Rick's Custom Fencing & Decking In Cheap Materials & Don't Know How to Build a Fence! Hillsboro, Oregon

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm not an affiliate of RFAD however I have worked a couple seasons for them building fences and decks. When I worked as a crew helper I was very thankful to be teamed up with a lead that was very knowledgeable, experienced, and particular about his work. He taught me a great deal about this type of work and to this day, many years later, I still retain those skills he taught me. We never cut corners and at time, and would go the extra mile in using better building materials, or doing things "the right way" knowing the extra costs would have to come out of our own pockets, not the customers.

When employed though them I went on several jobs where insurance companies were involved. I can tell you the insurance companies will want things fixed at the lowest cost. It’s not necessarily the installers fault, but more of what the salesperson is able to work with given the set amount the insurance company is willing to dough out. From the sound of things, some corners were cut but the installers are given the job and they have to work with what’s on the books. Personally, I would have paid for the fence out of pocket, then have the insurance company reimburse you. At least then, maybe, better materials would have been used?

Most fencing jobs will use #3 cedar boards unless specified. I have seen some really nice, clean looking #3 with lesser, smaller knots than a normal #3. Kinda depends on what’s pulled from the stock as well as how much the insurance company is willing to pay. Most of the time, my lead and I would pull our own crew loads to get nicer material than what the yards employees would pull. At the time, this was a normal thing for the decking crew to make sure they were getting nice clean surface boards and such. When crew loads are pulled, not much effort is put into choosing the best lumber so a lot of times we would have to drive back to the yard and get new materials.

From what I know (at least during my employment with them), it was standard procedure to use staples when attaching the fence boards unless the customer paid/requested to have them nailed in. From my experience, either building a new fence, or repairing an old one, I have seen boards come undone when stapled or nailed in. I would imagine the length of the staple and how far it’s driven into the 2x4 would play a part. Personally, using staples is more convenient and looks better, but of course opinions differ.

It is universal that if wood touches or is in ground, it must be pressure treated. I can’t imagine using non-pressure treated lumber as fence posts, in ground, and expect it to last more than 5 years (if that) without some sort of compromise in strength/stability. There was never one fence I built where concrete wasn’t used under and around the post however I do remember a couple jobs where post brackets were already being used by the previous fence and the customer wanted to use them to save on costs. In this case, the post itself would not be contacting the ground. The brackets were already secured in concrete, and the structure was stable. In a case like this the customer could get away with using non-pressure treated lumber, like regular fir, to cut down on costs. Even if brackets were being used, the sales rep would probably include pressure treated posts in the build as a precaution. Personally, if it was my fence, I would run everything except the fence boards with pressure treated lumber and probably run triple rails with 5x5 posts.....but that's me.

As for the gate hitting your window, that is completely uncalled for. I agree with you on that. I can tell you if that was presented to me or my lead at the time of the build, meaning we could see that the window could get in the way, we would have come up with some sort of solution to where the gate would not come in contact with your window. I have no idea what things look like to formulate a solution to your problem without seeing it firsthand.

Yes, nine foot fence panels is a bit much. However depending on the length of the “run”, we would have tried to stay at 8 feet or less. It was always our goal to have each panel the same length so if it means to have panels less than 8 feet or at times panels at 7 feet, we would do it. Of course when something like this would happen, we would discuss with the customer first before doing anything, if they were available. We were always about looks and quality. Out of all the structures we built, we nor any of the other crews never had to fix our work. We were considered one of the better crews at the Hillsboro location. At times we were the ones to go fix the “mess-ups”

Whenever we would attach something to the house, if it has to do with fencing, it usually was a 2x4 and it would be attached using 3’ screws (when doing a deck, things were a bit different, but similar concept were used.) We always carried waterproofing caulk to put around the 2x4 (or whichever board) and used it to cover up the screw heads. I don’t know if any of the other crews at the time did this, but it was kinda our little thing to ensure the build was done right and looked correct. Sometimes we would use an fence post instead and butt it up against the house (if room permitted between the gate opening and the length of the “run”), and use concrete to secure it. Again, something like that would come out of our pockets, not the customers.

Other than that, it sounds like your fencing job was a qwickie. Crews get paid by the job, not the hour so I guess you can figure that one out. Not saying what they did was right....nor wrong (would need to see what was actually done) however from what you said, there wasn't much care put into looks or functionality. One way or another, if something isn't working or looking to your satisfaction, Rick's should honor their work. That's part of their great customer service they are well known for.