Contracted Relia-Built as the lowest of three quotes for a very small residential fence project. After initial delays due to the wrong fence style being dropped off, work finally began in early May. What should have been a few hours of work turned into the job finally being finished at the beginning of August. Workers did not remove any of the soil from the fence post augering and just left the mess on the lawn, despite the original contract stating that "site clean up" was included in the quote. Apparently because the dirt was already there (yeah no kidding, you dug it out of the ground!) that's not part of their clean-up pledge. Good thing I didn't get them to dig the foundation for a new house or by that logic they would have left me with several metric tons of earth to get rid of! Original workers left the jobsite unfinished with zero communication about a plan to return or anything. Left us with an unlatchable gate that was installed the wrong way from the original quote, and gate posts that were not trimmed to size or capped. After months of zero contact and/or a couple of failed promises by ownership to come by and complete the job...and then ignoring a request that we specifically receive a heads up when someone would be back to finish the job...they sent some poor new guy to finish the job unannounced to catch us by surprise. Bottom line, the fence and gates are finally installed and looking good after a final quality control adjustment that I had to make myself. Would really like to recommend this company because of their fair pricing and the fact that everyone we chatted and dealt with was friendly...but based on the very poor communication and delays over the course of the project...would suggest there are likely better choices out there that are better equipped to deal with the inevitable issues that arise while running a contracting company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $4,200.00
- Company Response
Hi Brian,
As discussed at the time, your neighbour's shed is encroaching onto your property line and was responsible for the gate latch being unable to close properly. This was communicated to you and you opted not to ask your neighbour to move their shed away from your fence.
The only issue we had to come back for was to trim one of the ornamental fence posts. Everything else was completed in May. Due to the challenging season this year (late start due to prolonged frost in the ground, late snowfall, constant rain in June and July, manpower availability etc. etc.) we weren't able to come back immediately to make the minor adjustment. Your fence and gate were installed per the contract, but the one post next to your house siding was a little too long. We discussed this with you and you seemed happy that it would get done when we were able to. We suggested, and you agreed for you to withhold 50% of the contract amount (just over $2,000) until we had trimmed the fence post.
When we came back last week to cut down the fence post, we sent Jonathan, who is not new, and is experienced with fence building. As a goodwill gesture he modified the gate to latch from the other side than was originally requested. This took several hours and we did this at no charge to you. You also requested a replacement fence post cap for your existing fence (that we did not install). We installed this today.
Regarding dirt removal, this is indeed not part of the contract. If you did request an excavation for a basement, the contract and quote would include specifically the provision for hauling material off site. Hauling material is time consuming and expensive. I realize that you have a plumbing company, and I assume you know that in the construction industry, plumbers are not responsible for hauling away material dug out for completing their groundworks.
For our fencing projects, there are often areas in homeowners' yards for dirt to be placed.
We think we have been entirely fair with you, gone above and beyond where we could, and please do note that if we could have freed up someone to take care of your minor issue earlier, we would have done so, as per our initial agreement.