Fence Restoration Prices

[Russell Cissell 65]

Fence restoration has alway presented a challenge. The difficulty is obviously not in the restoration itself but rather in commanding a fair price for the service.

I am interested in hearing from other contractors as to their pricing schedule for both new construction finishing as well as complete fence restoration.

Our prices are set as follows:

Light Cleaning $0.25/SqFt

Heavy Cleaning $0.35/SqFt

Finish Removal $0.75/SqFt

Finish Application $0.69/SqFt

In most cases we are not even being underbid. The homeowners simply do not have the work done or they will attempt it themselves.

I would truly appreciate any information that you are willing to share.

Thank you

Russell Cissell

[Aplus 525]

Russ,

I don't actively advertise for fence restoration. Most of the time, I will try to sell it as an add-on when already onsite doing a deck. Maybe 2-3 calls per season specifically for fence restoration come in. Actually, looking back the past couple seasons, owners of new wood fences requested my service more than complete restoration.

I don't measure for square footage, but rather lineal footage. I would bid anywhere between $2-4 per lineal foot, per side, depending on condition, with a brand new fence being the least expensive.

As you mentioned, wood fence restoration can be a hard sell, and the margins may not be what I normally like, but that's the way it is, and as long as I don't have to do too many, I don't worry about it.

Plus, I think that labor-wise, vertical fences are physically easier to do than many decks I have done. So although I may use a little more product on them, they often take less labor. At least that's what I've found.

Hope this helps!

[Jack Kramer 15]

Russell,

I charge $5.00 a linear foot to clean and seal for a 6' fence and $7.00 for a shadow box per side. Fences tend to take alot of sealer (I use Ready Seal). I don't get many fences but they are not worth doing for less.

[John Orr 206]

I normally charge $1/lin ft for the first side, then .75/lin ft for the other side for cleaning and/or staining - plus the stain. Even at this price, I have few takers.

[Don EMS 14]

$ 1.45 per sq ft. Pickett fences a little more to cover the cost of the extra material used. At

[Dale 16]

John,

Do people question why a fence is .15 sq.ft. and a wall is $1.++ sq.ft.? thats quite a difference.

[RyanH 14]

Dale,

Are you sure the $1.++ is not per *linear* foot?

[Dale 16]

Hi Ryan,

I guess the way I figured it was.. John mentioned $1. Ln. Ft. one side of fence and $.75 Ln. Ft. the other, so on a 6 ft tall fence thats 12 sq.ft for $1.75 or about $.15 a sq.ft...actually its less than .15 sq.ft. because one side of the fence usually has some cross members and posts or 4x4's that aren't in the numbers if you just double the sq.ft. of the flat side of the fence....But on a wall or a deck...I know I'm low on this but it's all the market can bare here....I'm at about $1.30 a sq.ft. and I'm sure John is at least that much....so I was just wondering if anyone questioned John about how a fence can be restored for $.15 - a sq.ft....but a wall or deck has to be $1.++ a SQ. ft....I could be misunderstanding this...wouldn't be the first time.

[John Orr 206]

OK, let me clarify. I charge $1 per linear foot for the first side and .75 per linear foot for the second. I charge the same rates for sealing, plus the sealer. So...a 100' fence, both sides, would be $175 to clean and $175 to stain plus about $40 for the stain. $175 + $175 + $40 = $390.

[reed 500]

John, not questioning you or your methods, but $40.00 for stain? If you have 100 lin ft, this usually is about 12.5 6x8' sections, or 96sf per section, you are going to need at least 8 gallons for that many sections with a coverage of 150sf per gallon.

Reed

[Dale 16]

John,

Thanks for clarifying...so that comes to about .28 a sq...I was wondering if anyone ever asked why a fence was so much a sq. and a deck or house was so much more??...less detailing in fences for sure.

[James 625]

6 to 8 dollars a lin ft

[Everett Abrams 501]

Jim,

That is exactly what we charge!

[Firedkm 14]

Jim,

That is exactly what we charge!

Did I read this right? Jim and Everett have the same view on something?:)

[Everett Abrams 501]

aaahhh! There is joy in Mudville!

[John Orr 206]

I charge the actual cost of the stain/sealer. I always quote a range of stain/sealer to be used and your're right, it would be consideralbly more than 2 gals.

Dale, in short, no they don't ask. And frankly, I don't charge by the square foot - though I may use it as I calculate estimates, I never mention it to a customer. Around here, people won't pay thousands of dollars to clean and seal a fence - no matter how great a job you do.

For comparison, here is the house I will be doing today: 2300 sq ft house with about 300 linear feet of fence, some of which is 2 sided. The house is $225, the drive/walks is $35 and cleaning/brightening the fence is $250. Working alone, I will start about 9 am and be done around 3 pm. That works out to just about $100/hour. I think most pwers would have no problem with these numbers.

Dale, I see that you are in Wisconsin. I used to live in Milwaukee and visit every year and I wonder how in the world you get the cheapskates that live there to pay top-dollar - for anything!? lol

[Dale 16]

John,

Boy,..you got that right...I'm always ready to run when I hand them the estimate....sometimes they just sorta stand there ...pupils dilating and twitching...others seem to go blank and stare into the distance as if recieving a voice from the beyond...others are sure I put the decimal point in the wrong place...lol. actually I'm very reasonable....I could never get the $1.75 sq. plus materials. Luckily I live way up north and there is a bounty of people with second homes on the lakes and they take pride in their investments..One of the things I hear alot is their amazement in a contractor who takes pride in their work and actually communicates with them and shows up when they say they will.

[VanDiesel99 14]

I have a hard time believing some of these prices. I just took a look at a pressure treated fence 200' long and 6' high. That would be 1200 sq ft for the front and 1200 sq ft for the back, 2400 sq ft. I remember one price was $1.45 a square foot. This must be a mistake, 2400 sq ft x $1.45 = $3480? The fence cost $2800 to build, but $3480 to restore? I mean come on, no one would pay that.

[Everett Abrams 501]

200 Linear Feet x $6.00 = $1200.00

Go above $6 when you start looking at board on board and other issues.

If I go by square footage then I would start at $.50 per sq. ft.

200 length x 6 ft.height is 1200 sq ft. (one side) x2 for both sides is

2400 sq. ft. x $.50 = $1200 , same price either method.

[reed 500]

That's a great price Ev. Just getting homeowners to realize how much product has to be used is a tough one.

Reed

[Everett Abrams 501]

Reed,

I also sell them on the fact it will last longer because it is a vertical surface. This way they don't think they will have to see me every two years as we do with decks.

[Outlaw 14]

Thanks guys, this thread was absolutly no help to me whatsoever, as I sit here trying to put together a price for sealing 1300 linear ft of 8 foot fence.

LMAO

Gav

[reed 500]

EV, exactly. I am going on 4 years on RS lt brn I put on my own fence.

Gav, I recently did a 37 sectioned 6x8 fence with 4 sections of 5x8- approx 3752sqft, I charged .50 a square foot. I didn't charge enough considering PIA plants and other things around the fence. I made money but should have charged more, the PIA charge. Took close to 31 gallons of stain at 2 coats, and 40+gallons of stripper and brightener. I charged them $1,876.00. The homeowner was happy and that was the bottom line here, they got their money's worth.

Reed

[daryl 14]

what is a lin ft Im new to it

Daryl

[seymore 90]

Dayrl

Linear foot= the length of the fence measured

I price my fence by the Lft. not the sqft. of the fence

[daryl 14]

Thanks Seymore,