Our neighbors put in a six-foot cedar fence (they have two dogs), and when we got a dog recently, we decided to contract with the same company. The fellow who gave the estimate (we thought a contractor, turns out a salesman) understood clearly we wanted a dog security fence like the neighbors -- only difference we requested was a one-foot lattice at the top so it looks less monolithic.
Unfortunately, when the job was complete, they had left numerous 3 to 5 inch gaps between the ground and the fence. There are more places with large gaps than places where the fence goes to the ground. Turns out the crew were subcontractors, not the same crew that did the neighbor's fence. The company's rep by phone said -- while the crew was still present -- that they should fill those gaps with dirt. Didn't sound optimal to me, but when I passed the rep's instructions along to the crew chief, he just said "no, we're done."
Called the company back, and the owner came right over. He said filling the gaps with dirt wouldn't work. He also said the gaps -- this is more than a 200-foot length of fence -- were due to a single oak tree's roots that supposedly dictated the lack of consistency. (Somehow, though our neighbor's fence 50 feet away and is interrupted by several oak trees, it uniformly comes within an inch or less of the ground.) The explanation defies logic. You have posts, you hammer the fence sections to the posts. You can either align the sections with the ground or with the tops of the posts. They made the wrong choice.
While the cement was wet, he said it wouldn't be his recommendation, but if I insisted, they would use a sledgehammer to drive the posts deeper. (Which pretty much negates his explanation about the tree.) I replied that, since he didn't recommend it, I didn't want them to do that. They took a sledgehammer to one of the posts anyway. It was by now pitch dark out -- no way to make any informed decisions or assessments of what they were trying to do. I insisted that they stop, and that is where the fence stands now.
Do any experts on the forum have an opinion of this, or any advice about how to fix it? My sense is that the proper way to fix it would be to remove the fence sections and reaffix them at the proper level.
Unfortunately, when the job was complete, they had left numerous 3 to 5 inch gaps between the ground and the fence. There are more places with large gaps than places where the fence goes to the ground. Turns out the crew were subcontractors, not the same crew that did the neighbor's fence. The company's rep by phone said -- while the crew was still present -- that they should fill those gaps with dirt. Didn't sound optimal to me, but when I passed the rep's instructions along to the crew chief, he just said "no, we're done."
Called the company back, and the owner came right over. He said filling the gaps with dirt wouldn't work. He also said the gaps -- this is more than a 200-foot length of fence -- were due to a single oak tree's roots that supposedly dictated the lack of consistency. (Somehow, though our neighbor's fence 50 feet away and is interrupted by several oak trees, it uniformly comes within an inch or less of the ground.) The explanation defies logic. You have posts, you hammer the fence sections to the posts. You can either align the sections with the ground or with the tops of the posts. They made the wrong choice.
While the cement was wet, he said it wouldn't be his recommendation, but if I insisted, they would use a sledgehammer to drive the posts deeper. (Which pretty much negates his explanation about the tree.) I replied that, since he didn't recommend it, I didn't want them to do that. They took a sledgehammer to one of the posts anyway. It was by now pitch dark out -- no way to make any informed decisions or assessments of what they were trying to do. I insisted that they stop, and that is where the fence stands now.
Do any experts on the forum have an opinion of this, or any advice about how to fix it? My sense is that the proper way to fix it would be to remove the fence sections and reaffix them at the proper level.
Question about botched fence job
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