Fencing
Wood privacy, vinyl and chain link, set on posts that go below the frost line and hung on gates built to outlast the panels. We check the line before we dig, because a fence in the wrong place is the most expensive kind there is.
Wood, vinyl or chain link
They are three different tools, not three grades of the same thing. Wood privacy is the classic six-foot screen: solid, handsome, and happy to be stained any color you like, in exchange for a little maintenance over its life. Vinyl gives up the natural look to give up the maintenance: it never needs paint and washes clean, but a broken panel is replaced rather than repaired. Chain link is the honest workhorse: the cheapest way to hold a dog, mark a line and stay out of the way, and it will quietly outlast fences that cost several times as much.
Which one is right depends on what the fence is for: privacy from a neighboring window, containment, or just a clean line around the property. Say what you want it to do and we will tell you what we would put there, in writing, with the gate count and the reasoning.
Posts, frost and the gate
A fence is only its posts. The frost line in central Ohio sits around 32 inches down, and a post set shallower than that gets lifted a little every winter as the ground freezes and swells, until the fence leans and the gate no longer meets its latch. We dig below frost and set posts properly, because pulling and resetting heaved posts three years in costs more than digging the right hole once.
The gate is the part of every fence that fails first. It is the only piece that moves, it gets used every day, and its whole weight hangs off one post. So the hinge post gets the deepest hole and the most concrete in the run, the hardware is sized for the weight, and the gate is braced so it cannot sag into a parallelogram. A fence company shows you its panels; you learn what it is actually like by watching its gates a year later.
How a fence goes in
- The line is established Pins found, plot plan checked, and if the boundary is genuinely uncertain, a survey before anything else. A fence set on the wrong side of the line can end up being your neighbor's fence, or coming down at your cost. The survey is cheaper.
- Utilities located The 811 locate goes in before any digging. It is Ohio law, it is free, and post holes are exactly deep enough to find a gas line the hard way.
- Permit, where the city wants one Several municipalities around Columbus want a fence permit or zoning clearance, and front-yard height rules differ from back. We check yours before we quote.
- Posts set and left to cure Below the frost line, in concrete, and given time to set before anything hangs on them. The un-glamorous half of the job that decides everything.
- Panels, rails and gates The fence goes up straight, and the gates go on last, hung on the heaviest posts in the run, swinging true and latching first time.
Posts, rails and straight lines
What people ask before fencing
Do I need my neighbor's permission?
On your own side of the line, no. But a shared fence on the boundary is a conversation worth having before the auger arrives, and a fence you both want is sometimes a cost you can split. Either way, the line itself is the thing to be certain of, not the neighbor's mood.
How do I know where my property line actually is?
The pins at the corners of the lot, if they can be found, and the plot plan from your closing documents. When those disagree with the neighbor's memory, a surveyor settles it. Never set a fence on a guess: if it lands on the wrong side, it can end up the neighbor's property or coming down at your expense.
How deep do the posts really go?
Below the frost line, which around Columbus means roughly 32 inches, in concrete. Shallower posts heave with the freeze every winter, which is why you see leaning fences on every street: they were cheaper to install and dearer to own.
Why did my old gate sag?
Because the gate is the only moving part of the fence and its whole weight hangs off one post. If that post was set like all the others, it moves first, and an unbraced gate folds into a parallelogram. We set hinge posts deeper and brace every gate, and most sagging gates can be rehung without replacing the fence.
Do I need a permit for a fence?
Depends on the municipality, and around Columbus several want a permit or a zoning clearance, with different height limits for front and back yards. We check the rules for your address before quoting, so the fence that goes in is one that gets to stay.
How long does an install take?
Most residential runs are a short job: posts set one visit, panels and gates once the concrete has cured. The utility locate and any permit are the waits, not the work, and you get the sequence in writing before we dig.
Other things we do
Where we work
Get the line, the material and the number
Tell us what the fence is for and we will walk the boundary with you, talk through wood, vinyl and chain link, and put the whole run in writing.