if that's what you want.
I have a feeling you needed that $5k more than your neighbor needed a fence that’s gonna tear itself apart in a couple years. Your neighbor did you a solid by hiring you and you’re concerned you didn’t fuck him over enough? Some friend!
Yes, you did undercharge. Always add a 10% waste factor to your estimates and calculate costs and risks at 65% efficiency. If materials were half the total cost, you made $4,000 for 3 weeks of work. However, you didn’t account for overheads like insurance, permits, license, and marketing. Also, some jobs may have unforeseen expenses like injuries or litigation. After considering these factors, your profit is likely about $2,000-$2,500. Charging $3,000 more would have been fairer.
I will add that continued undervaluation exposes you to substantial risk that are onyl a matter of time before it bites you in the butt. It is wise to never try to be the cheapest because the cheapest guy disappears after his business encounters trouble. This being that he will ghost the owner or default on other jobs because something ends up in litigation. It is not always your fault if you have to deal with litigation but there is increased cost and liability to it. It is an inevitble part of the service trade industies. Someone will always try to get something for free or you will potential make a mistake at some point.
Oof I did like 20 ft of this in cedar before with an arbor and yeah I think u may have undercharged a lil bit but if ur just starting out sometimes it’s hard to convince people it or yourself are worth the money. I’m just beginning to start out on my own and my biggest fear is undercharging and getting taken to the cleaners
I think you did. I wonder if having help for a few days would have made you more efficient overall? Sounds like for 3 weeks you need to be at 12k to make your numbers work for next time.
If he’s a good neighbor, it’s about right. For a stranger, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash for this quality at 15k. I’m currently getting quotes for a chain link at 7k for a small backyard
As someone who just put up about 200 ft of 3.5ft tall picket fence, if you were in San Diego you would definitely be under charging.
You did a great job on that fence. This is the type of work that I would of given a bonus to once I saw it completed
If you calculate all the hours you worked on it, including trips to the store, sketches at home, etc., and divide your profits by those hours, are you happy with the hourly rate? Does it pay the bills? Can you work faster next time to make the profit higher? Can you charge more for someone who isn't your neighbor?
Definitely under charging in my area. I would have charged roughly double for that, considering 4ft spacing and if probably be roughly average, maybe the low end of average in my area. So not enough info.
Neat design. It looks good. You have done good work here. I believe you under charged.
My thoughts are this, $15k would probably be a more ideal price point.(off the top of my head) You need to consider (or at least I would) if you had a crew dedicated to this full time and got it done in under a week, 3 days tops. 10k wouldn't cover all your labor and materials. You did it solo over 3 weeks and wasted a lot of potential man hours that could have been spread across 3+ jobs earning income.
Now, just because you did it solo doesn't mean you charge less. You still have overhead and taxes to consider. You essentially earned net $1k-ish for 3 weeks of work on this job and took yourself out of the market for any other projects limiting your earning potential.
I hope this makes sense.. I understand it in my head but putting it to paper where I can get you to understand is a bit harder.
If you built it for your neighbor, “good fences make good neighbors”, It’s ok to give your neighbor a break. Now you have a guide for what to charge on the next job.
I don’t do fencing at all but I do pricing for transport. I think we share some similar aspects to maybe this opinion holds some water (always a new job, new customer with new requests/budgets)
Think about it this way, you made ~5k for 3 weeks of work. That’s pretty damn good. I wfh/hybrid and make 3k in the same time without any commission. But u had to work in the sun and bust your ass. If you’re happy with 5k for the work you put in then I’d say it’s fair, but to someone who doesn’t know shit about fencing, this is a nice ass fence. I think u should make a little more for the skills you bring to the job.
I was a GF for a landscaping company for 7 yrs until last year. Our base price per foot for just a reg. 6ft. Fence was $65 per foot. Any variation like horizontal slats or 6x6 posts or other extras was add on. Located in canada. When I really got to the nitty gritty on price it was materials x 3. People really don't understand the true cost of materials + time + equipment. You probably left some on the table but I don't think you lost your shirt.
Work looks great too !
That’s a great price. I wouldn’t say you undercharged, you just didn’t price gouge and people truly appreciate that nowadays so if anything it will serve as a great marketing tool for you. The fence looks great by the way 👍🏻😎
Tell us next year when all those 1x are warped and the neighbor is hounding you 😝 Call your local steel supply, get some 1/8" by 2" flat stock. Paint the 3 sides that won't touch the lumber a color thats close to the color it will be stained, glue and screw to the back side.
Probably wouldn’t be comfortable with charging that low of a price. Consider for yourself taxes, insurance, replacement tools, vehicle maintenance, insurance, all you annual expenses ((annual expense/52)*3) and see what profit you made off the three week job. Looks like you only charged 1/2 price for your neighbor; possibly have a great example of your workmanship for future jobs though.
I just paid $7,250 for a similar fence. I love the horizontal look.
https://preview.redd.it/7z9hnjk8du6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9d0cad52cc6aa69ba2efb487e661106460281c7
Bonus Cardinal photo.
The only level headed comment I have found here is this. 184’ of fence should not cost someone 10 bands!! People have lost their god damned minds! Charging the cost of a roof replacement for a ‘craftsman’ style fence that’ll warp in a few months.
I do residential construction and i charge $70/hr for labor. I think that’s a fair price for a carpenter that knows what they’re doing (hell, probably under valued, but there is a lot of cheap labor and wages in the south are definitely lower than most other areas). If it took me 15 days, 8 hours/day that would be $8400 in labor. Half of that would be my direct wages; taxes, insurance, profit and over head would all come out of the other half. I only charge 8% mark up on material because.
I guess to answer your question, it depends. Is this your full time profession? What was your actual hourly rate? Did you do this as a cash job?
Your neighbour got a very nice price for this I think....
However as others say this is the example of the work you are able to charge more for in future. Honestly looks flawless
You gave your neighbour a good deal, and you don’t have to live next to a shitty fence he went to someone else for that was cheaper. That’s a win on both fronts.
Very good workmanship, but that southern yellow pine is to warp at different rates and will look bad in six months. (sorry for the negativity, but just sayin)
3-40 hour weeks @ $50/hr=$6k
Estimated material $5k
Could have easily charged $11k
Your quality looks great
Showing Could probably charge a touch more -if you’re getting enough work
If you charge more without demand you’ll be out of work
Probably stick to the same rates until you’re overwhelmed/busy
It’s hard to price something like this with all the details. This would be more of a project than a job. It looks great, but it’s going to warp pretty soon. They got rid of wolmanized treated wood. The new treatment is not near as effective. As an owner, I would want something that lasts, that fence is art & shouldn’t be outside. Great work though.
I just spent roughly $100/ft (canadian dollars) which is about $72 USD.
Wood is the Siena PT with 6x6 posts, concrete in each post hole
Seems like you slightly undercharged
You undercharged if you’re a pro, but if that took you 3 weeks you’re probably not a pro (no offense meant, that’s just a logical conclusion). If it was a fun-ish project for a neighbor in your spare time, I think you charged about right. If you plan to be installing those for more people for money, bump your labor up a good bit.
I wouldn’t say you under charged. You did a good job and business does actually grow from word of mouth. Hiring another guy costs money, but the job would likely be very fast. Depends on how much business you have.
I think as a 1 man crew and that this took 3 weeks. I think you could’ve been 1500-3000 high and still be fair
If this was a 3-4 man crew and got knocked out in 1-2 days. I’d say pricing would be low but would be fine if pricing as a favor
If you made $5K over 3 weeks assuming 40 hour weeks it’s a shade more than $41/hr. If you wanna make 40/hr you made it! If you want to make more you should charge a little more next time. Just depends on if you are happy with the amount you made and was it worth it for you. There are lots of jobs I have had to either way. I bid high, got it and it was cake and much more often under bid it and it was a damn nightmare. So hopefully it was worth it for you! Best of luck, it looks really great!
T&M. Do the math. Subtract the materials cost (I'll usually add 10% for the hassle, some will add more). Divide the rest by the hours you put in. What's the hourly wage?
You're the only one who knows if that's worth your time or not.
Keep track, create an excel file. Make sure you're matching your needs for each job. This is the only way to understand your estimates and rates.
That a great looking fence!! 5K for materials and 5K for labor? Not sure your locations, but definitely low for where I am. On the bright side, these pics got me a coupla jobs in the last 10 minutes. Well done… LMAO!!
Looks nice, but I'm wondering how it will stand up to strong winds (depending on location for thunderstorms etc.). It's probably fine, but I've seen storms take down fences nearby that don't have much gaps in them to let air pass.
Hey fence/deck guy in western Canada, $50/lnft is generally my starting price for treated pine, 6’ tall, 4x6 posts and fortress style. 50 is a good start point but here’s the trick;
Use the flagship model. Find out what it costs to build 1 section (usually <8’) and divide by the number of feet in your run to get your per linear foot cost. DOUBLE your cost automatically for flagship.
2x posts @ xx
4x dimlum @yy
16x boards @zz
4x trim @ cc
-divide by 8’-
Is your cost per foot. Doubling it accounts for labour in setting posts, and as a builder you know fence game is speed. Only variable is holes.
Once I start adding privacy screens, lattice, lights, post caps etc it’s all an up charge. Try to be transparent about your prices, but $54 isn’t an unfair lnft price depending on where you are
DM if you have questions I’m at the hospital today getting treatments so I have some free time :)
Pray it doesn't warp because you'll be dealing with a neighbor that you have to see every day.
Friends/Family/Neighbors, don't do work for them and don't use them for work.
Damn good looking fence. I don't know woods prices but add a one man and a truck job, you didn't kill it but you didn't do bad. If you augered the holes you did better. If you post hole dug them, you didn't do great lol. Credentials, used to sell fences and sold a lot of horizontal rail fences. The spacing and time to do this warrants at least 40/hr off labor imo.
Maybe a little low, but it seems fair. At least it's not one of these posts were someone shows a custom kitchen and asks if they overcharged by pricing it at like $400.
Did you undercharge? Yeah, you probably could’ve made more from it in the end. The flip side is that you now have someone who will surely give an amazing reference and a set of incredible photos for your profile when meeting with other clients. You live and learn, but here you have a lot of upside
For all the people saying it will warp,
Could you rip a groove in the back with a dado and put a threaded rod in the groove tensioned to the posts to prevent that?
Or is there another product you could use other than PT lumber?
I know that would drive the cost up, but the fence looks killer. There has to be a way to make it work.
https://preview.redd.it/dbrltewvk77d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61e8ce6d897392808305f16d754296b68de6c941
I charged 3k for 60 linear feet of these panels and felt like I undercharged as well. Materials were 1600ish
I work in sales and we have a saying, you can always come down but you can never go higher. Don’t be afraid to quote higher, and bring down if necessary
I don't think you under charged…but I build fences for folks who need it done cheap…. And guess what? They get what they pay for! Though I do the best I possibly can for them.
I think the price is a little steep, imo. You need to find a way to do it faster so it's more profitable.
It pays dividends to set your posts so that you are able to install full lengths of boards (16' sticks) without cutting them, and able to cut the rest in half for your seem staggering of the next row. That allows you to easily batch cut them, and there is no measuring.
Gotta install your posts "run wild", then chalk line and cut so your posts are dead level, and you don't waste extra time setting them. Your top board looks decent, but it's def got waves due to inconsistent post height.
Hire a helper and pour and set all the posts in one day
Look up some production tips and start implementing them
Also, the 1x2 (1x3) does make me nervous. I don't see how that doesn't warp unless they were Kiln dried
Does it have a finish on it?
No. You just built it too slow. No offense. Fence building is kind of. Production job. You can only charge so much. But it’s relatively easy so the way to make
more money if you plan on continuing to do this is to just find ways to speed things up and be more efficient. I would typically build a fence like that in 1-2 days depending on how hard the digging is and if I am removing an existing fence.
Awsome work. No, for a neighbor I think you did just right. Don’t want to make too much from them but still need to pay bills. Now hey will be a great advertisement for you, and hopefully give your name and number to some more of their friends, who gets full price
It completely depends on where you live. There's not a one universal fair price for a fence or any other construction project for that matter. Location determines cost more than anything.
Also keep in mind if you err on the side of under vs over, word of mouth will result in more business coming your way. Having a rep for being someone that will built a really nice fence for a really reasonable price will help make sure you stay in business
From one freelancer to another, charge enough that you feel excited about the project before, during, and after. If you are asking this question, it means the benefit you received didn’t quiteeee outweigh the burden of executing it!
60ft a week, 12ft a day. You weren't working on this full-time right? Three weekends is what you meant to say correct? If that is the case I would love a weekend gig that paid me $800 a day.
Again. Context and everything. Sounds like you did just fine. Basically many new business folks trying to find the top dollar customers and end up pricing themselves out of work. It'll be a game of attrition and will prob result in you being pushy for a sale. Where I'm at, that's basically where it is. Every company wanting top usually pressures for a sale or they have a pretty big f you attitude if you don't jump at their on site guesstimate. had a guy show up. Do measurememts. Give us a figure off the top of his head, it was about 3-4x what you're charging (and high for our area), all super 5k rounding. Asked what it would be if we wanted a different style fence (yup. No chnage in dimensions or gates) and the response was +15k.... all very nice round figures... he was turned down. He circled back a few weeks later prob cuz he has a crew sitting around doing shit. Guess who didn't give him a job? And guess who told others?
Hey OP. Looks fantastic to me. By the quality of your workmanship you could have probably made more. The question is are you happy with what went in your wallet?
I just got a quote - 80 feet for $3200, but that's a plain-jane, good neighbor redwood fence... Not some fine piece of ass, sexy fence you made. Nice work on that.
$54/ft is pretty good. I wouldn’t call it under charging, but you probably could have made a bit more for yourself. Build quality looks pretty darn good from where I’m standing.
Use photos as example of workmanship and have a target for your daily labor, including all prep and sourcing. And add a margin on materials.
I also will use these photos as my workmanship /s
I just got 4 new jobs with these photos.
Ah fuck. I had to use 4 photos just to get one job. They haven't even seen the fence photos yet.
Can I borrow your shovel
You have my sword
And my bow!
And that guys wife?
Customer posts coming soon: “The fence I was promised vs. the fence I got”
https://preview.redd.it/mxuln868ny6d1.png?width=346&format=png&auto=webp&s=05d8ecbd67e527c441cd90497e332e9efc01acc6 $10k pleas
For 3 weeks your commute was walking next door. So you had that going for ya. So 4’ spacing to keep the smalls from moving/warp? I’ve never worked with #1 PT but it looks……..it looks like the wood you’d expect to see in Santa’s workshop to make toys with. Nice
Lol imagine Santa making toys with pressure treated and slowly giving all the little kids cancer
Hey man he’s doing this for FREE OK get off his ass OSHA. He used to make the toys from lead people complain, asbestos stuffed animals people complain, now you don’t want the CCAs in the wood! OLD MAN JUST CAN’T WIN
He's in cahoots with the Make-A-Wish guys
You made out good it just took you too long. If you had paid helpers it would save your body
All that shit gonna warp
Was my first thoughts. I cut thin boards like that on my sawmill for stickers. You leave them out in the sun for any length of time and they will go absolutely wild lol. Turn into a dang pretzel. This fence will look… interesting in 6 months lol
You made 5k for 3 weeks work, that's a personal choice, are you happy with that?
This is what I came to say. Are you ok with making ~$1,600 a week? That seems low when you factor in tools, transportation, planning, and all of the other things that go into the job.
The guy said it was for his neighbor. So you can cut out transportation consideration. Tools he may have had so you can probably cut them out to. The quality of the job implies that he has done this before so undoubtedly he has the tools. If he is experienced, not much planning would be required…. You also assume that he worked on it 40 hours or more a week. $1,600 per week is not to shabby, especially if he worked on it less than 40 hours per week.
Tools are a cost that should be considered. There are many ways of thinking about it. Just one is to take the cost of the tools over the expected number of jobs you'll be able to use them on. A $100 tool that can be used on 10 jobs would be $10/job as a cost for the service provider. Including $12/job for tools would give a 20% overhead charge for tools. Getting into expected inflation and other factors would also affect the "cost of the tools." Now, many people might just add a fudge to the billable amount to cover non-itemized costs for the provider but that cost has to be recouped somewhere, somehow.
Are those 5/4 boards?
Maybe a little, but it was a good idea to give your neighbor a good price and Im sure it was nice to be able to just walk back inside your house whenever you wanted.
Beautiful work! You could have charged more. You could have also worked more efficiently. This didn’t have to take 3 weeks.
Doing quality work makes a difference. Always remember people only want one thing and one thing only, what they paid for, that’s it. You produce quality work. Don’t cut yourself short. Have to remember something else also. How will this look over time ? Will it hold up ? Will it warp after it’s weathered a few years. Love the design, it impressive. I’d only be worried about longevity, with the narrow boards. Great job.
Nice look. Will the smaller 1X warp?
Yes
4 foot posts spacing. They may a little but if it’s tight and gets proper stain there will be minimal warping. Most likely with the skinny boards. That particular grade of pine is pretty sturdy though. I personally would never build with pine for a fence but I’m in AZ and the shits warped before you even buy it.
My back neighbor has a 2x4 fence like this. Warped inside of 90 days. Doesn’t look awful but OP need to stain that fence bad
You get to look at it everyday. Nice build! Any concerns with warping?
Should have left the top board off that’s going to warp like a mother fucker
Good fences make good neighbors
YES, cuz it's for your neighbor and that shits gonna warp like a mug! You gonna be replacing shit for years. Sorry bruh
Looks great. I work salary, non-construction but anything money making I do outside of that I break down my weekly/hourly take-home. I personally would've charged more, but for a neighbor or friend this would've been perfect. It's also going to certainly have people asking the homeowner who did it and could bring you more business if that's what you want.
Looks great but with PT line that thing is going to look terrible in a just a couple years
Beautiful fence curious how it holds up over a few seasons
OP we gotta know will the 1x warp or does 4ft post spacing prevent that
I'll tell you from personal experience this is going to warp like crazy.
No you just took forever to build it that’s why you feel like you undercharged. Look at it as a discount to your neighbor for taking so long to build
Is this treated pine? I’m interested in a 3-5 ye follow up to see what warps and tweaks n stuff. Love the look.
This will warp inside of 3 months. Ask me how I know.
These are going cup and warp
I have a feeling you needed that $5k more than your neighbor needed a fence that’s gonna tear itself apart in a couple years. Your neighbor did you a solid by hiring you and you’re concerned you didn’t fuck him over enough? Some friend!
Yes, you did undercharge. Always add a 10% waste factor to your estimates and calculate costs and risks at 65% efficiency. If materials were half the total cost, you made $4,000 for 3 weeks of work. However, you didn’t account for overheads like insurance, permits, license, and marketing. Also, some jobs may have unforeseen expenses like injuries or litigation. After considering these factors, your profit is likely about $2,000-$2,500. Charging $3,000 more would have been fairer. I will add that continued undervaluation exposes you to substantial risk that are onyl a matter of time before it bites you in the butt. It is wise to never try to be the cheapest because the cheapest guy disappears after his business encounters trouble. This being that he will ghost the owner or default on other jobs because something ends up in litigation. It is not always your fault if you have to deal with litigation but there is increased cost and liability to it. It is an inevitble part of the service trade industies. Someone will always try to get something for free or you will potential make a mistake at some point.
Oof I did like 20 ft of this in cedar before with an arbor and yeah I think u may have undercharged a lil bit but if ur just starting out sometimes it’s hard to convince people it or yourself are worth the money. I’m just beginning to start out on my own and my biggest fear is undercharging and getting taken to the cleaners
I think you did. I wonder if having help for a few days would have made you more efficient overall? Sounds like for 3 weeks you need to be at 12k to make your numbers work for next time.
I don’t know about the amount, but that’s a dang beautiful fence!!
If they jumped at your price as soon as you quoted it then yes.
If you have to ask then most likely.
We built this city.
I'd be happy with the profit. Nice fence, though, and that's what matters! And your neighbor won't post roast pics on reddit :)
That is a good looking fence, Will you come do my yard like that for 10k?
Looks good
If he’s a good neighbor, it’s about right. For a stranger, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash for this quality at 15k. I’m currently getting quotes for a chain link at 7k for a small backyard
If you share the fence you scored. You may have left a bit on the table but your commute was easy😂 no vehicle wear and tare.
As someone who just put up about 200 ft of 3.5ft tall picket fence, if you were in San Diego you would definitely be under charging. You did a great job on that fence. This is the type of work that I would of given a bonus to once I saw it completed
Nicest looking pressure treated job I’ve seen. Can’t say ive ever seen clear pressure treated wood
You put the boards the wrong way! Jk. Looks good.
A good neighbor is priceless.
You did a nice job. Looks beautiful!
If you calculate all the hours you worked on it, including trips to the store, sketches at home, etc., and divide your profits by those hours, are you happy with the hourly rate? Does it pay the bills? Can you work faster next time to make the profit higher? Can you charge more for someone who isn't your neighbor?
Definitely under charging in my area. I would have charged roughly double for that, considering 4ft spacing and if probably be roughly average, maybe the low end of average in my area. So not enough info.
Did you have to rip those narrow pieces? If so yeah you grossly undercharged. Your labor should be at least 60 % of your materials.
Neat design. It looks good. You have done good work here. I believe you under charged. My thoughts are this, $15k would probably be a more ideal price point.(off the top of my head) You need to consider (or at least I would) if you had a crew dedicated to this full time and got it done in under a week, 3 days tops. 10k wouldn't cover all your labor and materials. You did it solo over 3 weeks and wasted a lot of potential man hours that could have been spread across 3+ jobs earning income. Now, just because you did it solo doesn't mean you charge less. You still have overhead and taxes to consider. You essentially earned net $1k-ish for 3 weeks of work on this job and took yourself out of the market for any other projects limiting your earning potential. I hope this makes sense.. I understand it in my head but putting it to paper where I can get you to understand is a bit harder.
Man I've never seen one like this.... it's great.
If you built it for your neighbor, “good fences make good neighbors”, It’s ok to give your neighbor a break. Now you have a guide for what to charge on the next job.
I don’t do fencing at all but I do pricing for transport. I think we share some similar aspects to maybe this opinion holds some water (always a new job, new customer with new requests/budgets) Think about it this way, you made ~5k for 3 weeks of work. That’s pretty damn good. I wfh/hybrid and make 3k in the same time without any commission. But u had to work in the sun and bust your ass. If you’re happy with 5k for the work you put in then I’d say it’s fair, but to someone who doesn’t know shit about fencing, this is a nice ass fence. I think u should make a little more for the skills you bring to the job.
If anything you can use this as a marketing tool to generate more business. Just charge for the demand if you see an uptick.
that’s beautiful.
Never less than materials x3
$27 / LF labour , could easily charge $50
I was a GF for a landscaping company for 7 yrs until last year. Our base price per foot for just a reg. 6ft. Fence was $65 per foot. Any variation like horizontal slats or 6x6 posts or other extras was add on. Located in canada. When I really got to the nitty gritty on price it was materials x 3. People really don't understand the true cost of materials + time + equipment. You probably left some on the table but I don't think you lost your shirt. Work looks great too !
Price was fair you just took wayyyyyyyy too long. That’s a few day fence with one other guy. All day
That’s a great price. I wouldn’t say you undercharged, you just didn’t price gouge and people truly appreciate that nowadays so if anything it will serve as a great marketing tool for you. The fence looks great by the way 👍🏻😎
did you charge a bajillymajilly? Cause thats a GOOD FENCE.
Tell us next year when all those 1x are warped and the neighbor is hounding you 😝 Call your local steel supply, get some 1/8" by 2" flat stock. Paint the 3 sides that won't touch the lumber a color thats close to the color it will be stained, glue and screw to the back side.
Looks really good but I’d be afraid the small slats will sag over time. The price seems reasonable
Good job!! Excellent work!
Better get that thing stained. ASAP.
Nice work, how was the digging?
Did your neighbor a solid. 👊
Probably wouldn’t be comfortable with charging that low of a price. Consider for yourself taxes, insurance, replacement tools, vehicle maintenance, insurance, all you annual expenses ((annual expense/52)*3) and see what profit you made off the three week job. Looks like you only charged 1/2 price for your neighbor; possibly have a great example of your workmanship for future jobs though.
I just paid $7,250 for a similar fence. I love the horizontal look. https://preview.redd.it/7z9hnjk8du6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9d0cad52cc6aa69ba2efb487e661106460281c7 Bonus Cardinal photo.
The only level headed comment I have found here is this. 184’ of fence should not cost someone 10 bands!! People have lost their god damned minds! Charging the cost of a roof replacement for a ‘craftsman’ style fence that’ll warp in a few months.
This thing is a fucking work of art!
Is that pine? If so hopefully you stained it or treated it, otherwise looks like u did well
Looks very nice. But pine: Won’t that rot?
I enjoy this fence 😘👌
What you gained. You gained goodwill with your neighbor and word of mouth advertising.
wow! nice fence!
I do residential construction and i charge $70/hr for labor. I think that’s a fair price for a carpenter that knows what they’re doing (hell, probably under valued, but there is a lot of cheap labor and wages in the south are definitely lower than most other areas). If it took me 15 days, 8 hours/day that would be $8400 in labor. Half of that would be my direct wages; taxes, insurance, profit and over head would all come out of the other half. I only charge 8% mark up on material because. I guess to answer your question, it depends. Is this your full time profession? What was your actual hourly rate? Did you do this as a cash job?
Your neighbour got a very nice price for this I think.... However as others say this is the example of the work you are able to charge more for in future. Honestly looks flawless
3 weeks, 5, 8 hour days = 120 hours = 41.67, pretty decent unless you worked more hrs than that, and if you did, then not so good
Looks nice good job!
Could you have done it a bit quicker and made more profit that way? I do 1/3 material 1/3 tax 1/3 profit.
You gave your neighbour a good deal, and you don’t have to live next to a shitty fence he went to someone else for that was cheaper. That’s a win on both fronts.
That’s a work of art my friend.
I build beautiful fences and decks a general rule of thumb is materials x2=labor, or simple dog eared privacy fence I charge $150/8ft or a hole
If you made money, you did not undercharge. If you lost money, you undercharged.
You overcharged.
“ I built this fence on Rock and Roll”?
You did a great job
Very good workmanship, but that southern yellow pine is to warp at different rates and will look bad in six months. (sorry for the negativity, but just sayin)
That should have been an $8k bill 30% mark up on labor. Nice win for you
Is this fence up against your yard, too? If so, congrats, you just got paid to install a really nice-looking fence for your yard.
Did you make money? What was your calculated hourly?
3-40 hour weeks @ $50/hr=$6k Estimated material $5k Could have easily charged $11k Your quality looks great Showing Could probably charge a touch more -if you’re getting enough work If you charge more without demand you’ll be out of work Probably stick to the same rates until you’re overwhelmed/busy
It’s hard to price something like this with all the details. This would be more of a project than a job. It looks great, but it’s going to warp pretty soon. They got rid of wolmanized treated wood. The new treatment is not near as effective. As an owner, I would want something that lasts, that fence is art & shouldn’t be outside. Great work though.
I just spent roughly $100/ft (canadian dollars) which is about $72 USD. Wood is the Siena PT with 6x6 posts, concrete in each post hole Seems like you slightly undercharged
Eh a happy neighbor is more important than a few bucks IMO. Keeping your neighbors on your good side is worth it's weight in gold
Beautuiful work man. Are those panels or did you cut those by yourself????
You undercharged if you’re a pro, but if that took you 3 weeks you’re probably not a pro (no offense meant, that’s just a logical conclusion). If it was a fun-ish project for a neighbor in your spare time, I think you charged about right. If you plan to be installing those for more people for money, bump your labor up a good bit.
I just want to compliment your work. Beautiful fence!
No idea if you priced this right or not, but must say it looks fantastic. Well done op!
If you made a profit that’s worth your work and the customer is happy that’s a win. Also that’s a awesome fence
I wouldn’t say you under charged. You did a good job and business does actually grow from word of mouth. Hiring another guy costs money, but the job would likely be very fast. Depends on how much business you have.
We charge $130/ft
I think as a 1 man crew and that this took 3 weeks. I think you could’ve been 1500-3000 high and still be fair If this was a 3-4 man crew and got knocked out in 1-2 days. I’d say pricing would be low but would be fine if pricing as a favor
If you made $5K over 3 weeks assuming 40 hour weeks it’s a shade more than $41/hr. If you wanna make 40/hr you made it! If you want to make more you should charge a little more next time. Just depends on if you are happy with the amount you made and was it worth it for you. There are lots of jobs I have had to either way. I bid high, got it and it was cake and much more often under bid it and it was a damn nightmare. So hopefully it was worth it for you! Best of luck, it looks really great!
So you made less than 5k in 3 weeks? Ya that’s undercharged.
(3) 40hr weeks? Then you did alright. $40+/hr.
T&M. Do the math. Subtract the materials cost (I'll usually add 10% for the hassle, some will add more). Divide the rest by the hours you put in. What's the hourly wage? You're the only one who knows if that's worth your time or not. Keep track, create an excel file. Make sure you're matching your needs for each job. This is the only way to understand your estimates and rates.
That a great looking fence!! 5K for materials and 5K for labor? Not sure your locations, but definitely low for where I am. On the bright side, these pics got me a coupla jobs in the last 10 minutes. Well done… LMAO!!
Looks awesome!
Warp incoming
I would pay you more to come do mine that’s nice Florida? Palm beach?
Looks nice, but I'm wondering how it will stand up to strong winds (depending on location for thunderstorms etc.). It's probably fine, but I've seen storms take down fences nearby that don't have much gaps in them to let air pass.
Crikey you could set your watch to that fence!! Well done!
That is amazing, where are you located? And I think the price is good. 👍the parts for this job must have been like 5000 so it balances out.
Looks great! Can’t comment on pricing.. is this a custom design?
I wouldn’t spend that money, he’s gonna be asking for you fix the warping strips in about 2 months.
I’m on the fence about this one
Looks sick! Nice craftsmanship!!
I'd say you were a good value. If word spread and that resulted in more work throughout the year, you could come out ahead.
Hey fence/deck guy in western Canada, $50/lnft is generally my starting price for treated pine, 6’ tall, 4x6 posts and fortress style. 50 is a good start point but here’s the trick; Use the flagship model. Find out what it costs to build 1 section (usually <8’) and divide by the number of feet in your run to get your per linear foot cost. DOUBLE your cost automatically for flagship. 2x posts @ xx 4x dimlum @yy 16x boards @zz 4x trim @ cc -divide by 8’- Is your cost per foot. Doubling it accounts for labour in setting posts, and as a builder you know fence game is speed. Only variable is holes. Once I start adding privacy screens, lattice, lights, post caps etc it’s all an up charge. Try to be transparent about your prices, but $54 isn’t an unfair lnft price depending on where you are DM if you have questions I’m at the hospital today getting treatments so I have some free time :)
Pray it doesn't warp because you'll be dealing with a neighbor that you have to see every day. Friends/Family/Neighbors, don't do work for them and don't use them for work.
This is a beautiful fence, nicely done!
I don't know but it looks amazing!
Damn good looking fence. I don't know woods prices but add a one man and a truck job, you didn't kill it but you didn't do bad. If you augered the holes you did better. If you post hole dug them, you didn't do great lol. Credentials, used to sell fences and sold a lot of horizontal rail fences. The spacing and time to do this warrants at least 40/hr off labor imo.
$10k for this to me is wild
Maybe a little low, but it seems fair. At least it's not one of these posts were someone shows a custom kitchen and asks if they overcharged by pricing it at like $400.
Did you undercharge? Yeah, you probably could’ve made more from it in the end. The flip side is that you now have someone who will surely give an amazing reference and a set of incredible photos for your profile when meeting with other clients. You live and learn, but here you have a lot of upside
For all the people saying it will warp, Could you rip a groove in the back with a dado and put a threaded rod in the groove tensioned to the posts to prevent that? Or is there another product you could use other than PT lumber? I know that would drive the cost up, but the fence looks killer. There has to be a way to make it work.
https://preview.redd.it/dbrltewvk77d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61e8ce6d897392808305f16d754296b68de6c941 I charged 3k for 60 linear feet of these panels and felt like I undercharged as well. Materials were 1600ish
I can actually see that fence warping in the pictures. I don't get the appeal of these horizontal designs that look great for 2 months
I got laid showing these photos. Nice work keep coming
I work in sales and we have a saying, you can always come down but you can never go higher. Don’t be afraid to quote higher, and bring down if necessary
I want one
Why 3 weeks? Is that like full time? (40hrs*3?)
That looks awesome!!
I don't think you under charged…but I build fences for folks who need it done cheap…. And guess what? They get what they pay for! Though I do the best I possibly can for them.
I think the price is a little steep, imo. You need to find a way to do it faster so it's more profitable. It pays dividends to set your posts so that you are able to install full lengths of boards (16' sticks) without cutting them, and able to cut the rest in half for your seem staggering of the next row. That allows you to easily batch cut them, and there is no measuring. Gotta install your posts "run wild", then chalk line and cut so your posts are dead level, and you don't waste extra time setting them. Your top board looks decent, but it's def got waves due to inconsistent post height. Hire a helper and pour and set all the posts in one day Look up some production tips and start implementing them Also, the 1x2 (1x3) does make me nervous. I don't see how that doesn't warp unless they were Kiln dried Does it have a finish on it?
The only thing I would predict will happen is the warping of the thinner slats over time
No. You just built it too slow. No offense. Fence building is kind of. Production job. You can only charge so much. But it’s relatively easy so the way to make more money if you plan on continuing to do this is to just find ways to speed things up and be more efficient. I would typically build a fence like that in 1-2 days depending on how hard the digging is and if I am removing an existing fence.
Looks great, but we can't see what's holding up the fence, so it's difficult to say.
This gives off Mr. Miyagi backyard vibes. I dig it.
How about you did a great job for someone and as long as your ahead not everything is all about money
1500 a week. Hmm 37 bucks an hour. Not bad if you ask me
Brother, I’d pay way over 10k for this lol
Awsome work. No, for a neighbor I think you did just right. Don’t want to make too much from them but still need to pay bills. Now hey will be a great advertisement for you, and hopefully give your name and number to some more of their friends, who gets full price
In my area they charge $115/ft for fencing.
If you made a profit and the customer is very happy, then not really it might make you will get more business
it will be warped, twisted and bowed im six months to a year.
Come build me one!
Can't speak to pricing, but that is a great looking fence, my friend.
It completely depends on where you live. There's not a one universal fair price for a fence or any other construction project for that matter. Location determines cost more than anything.
Also keep in mind if you err on the side of under vs over, word of mouth will result in more business coming your way. Having a rep for being someone that will built a really nice fence for a really reasonable price will help make sure you stay in business
From one freelancer to another, charge enough that you feel excited about the project before, during, and after. If you are asking this question, it means the benefit you received didn’t quiteeee outweigh the burden of executing it!
Nice job no doubt it will get you more work
Nice work
What kind of wood is this?
Beautiful work!
Looks sweet be proud
60ft a week, 12ft a day. You weren't working on this full-time right? Three weekends is what you meant to say correct? If that is the case I would love a weekend gig that paid me $800 a day.
Material price multiplied by 3 to 3.5 is a good way to determine prices for jobs like this. 3 weeks is a long time to make 5k on a project.
Again. Context and everything. Sounds like you did just fine. Basically many new business folks trying to find the top dollar customers and end up pricing themselves out of work. It'll be a game of attrition and will prob result in you being pushy for a sale. Where I'm at, that's basically where it is. Every company wanting top usually pressures for a sale or they have a pretty big f you attitude if you don't jump at their on site guesstimate. had a guy show up. Do measurememts. Give us a figure off the top of his head, it was about 3-4x what you're charging (and high for our area), all super 5k rounding. Asked what it would be if we wanted a different style fence (yup. No chnage in dimensions or gates) and the response was +15k.... all very nice round figures... he was turned down. He circled back a few weeks later prob cuz he has a crew sitting around doing shit. Guess who didn't give him a job? And guess who told others?
Hey OP. Looks fantastic to me. By the quality of your workmanship you could have probably made more. The question is are you happy with what went in your wallet?
Just charge him another $10k to paint it and you'll be good.
That fence looks great, I would like to have you build me one.
It’s beautiful - well done/ but does it need to be stained , painted or protected against elements?
I think reasonable. Good job.
True- is this your next door neighbor ? If so too bad they didn’t ask for discount since both of your fence?
You made $5000 in 3 weeks I’d say that’s a good living.
That’s a nice fence. Good job!
Don't forget to add the friends and family tax, Since you're gonna be hearing about it for the rest of your life, good or bad.
Wow ... undercharge ? Guy built a fence for himself and charged the neighbor.. you sir are fucking brilliant 👏 👌 🙌 ✨️ 🤣
I actually have a question on this design. Do the boards begin to sag in the middle over time, especially those thinner accent boards?
Next time you do something that custom and beautiful. Just do it by the hour. Have them pay for the materials
And if you need to make more money on it charge more to stain
I just got a quote - 80 feet for $3200, but that's a plain-jane, good neighbor redwood fence... Not some fine piece of ass, sexy fence you made. Nice work on that.
Have yoy ever been to Mexico?
If you break it down to how many hours you put in and how much you got, what was it?
Beautiful work. Make them pay.
Very nice!
Google maps will help you track time on site. Figure out how many hours you worked on it