I am not a "let me speak to the manager" type. Which is in large part why this is my very first Yelp type review. I'm also not a general contractor or a board certified fence surgeon. I'm just a homeowner who has witnessed a fence or two go up, has dug a post hole once and has very few demands and expectations from fencing, and the installation thereof.
I wanted a fence that kept my dog in the yard and looked better than the travesty we inherited when we bought our home six years ago. Neither of those are tall orders, really, given the previous fence looked like the scene of a tractor accident and my dog will stay when I tell her to.
If I remember correctly, I relayed exactly those requirements to whomever we spoke to when we got our estimate and picked out exactly how pointy we wanted the top of the pickets to be. In retrospect, I never specified that I also wanted the fence to remain upright. I will admit, that was my oversight, though in my defense, I just assumed that was a given.
So, to the tune of around sixteen thousand dollars, Orange Fence removed the old "fence" and "installed" a new one.
In the same way I am not a manager-messaging consumer, I am also not so persnickety that I felt compelled to check the finished product with a level. I also didn't think I'd need to check it with a protractor just two years later.
There are some things I prefer "to the left"; my politics, Beyonce choruses, but not my fence. The fence is now enjoying a westerly jaunt into my neighbor's yard. I have also discovered an entire gate post that is standing erect, to use a term loosely, through what I can only surmise is sheer dint of will.
I don't recall the installation process involving any concrete whatsoever. I also accept that I'm not Bob Villa, so I just assumed they knew better than I did and let them do what they're going to do. Looking back, the lack of concrete does seem odd given how a quick Google search on installing fence posts, including Do-It-Yourself videos on Orange Fence's own website, involve concrete.
The posts appear to have been just jammed into the soil not unlike a child sticks a trowel blade into a sandbox after they've sufficiently filled their bucket. That gate post I mentioned wiggles like an incisor three hours shy of a visit from the tooth fairy, and not only doesn't appear to be concreted to the earth, it isn't even attached to the rest of the fence. It just stands there. Like the Washington Monument. But not nearly as stoically. I've pitched sturdier tents.
So, well before it ever occurred to me to take to the internet with my discontent, I reached out to the company, and a woman reminded me the warranty for the installation only covered a single year, which had since lapsed, and someone would be out to give us an estimate.
A gentleman met with my husband some days later and agreed that oblique is not a desirable feature for a fence, certainly not after only two years.
We were then given an estimate of about five hundred dollars to fix the most obviously diagonal posts. The estimate also didn't note whether concrete would be involved or if we'd simply add a bit more gardening soil like the first time. Doing the math myself, I realized it would cost me less to set all nineteen leaning posts in concrete myself.
I recognize how warranties work. It sets out a specific length of time during which a business will take responsibility and ownership for all or part of the continued function of their product. I also recognize that Orange Fence gave a warranty of a single year. What concerns me, however, is that this issue is the result of the quality of the installation. Even garden hobbyists know you can't just stick a tree in the dirt and call it good because it will tilt. You have to stake it upright.
Even *if* the current trajectory of this fence is the result of the weather, I am a bit surprised that a company can't deliver a product capable of withstanding two years of the climate of the state in which their company is based.
I guess I'm just perturbed that the structural part of this fence was less secure than a sapling. Maybe I should have called an arborist. I am also perturbed that one can be left paying installments for a fence with panels doing the Smooth Criminal lean into my neighbors yard, and the company from whence the fence came will say, in essence "yea, we can come by and do it the exact same way again, but it'll cost ya!"
So, I'm not saying avoid Orange Fence at all costs. Because, maybe acute angles are your aesthetic. And if they are, you might find exactly what you're looking for with Orange Fence. Otherwise, be prepared to specify that you would like your fence to remain erect, and expect to purchase the "fully perpendicular to the ground" package. read more
