Fences and Retaining Walls
Introduction
Fence
and Wall Specialties
It's
hard to imagine a world without fences. We need them to keep some things in and
other things out. We need them to preserve our privacy. A world without fences?
Not likely. And that's why fence building is good business for construction
contractors. Nearly every significant new construction project includes a fence
or wall. If you're qualified to build fences and retaining walls, there will be
work to bid on nearly every job. That can help build a nice extra profit into
every project you handle.
This
book is written for professional fence and retaining wall builders. Maybe you're
already a licensed contractor. Maybe you're working in the trade on the payroll
of a contractor. Maybe you're building your first fence. Or maybe you're a
student who wants to learn fence and wall building. It doesn't matter, this
manual has the information you need.
Established
contractors will learn the fine points of fence building - including suggestions
on dealing with customers, employees and the I.R.S. After reading this book,
you'll probably want to pass it along to a friend, apprentice, or new employee.
If
you're new to fence building, you should have no trouble following my
explanations. I'll take it step by step and include all the pictures you could
want. That should make it easier to learn the essentials of fence building.
If
you're an apprentice studying for your license, this book is for you. I wrote it
with the California C-13 Fence Contractor's license exam in mind. Between the
covers of this manual you'll find answers to nearly all the questions on the
exam. The business chapters will help you set up your own contracting business
and keep you from making expensive mistakes.
For
the homeowner building a first fence, I've provided simplified designs and
construction techniques. The section on fence and retaining wall problems can
help you avoid mistakes others have made. You'll also learn to fix existing
fences and walls. I've included a glossary of terms, so when you talk to
suppliers and contractors, you'll be speaking their language.
Teachers
can use this book as a course manual. It covers everything from setting up a
business, selling and preparing legal contracts, to building fences and walls.
Throughout this manual I've tried to use plain conversational English that's
easy for students to follow.
All
readers will benefit from the chapter on safety.
You'll
learn about all kinds of fences, gates, retaining walls, sea walls, and
railings. We'll cover the most familiar types and styles of fences and walls,
and several uncommon types. I'll describe all the common construction methods
and dozens of materials. You'll see what kinds of equipment you need to build
each type of fence. And I've included a section on estimating costs and manhours.
With
all this in mind, let's start with:
History
of Fences
The
first true fences were probably barriers to animals. For protection, primitive
people probably used piles of rocks or logs to protect their possessions and
families from other tribes. Rocks were laid in horizontal courses and held in
place with mud. The first mortars were dried mud or earth. Even at this early
time, fence building must have become a skill to be learned and passed from
generation to generation.
Early
tribes were nomad hunters who traveled from place to place. Fences didn't have
to be any more than temporary. As time passed, people learned to grow crops and
domesticate animals. At this point, they needed more permanent ways to mark off
their fields and corral their livestock. They made fences from rocks or trees
cleared from their planting fields. They made corrals by suspending vines and
rope between logs and trees the forerunner of the barbed wire fence.
In
areas of the world where trees and rocks aren't readily available, people had to
make fences out of soil. Ordinary dirt mixed with water can be molded into a
building block. But dry blocks of dirt erode very easily in the rain. Some earth
materials hold up better when wet. Clay from river banks, ponds, and mines, for
example, was used to make more durable adobe block. Then someone discovered that
heating clay fire-hardened and waterproofed the blocks.
Centuries
later we learned to draw heated metal through a small hole, turning it into
wire. That's a fine material to fence in animals and fence out trespassers.
People
are very adaptable. In their search for homes near food, entertainment, work and
riches, they sometimes built homes on the edges of mountains, oceans, and
rivers. But nature is an unpredictable adversary. Mountains fall, oceans rise,
and rivers flood. That's why man invented retaining walls, sea walls, and dikes.
Cement made all that possible. Mix cement with sand, gravel and water. Then form
and cure the mix to hold back that mountain, ocean, or river.
Even
though people are independent by nature, they need each other. They formed
groups that developed into towns and cities. As people moved closer together,
the urge to maintain privacy increased. An industry matured and prospered - the
fence building industry.
Modern
Fence Building
To
compete effectively as a fence builder, you need a wholesale materials supplier
who will sell to you at a discount. You'll also need a vehicle and certain
tools. You need to know how to construct a sound, legal wall and how to make
money doing it. That's what this manual is going to teach.
Later
in this chapter, I'll tell you how much it costs to set up a fence contracting
business and what you'll need to know. For now, let's begin with a discussion of
the various types of fence contracting specialties and the equipment you'll need
for each.
Block
Walls
Block
walls are very common in the southwestern United States because the materials
are readily available there. The principal materials are adobe or cement blocks,
steel reinforcing bars (rebar), mortar and lumber. Figure 1-1 shows a
typical block wall in a residential development. Here's an equipment list - what
you'll need to get started in block wall construction:
-
vehicle, 3/4 to 1 ton truck
-
transit for laying out wall (optional)
-
motor-driven cement mixer
-
chisels for cutting block
-
circular saw for cutting forming lumber
-
trowels for spreading mortar
-
rebar cutter
-
crowbar
-
sledge hammer
-
claw hammer
-
chalk line
-
cord and line blocks
-
mortarboard
-
assortment of screwdrivers and wrenches
-
levels, 18 inch and 6 foot
-
wire cutters to tie rebar
-
drill and assortment of masonry bits
-
protective clothing and glasses
It will cost you about $20,000
to buy everything on the list. I'm assuming your supplier will deliver materials
to the job site and will provide a forklift. I'm also assuming that you'll
subcontract the trenching work to someone with a backhoe. You'll also need a
cement contractor to lay the foundation.
Sometimes you won't be able to
get a concrete truck close to the job site. Then you'll have to pump cement
through a large hose (about 4 inches in diameter) from the truck to the wall
location. Pumping also works very well when pouring into narrow, formed-out
foundations or wall cavities.
Most transit mix concrete
trucks hold about 9 cubic yards of concrete. You'll be charged by the cubic
yard, of course. But if you order less than 9 yards, you'll probably have to pay
a surcharge for the short load. Still, I order transit mix concrete for any job
that needs more than 3 cubic yards at once. Less than that and you're probably
better off mixing it yourself on site.
Brick
Walls
These require about the same
equipment as block walls. You'll be working with more but smaller building
units. Brick work is popular nationwide, but more common in the Northeast.
Brick
is also used extensively in the Southeast where Georgia clay abounds. Once
again, the cost of basic equipment needed by a brick contractor would be about
$20,000. Figure 1-2 is an attractive brick wall with some interesting design
detail.
Rock
Walls
These
fall into two categories, natural rock and manmade rock. Natural rock walls are
common in rural areas where rock is the waste product when land is cleared. Rock
wall builders don't need any special tools except a tractor, a wagon to cart the
rock, and a strong back. When rock walls are laid in mortar, mortar mixing
equipment is needed. You'll usually have to lay a foundation and will need a
cement contractor. Figure 1-3 shows a wall of natural rock.
Manmade
rock veneer is popular with some architectural styles. It's usually applied over
wood frame or concrete block walls. The contractor who frames the wall or lays
the block may also apply the veneer. The tools required for applying veneer are
the same as for building block walls.
Poured
Concrete Walls
These
are reasonably inexpensive compared with other types of walls. They're very
strong and can be used in most areas. You'll need forms, usually made of wood,
fiberglass, or sheet metal. They come in sections that you can assemble and
remove easily. You'll need a concrete pumping service to pump concrete from the
truck to the forms. You'll also need a source for rebar to reinforce the
concrete.
For
some jobs it's cheaper to use prefab wall sections. If this is your choice,
you'll need a crane or hoist to place these sections in position. The other
equipment and tools are about the same as for wall building, with the addition
of the forms. Forms for a job can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few
thousand dollars. Figure 1-4 shows a poured concrete wall that's part of a storm
channel.
Wire
Mesh Fences
This
is an easy type of fence contracting to get into. Wire mesh fencing is common in
rural and semi-rural areas where ranchers have to enclose animals and fowl
rather than restrict access to people. These are the materials you'll need to
build wire fences:
-
a
truck, 1/2 ton, 8-foot bed or larger
-
a
hand truck for moving rolls of mesh
-
gas-powered
post hole digger
-
a
block and tackle or stretcher
-
wire
cutters
-
wheelbarrow
-
gas-powered
cement mixer
-
long
tape measure, 100 feet minimum
-
level,
6 foot
-
transit
for layout and leveling long sections
-
string
line and batten
-
shovel,
pick, hoe and manual post hole digger
-
assortment
of screwdrivers and wrenches
This
setup will cost about $15,000. Unless
there’s a high demand for wire mesh fencing, I suggest you handle barbed wire
and chain link fencing as well as wire mesh.
Barbed
Wire Fences
In rural areas ranchers use
barbed wire to contain cattle on rangeland.
It’s also used to mark off fields, though any hunter can climb through
it. Sometimes you’ll find barbed
wire along the top of chain link fences to discourage people from climbing over.
See Figure 1-5.
The
equipment is the same as you’d need for wire mesh fence contracting.
The wire stretcher is a different design, and you’ll need a hammer or
two. The cost to get started is the
same.
Chain
Link Fences
You'll find chain link fences
mostly in urban commercial areas. They're very effective for keeping intruders
out of storage areas, off factory grounds, and out of streams and lakes. They
may be used inside factories to fence off equipment or inventory. These fences
are usually 8 to 10 feet high. Lower chain link fences, in the 4 to 6 foot
range, are used to define residential lots.
Chain link is very versatile.
It’s used to pen animals, form baseball fields; surround swimming pools,
tennis courts, and parking lots. You’ll need about the same equipment as for
wire mesh fencing. For work inside industrial buildings you'll need some
concrete drilling equipment, since most warehouse floors are poured concrete.
Your truck should have a rack for carrying 2O-foot sections of pipe. Cost of
equipment will be about $15,000.
Wood
Fences
Here is where style takes over.
There are about as many types of wood fences as there are sizes of lumber.
The equipment is similar for all kinds of wood fences. You’ll need:
-
a truck, 1/2,ton,
8'-footbed or larger
-
gas-powered post hole
digger
-
power saws and hand saws
-
electrical generator for
working in isolated areas
-
assortment of screwdrivers
and wrenches
-
string line and batten
-
shovel, axe, pick, hoe, and
manual post hole digger
-
hammers, claw and sledge
-
drill and bits
-
transit (optional)
-
levels, 6 foot and 2 foot
-
gas-powered cement mixer
-
wheelbarrow
-
assortment of woodworking
chisels
Once again, your cost for
equipment is about $15,000. You can build these fences from scratch, or buy and
install prefab fencing. You'll usually buy materials, but on some rural jobs you
might use timber cut on the site. For this type of work you'll need a chain saw,
log splitter, and possibly a bulldozer. The chain saw and log splitter will cost
about $1,500. You can rent the dozer.
Constructed
Metal Fences
These fences include those made
from ornamental iron or pipe. Ornamental iron is very popular with homeowners,
and most of this work will be residential. Figure 1-6 shows some typical
ornamental iron fencing.
Metal security fences and gates
are common in commercial buildings. Pipe fences usually restrain animals, horses
and cattle. They're also used as safety railings where there's danger of people
falling: balconies and scenic lookouts along highways. A third type of metal
fencing is highway guardrail.
What do you need in the way of
equipment and tools?
-
a
truck, 1 ton or better
-
a
gas or gas-powered electric welder and tips
-
gas-powered
post hole digger
-
metal
cutting saws
-
drills
for wood, concrete, and metal
-
gas-powered
cement mixer
-
assortment
of screwdrivers and wrenches
-
hammer
and mallet
-
shovel,
pick, hoe, and manual hole digger
-
transit
(optional)
-
string
line
-
levels,
2 foot and 6 foot
-
metal
grinder or drill attachment
-
paint
and brushes for touch-up
Equipment
and tools will cost about $20,000. If
you're doing highway work, you may also need a bulldozer.
Plastic
and Glass Fences
These
are usually combined with one of the other types of fences. For instance, Figure
1-7 shows fiberglass panels installed on top of a block wall. This offers extra
privacy without blocking so much sunlight. Clear plastic and glass fences are
windscreens used to surround patios and swimming pools without reducing the
view. Many homes built on high ground use glass or plastic fences.
Indoor
plastic screens are common in banks and savings offices. One- to 2-inch-thick
clear Plexiglas is designed to be bulletproof and is used to screen teller
booths. These screens are very expensive. Bulletproof glass is usually sold by
the square inch. You'll need a good supplier of shatterproof glass, Plexiglas,
or Lexan. Lexan is a highly shatterproof polycarbonate material. Many
stores now use it for their display windows. It’s also used for windows on
boats because of its high resistance to wind and waves.
Besides
the basic equipment kit for wood or block walls, you'll need the following:
-
glass
cutters
-
saber
saw to cut plastic sheet
-
a
torch to fire-edge the plastic
-
hacksaw
to cut aluminum channel
-
metal,
glass and wood drills and bits
-
vertical
rack in truck for carrying sheets of material
-
cleaners
for removing adhesive paper and glue
-
suction
cup glass transporters
-
These
items will cost you about $350.
Fire-edging
removes burrs and rounds the cut edges of plastics. You use a low heat torch to
just slightly soften the plastic. Fire-edging helps prevent cracking. You should
also fire the edges of all mounting holes you drill.
Glass
and plastic screen is usually mounted in aluminum channel. Use either a rubber
gasket or caulking, or use epoxy to hold the material in the channels.
Siding
and Stucco
You
can use any kind of siding material to build fences: aluminum, steel, vinyl or
stucco. First you build a conventional wall frame from 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 lumber.
Then you use the siding material as a facing. The equipment and tools you need
are basic saws, drills, and hand tools.
Landscape
Fencing
You
can use trees and other plants, or combine these with most other types of walls
and fences, to form barriers. You have to know what plants work best in your
climate. A trip to a local nursery, or the library, will help here. Cost for
tools and equipment is usually very low.
Later
chapters cover each of these fence and wall specialties in detail. For now I'll
cover things that are common to all types of fence and wall construction.
Retaining
Walls
These
walls are used to keep soil or falling rock from intruding on occupied area.
They're also built to reduce wind and noise in some places. Many retaining walls
are built under government contracts. If you plan to bid on public works jobs,
you'll probably find plenty of retaining wall work available in your area.
Equipment
needed to build retaining walls tend to be more expensive. You don't need many
hand tools, but for most work you'll probably need a bulldozer and a dump truck.
The investment would probably be more than $100,000. You're generally better off
renting these unless you intend to specialize in this type of work.
In
most cities and counties, retaining walls have to be approved by the building
department. The inspector wants to be sure the wall is strong enough to support
the load. Except for small retaining walls, the building department isn't
going to determine what's safe and what isn't. Instead, they rely on the opinion
of the civil engineer you hire to prepare the plans. The engineer's stamp
on the plans certifies that the wall meets accepted engineering standards.
That's important. Dirt's cheap. But lives aren't. You can't afford to have your
wall collapse.
Once
the wall is finished, the slope above the wall should be landscaped to help hold
the soil in place. You should be ready to suggest landscaping materials that
will hold your manmade hills together.
Sea
Walls
If
you're near the ocean, a lake or river, you'll probably have the opportunity to
bid on these walls intended to prevent damage from rising water. Sea walls are
made from rock, dirt, cement, wood piles, sheet metal, asphalt, or old tires.
Figure your minimum startup costs at 20,000.
Every
Job Begins With a Sale
There
won't be much work to do until you start selling jobs. Selling is an all
important part of the business. Consider two questions: Can you afford to hire a
full-time sales person? If not, can you afford to spend time selling jobs rather
than building or supervising a crew?
My
advice is to let the builders build and the salespeople sell. Unless you've got
a special talent for making sales, find someone who likes meeting the public and
knows (or is willing to learn) something about fence building and retaining
walls. Many people can learn to be
good salespeople and enjoy selling. Favor
someone who can make a sketch of what they’re trying to sell.
Some training in drafting or architecture is an advantage.
Your
salesperson (or salespeople) should work on commission, earning more when they
close more jobs. Commissions range
from 5 to 15 percent of the contract price, often with a weekly draw.
In Chapter 14, I suggest sales techniques that can keep your company busy
and prosperous.
Fence
Maintenance Contracting
This
is a good starter or add-on business. As
a starter business, it’s a way to get established while you learn the ins and
outs of the fence contracting business. You
need to be a good handyman, proficient in the use of hand tools.
Some
fence maintenance contractors offer fence maintenance contracts to customers
with existing fences and walls. You
offer to come by on a regular basis to inspect and repair any minor damage.
You’ll oil hinges, tighten screws and bolts, and renail loose boards.
You can also offer limited emergency service.
You’d do this on a per-call basis when severe damage has occurred.
This could be necessary after a wind storm, or when someone has run their
car through a fence. Your service
would include periodic painting or waterproofing on customers’ fences.
Your
startup cost for this type of service is small:
a few basic hand tools, a small inventory of materials, and a pickup
truck or van. Who do you sell to?
Mostly business and local governments, buy many homeowners will also hire
you. They either can’t or don’t
want to bother doing it themselves. There
is a market for this. I took
hundreds of pictures of fences for this book.
Close to 90 percent of those fences needed repair. Start
by looking for work in older neighborhoods.
On
fence repair jobs, I recommend that you charge by the hour and add the cost of
materials. Charging a fixed fee for
this kind of work is usually a mistake. You’ll
often find hidden damage. Chapter 9
has more information on fence repairs and maintenance.
Design
and Architecture
Anyone
who’s making a living in the fence business should see the difference between
a fence that adds beauty to a home or neighborhood and a fence that’s an
eyesore. In many cases, you’re
going to be the designer, the person who recommends the fence material and
design. I’ve seen too many fences
and walls that just didn’t complement the property.
Don’t make that mistake.
I’ve
seen many others that fell apart way too soon due to poor design.
The designer didn’t consider how the fence would be used and problems
that came with the site. Don’t
make that mistake either. The
chapters that follow will help you select designs and materials to make an
attractive, well-engineered walls and fences.
Drafting
and Layout
When
you prepare plans for a fence or wall, your focus should be on technical
accuracy. You have to take the
ideas and sketches of the designer and turn them into working blueprints that
show in detail how all parts fit together.
A year or two of drafting experience and familiarity with fence building
are essential.
Fence
Rentals
Fence
rental is good business in areas where many commercial or industrial buildings
are under construction. Construction
contractors rent fences to protect their equipment and tools on a job site.
Insurance companies and local governments like fenced construction sites
because fencing helps keep kids off the site at night and on weekends.
Farmers
and ranchers use temporary fence to hold livestock during roundup.
Businesses use it when they have to secure inventory outside temporarily.
Most
rental fences are chain link. You
install them the same way you do permanent chain link fences, but you usually
don’t cement the posts into the ground. If
you cement them in, you’re going to have a lot of fun when it’s time to
return the fence to the rental yard.
Here’s
how to charge for rental fencing:
-
Charge
from a third to a seventh of your cost for the materials - the mesh, posts,
and gates. This is based on the expectation that you can rent the same
materials at least seven times, and perhaps as many as 20 times.
-
Charge
your regular rate for delivery and installation. Add a charge for removal.
In
the Los Angeles area, at the time of this writing, temporary fences rent for
from $250 to $450 for 100 linear feet of 6-foot-high fence with one gate. The
variation in price depends on soil conditions and how level the site is. Some
companies charge the same whether you rent the fence for a week or a year.
If
this sideline interests you, check with some of your local competitors for
prices. Use them as a guide to see whether you can make money renting fences.
Fence-Building
Equipment Rentals
If
you're in the fence building business, consider renting your unused equipment.
Other contractors, subcontractors, and property owners may need a good source of
specialized equipment. Require a deposit, good identification, and a rental
contract from your customers. In some states your customers will need special
operator licenses to use heavy equipment such as backhoes or bulldozers.
Here
are some examples of the equipment that's usually in demand:
-
backhoe
-
bulldozer
-
power
post hole diggers
-
outdoor
heaters
-
cement
mixers
-
trucks
-
tractors
-
stretchers
-
electrical
generators
-
airless
sprayers
-
power
washers
-
specialized
small hand and powertools
The
daily rental rate for most smaller pieces of equipment is usually about 5
percent of the purchase price. That means you can recover the purchase price
once equipment is rented about 20 times. But some equipment may only rent out a
few times a year: So it may take several years to earn a decent payback. Some
operators of rental businesses give discounts for weekly and monthly rental
terms. For example, a cable puller may rent for $15 for one day, $45 for a week
and only $90 for a month.
Insurance
will be very important if you rent fence building equipment. You should be
protected from loss due to equipment damage, liability, and theft. To be
competitive in this business, you'll probably need to invest several hundred
thousand dollars in equipment. After the initial payback, you'll keep from 40 to
60 percent of each rental dollar after expenses. It's a good business if you can
afford to get into it.
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