Choosing a fence company comes down to twelve questions, and most homeowners ask none of them. They compare three prices, pick the middle one, and hope. That is how you end up with posts set 18 inches deep in dry-packed dirt and a contractor who stops returning calls the day the check clears.
A fence is a 15-to-25-year structure that lives outside in the weather. The company that builds it matters more than the material you pick. Ask every bidder the questions below, in writing where noted, and the weak ones will disqualify themselves before you spend a dime.
The 12 Questions to Ask Every Fence Contractor
Can I see your certificate of general liability insurance? Not "are you insured" - anyone can say yes. Ask for the certificate, then call the agent listed on it to confirm the policy is active. If an uninsured crew drops a post auger through your neighbor's gas line, that bill can land on you. A legitimate company sends the certificate the same day you ask.
Do you carry workers compensation coverage? This is separate from liability insurance, and it is the one small outfits skip because it is expensive. If a worker gets hurt on your property and the company has no workers comp, your homeowner's policy is the next target. One question, potentially tens of thousands of dollars.
Who pulls the permit - you or me? The right answer is the contractor, in their name. A company that asks you to pull an owner's permit is usually dodging licensing requirements, and it shifts inspection liability onto you. If your city requires a fence permit and nobody pulls one, you can be forced to tear the fence out later.
How deep do you set posts, and what is your concrete spec? This is the question that exposes cheap bids. The standard is 24 to 36 inches deep depending on frost line and fence height, roughly one-third of the post length in the ground, with each post set in 50 to 80 pounds of concrete. A bidder who says "deep enough" or "we dry-pack them" is telling you exactly where the savings came from. Leaning fences are almost always a post-depth problem.
Will you put the exact material grade in the contract? "Cedar fence" means nothing. You want the species and grade (for example, #2 or better Western Red Cedar pickets), the post material (pressure-treated pine rated for ground contact, or steel), the picket thickness (5/8 inch is standard; 1/2 inch is the bait-and-switch version), and for chain link, the wire gauge - 9-gauge is residential standard, 11-gauge is the flimsy stuff that shows up when the number is not in writing.
Is tear-out and haul-away of my old fence included? Removing 150 feet of old fence and disposing of it is real work - often $3 to $5 per foot. Some bids quietly exclude it, and you find out on installation day. Get it in the contract as a line item.
What is the timeline, and what is your weather policy? A straight answer sounds like: "Two to three weeks out for scheduling, two to three working days on site, and rain pushes us day-for-day." Vague answers become month-long disappearances. Ask what happens if the job stalls halfway.
What exactly does your warranty cover, and is it in writing? A verbal "lifetime warranty" is worth the paper it is not printed on. Standard is one to three years on workmanship (leaning posts, sagging gates, failed hardware) plus the manufacturer warranty on materials. Ask specifically: if a post leans in year two, who pays for what?
Who actually builds my fence - your crew or a subcontractor? Subbing is common and not automatically bad, but you need to know. If subs do the work, ask whether they are covered under the company's insurance and who your point of contact is when something goes wrong. The worst outcomes happen when a salesman sells the job, an unknown crew builds it, and nobody owns the result.
What is your payment schedule? Reasonable: a deposit of 10 to 30 percent to cover materials, with the balance due at completion after your walkthrough. Never pay 50 percent or more up front, and never pay in full before the last gate swings. A company that needs half your money to start is financing its last job with your deposit.
Can you give me two or three references from my city? Not from three counties away - from your area, where they built in your soil, your climate, and under your city's codes. Then actually call one and ask a single question: "Would you hire them again?" You will learn more in that 90-second call than from any review page. Directories like our state-by-state company listings help you build the shortlist; references confirm it.
What happens if there is a property-line dispute? A pro will tell you: locate your survey pins or order a survey before digging, set the fence a few inches inside your line if there is any doubt, and get the neighbor's sign-off in writing when the fence sits on or near the boundary. A contractor who shrugs and says "we build where you point" is volunteering you for a lawsuit.
Red Flags That End the Conversation
Some answers should stop the process immediately, no matter how good the price looks:
- Cash only, or a big cash discount. No paper trail means no warranty, no recourse, and usually no insurance.
- No written quote. A number scribbled on a business card is not a bid. Every legitimate company itemizes materials, labor, tear-out, and gates.
- Pressure tactics. "This price is only good today" is a script, not a deal. Fence prices do not expire at sundown.
- Deposits of 50 percent or more. The single most common setup in fence-scam complaints: large deposit, a few post holes dug, then silence.
- No physical address or truck lettering. You want a company you can find in six months, not a phone number that goes dead.
How to Compare Three Bids Line by Line
Get three written bids and force them into the same format. If a bid does not state one of these items, call and pin it down before comparing prices - a missing line is where the "savings" hide.
| Line item | What a solid bid states | What a weak bid does |
|---|---|---|
| Post depth and set | 24-36 in. deep, concrete per post | Silent, or "dry set" |
| Material grade | Species, grade, gauge, thickness | "Cedar" or "chain link," no spec |
| Tear-out | Included as a priced line item | Excluded in fine print |
| Gates | Count, width, hardware named | "Gates included" |
| Permit | Contractor pulls, fee listed | "Owner responsible" |
| Warranty | Written term on workmanship | Verbal "we stand behind it" |
| Payment | 10-30% deposit, balance at completion | 50%+ up front |
For reference against the numbers you get: installed prices in 2026 typically start around $17 per linear foot for chain link, $28 for cedar, $30 for vinyl, $34 for aluminum, $38 for wrought iron, and $45 for composite, with a typical project running about 150 linear feet. Bids well below those starting points are not bargains - they are missing something.
Why the Cheapest Bid Is Usually the Most Expensive Fence
When one bid comes in 25 percent under the other two, the money almost always came out of the parts you cannot see from the curb. Posts set 18 inches instead of 30. Two bags of concrete stretched across three holes. Half-inch pickets instead of 5/8. Eleven-gauge wire instead of nine. Untreated posts that rot at grade in six years. The fence looks identical on day one. The difference shows up in year three, when the gate sags, and year six, when the line starts to lean - and now you are paying a second company to rebuild what the first one botched. A fair bid from a company that answers all twelve questions cleanly is cheaper over 20 years, every time.
Get Quotes From Companies Worth Interviewing
The fastest way to run this playbook is to line up three or four established local contractors and put the same twelve questions to each. Browse fence companies by state to build your shortlist - whether you are comparing crews in Dallas, Florida, or Phoenix - then let the answers, not the price, pick your builder. And if you run a fence company that can answer all twelve without flinching, get listed so homeowners can find you.