Woodmaster Fence

This is the second time I've used WoodMaster Fence this summer, and both times I have found them to be fair and honest in their dealings, punctual, fairly-priced, and high quality. The first time I used them, I was prepared to install a new fence (based on feedback I'd gotten from another vendor), but Rick advised me to spend less money and do some repairs rather than install a new fence. Among the repairs were building a nice new 4 foot gate and replacing several wood-rotted areas of the fence. The second time I used them was to re-build my second gate, as well as other sections of fence that were damaged by the tornado that hit Grayslake/Wildwood in early August of this year. Fortunately none of WoodMaster's previous repairs were impacted by the storm (though a fencepost I replaced on my own was), so there was no re-work of the original work they had done. In addition to the storm damage repair, I also asked them to do some preventative replacement of 2x4s and fence posts that was quoted at a fairly cheap rate. After the work was done, Rick mentioned that some of the work wasn't accurately quoted (which wasn't a shock given the rate), but rather than passing some or all of the charge to me he acknowledged the mistake and insisted on eating it himself. I'm glad to have found a service provider I can trust that does good work. I wouldn't hesitate to use WoodMaster Fence again.

Great. I understood exactly what was going to be built and it turned out great!

I first contacted Rick, the owner, in June about putting in a split-rail fence with woven wire, to help keep the dogs in and the coyotes out. The day Rick came over to the house, I told him what I wanted. I then asked him for options and he told me he could do chain-link or a wooden corral, but he would not recommend that for our neighborhood, which I agreed with. He then told me he could do a 5? split-rail fence, but would need to special-order the posts, since most split-rail fences are 4?. Since none of the other companies we interviewed from Angie?s List could produce a fence that tall, we decided to go with Woodmaster. Unfortunately, there were complications. Although Rick swears that he told me that in order to get the fence up to 5?, the wire would need to stick up about 6? from the top rail, I do not remember this. I do remember him telling me this the day of the installation, but assumed that because he was telling me about it, it would look acceptable. The point is that whether or not I was told from the beginning, the wire sticking up from the top rail looks extremely tacky. The day of the installation, he also indicated that the wire would be stapled to the outside of the fence. Not knowing any better (my mistake), I assumed that this is the normal way similar fences are constructed. Again, although he says that this is how he always installs the wire, it looks tacky from the outside. None of the other fences I have seen around our neighborhood have the wire on the outside; it is stapled on the inside, which definitely looks better when looking into the yard. Finally, I was expecting nice hinges and latches on the three gates that would look appropriate for a subdivision (he strenuously recommended against the chain-link and corral gates because he said they were not appropriate for this very reason). What we received looks cheap and does not allow the gates to open much past 90 degrees. The day the sub-contractor left, I was happy the fence was in and the dogs could run free. But over the next few days, my wife and I became less pleased. In fact, the fence looks so unprofessional that one of the neighbors called it a chicken coop and compared us to hillbillies. For a fence that was just short of $4,000.00, I was pretty upset hearing this! Do I have some responsibility for this situation? Absolutely! I should have required that the contract submitted have more specific information about the height, the wire and the gates. As a result, I asked Rick to come back so we could talk about fixing things, assuming I would be paying my share of the changes. After having to call him three times to set up a visit, he informed us that he would come to the house at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning. Once he arrived, my wife and I shared our concerns with Rick and the subcontractor and Rick agreed to give us an estimate for the changes. I was shocked to see that the quote to correct the problems was for over $1,600.00. When I asked for a breakdown in the price (multiple times) so we could talk about it, he refused, except to tell me that it would cost $600.00 to replace the gates with picket gates. I replied that the price seemed expensive and asked him to just quote me the price for new hardware on the gates. His reply was to change his story and say that the $600.00 was for just new hardware (hinges and latches). I was appalled. At this point, I believe that the owner is mad that I do not like the way his subcontractor built the fence and does not want to negotiate a fair price for moving and trimming the wire and upgrading the gate hardware. I will never use nor recommend Woodmaster Fence and I would encourage anyone considering using this company to be careful and request a detailed contract drawn up stating exactly what is provided, before using them. Update After this review was posted, we received an e-mail with a new quote for $2,200.00 for the repair. We are tired of how the price changes and the difficulty we have had trying to fix this problem.

Rick and his crew came in and completed the job in short order. The crew was very professional and Rick explained the job very thoroughly and showed us all our options. The work performed was excellent and exceeded our expectations

Fence installation was performed in a prompt manner. Final result was great. All posts are level and very sturdy. Rick handled obtaining the permit which was nice. Workers cleaned up the job site afterwards. Out main worker was Kevin, I believe, and he did a great job. We had a couple of cracked boards and minor flaws that they came back and addressed immediately.

The process was very smooth. Rick came out and saw my property, I told him what I wanted, we discussed some options, and Rick made some very good suggestions. The best suggestion he made was to have the fence toe nailed to each post. My old fence was face nailed, the new fence is toe nailed and looks much cleaner and more professional looking. The new fence has two gates and Rick went over all the different placement options with me and.explained what options would work best and why. the best thing we did was to go with self closing hinges on the gates. Now I don't have to remind the kids to keep doing it. Rick's quote was in the middle of the three quotes I got from the fence companies. The quotes were all reasonable, but I went with Rick because he really made an effort to let me know that I would get his best work. When installation day came around, the two man crew showed up right around 8:00. They got right down to work removing the old fence. Auggie and his assistant put up the entire fence in one day. They didn't use any premade panels, the whole fence was built on site. They worked throughout the day, even worked through some rain showers to get the work done, and finished around 7:00. Auntie and his assistant were polite, courteous, and very hard working. The new fence looks fantastic. I am very pleased with the results. The guys cleaned up after themselves, and were careful about not destroying any of the neighbor's plants that ran along the fence line. I would definitely hire Woodmaster again. I did find a couple of cracked boards, Rick said he would replace them, no problem. I will update my review if that is not the case.

Excellent job overall. Rick was great to deal with and Benny did a great job installing. Cleaned up better than I would have expected. Fence looks great.

Once provided a start date, provider was out on that day, finished in a timely manner. Showed me how to work self closing gate properly, cleaned up after themselves. Would use this provider in the future.

Rich did the estimate and even came back to provide me with an additional quote so I had options. Then Ben and his crew came to install the fence a couple of weeks later. They even worked in the rain to get the job done on time. The result is fantastic, and I'm very very pleased with the craftsmanship.

These guys are good. On my privacy fence I was expecting them to come out with panels. No, installed plank by plank. The guys did a beautiful job, landscaped the area around the fenced, left nothing behind. Outstanding work. Only frustrating part was nailing down the date of the install. First it was Saturday, then either Wednesday or Thursday, definitely Friday, then on Friday it was we'll do half today and half tomorrow. Spoke about this with Rick, and I understand doing installs outside you're at the mercy of the weather, and with all the rain they were backed up. I get that but I was a little ticked off. Once they finished and left me with this gorgeous fence in my yard I thought OK, the wait was worth it. For the price and the quality and craftsmenship I would definitely recommend them.

Rick was excellent to deal with, he estimated 2 days after I called and made the repair as soon as the product came in. They were considerate and polite.

Rick came out and provided an extremely fair estimate (60% lower than a competitor) to repair my fence in multiple areas and improve the performance of the gate locking mechanism. He also provided some landscaping advice that proved to be better and more cost effective than two landscapers that came out the week prior! Rick scheduled the repair within ten days of his visit during his busy season. The technician who did the work was out first thing in the morning, was very professional and did quality work. I would highly recommend Woodmaster Fence.

I had a great experience with WoodMaster Fence. Rick stopped over and we discussed what I wanted. We looked over the types of fences and I chose the 4 foot high Wester red cedar 1x6" picket with 1" spacing. i went with the convex design for the top of the pickets. Rick took care of getting the permit.. Rick and his men showed up early on a Saturday morning. I had to leave and when I returned the fence was completed. They cleaned up after themselves and I would not have known they were there except for the appearance of the fence. I love my new fence. I feel that it completes my yard. I couldn't be happier.

Excellent, from initial quotation through completion of work. The crew that performed the repairs were very skilled and actually made adjustments to the existing fence beyond the quoted repairs. I am very satisfied with the end result. I would not hesitate to recommend them to others and to use them again in the future. You will not be sorry if choose WoodMaster Fence for your fencing needs.

Rick was very responsive both with the estimate and the work itself. His med were polite and did a great job for a fair price. I highly recommend his company.

Very satisfied with company. Called for an estimate and the next day the owner, Rick Manderscheid, came to my home to provide an estimate. We walked the yard and discussed what I wanted done. He measured for the fence and then we discussed the options available. After deciding on what type of fence I wanted he emailed me an estimate the next day. I had three other estimates done. This was not the least expensive estimate, but fell in the middle of all the estimates. WoodMaster Fence had good reviews on Angie's List and with the Better Business Bureau, as did all the companies I contacted. I chose this company due to the option of having metal fence posts used which would last much longer than wooden fence posts. None of the other companies I contacted offered me this option. Once the contract was signed Rick took care of everything from contacting J.U.L.I.E. for the utility locates, to pulling the permit with the village. He contacted me the day before his crew would be out. The next day Rick showed up with his crew. We again walked around the yard confirming all the details about the fence and where I would like the gates located. The crew then began work on removing the old fence and installing the new fence. Due to underground utilities his crew had to hand dig the majority of the post holes. This took a long time but they worked through the day and about 8 hours later they had all the posts in, the support rails in and began installing the pickets. They continued working until dark. They were unable to finish the job on the first day. The next day the crew returned and completed the fence and built and installed the gates in the cold and rainy weather. After completing the fence the crew walked me around the completed fence to make sure I was satisfied with the job. They also made sure the job site was cleaned up. I am very happy with the fence. It looks wonderful and is well built and sturdy. I would definitely use this company again for any fence installation or repair.

Our older fence was damaged in a severe storm. Rick came quickly to do an estimate and felt repair possible. Repair was completed within a couple of weeks by a very nice gentleman who did a good job. He replaced 2 posts and several slats plus reattached various sections. The life of our fence has been extended I recommend this company

Responded quickly. Did good work for a fair price.

We've received a contract and estimate from them very quickly. It was comparable to the other fence company who provided an estimate as well. Woodmaster seemed more interested in doing the job and having it look good. They said it would take about three weeks to get every thing done (contract, permit from city, and putting in fence). It took about 3 days to set up the contract. They called less than two weeks later to say that they would be coming to put in the fence the next day. Richard and the two men who would put in the fence arrived at about 7am (they said the earliest would be 6.30am). We walked the property to make sure that the fence was going where we expected it to go. The two men put the whole fence in in one day. They were very kind and professional. They asked to make sure that the fence was going in the right place. They cleaned out out the areas they needed to get to, and left the areas clean. We are very pleased with the work, and we have received many positive comments on the fence in the three weeks we've had it. We would recommend Woodmaster Fence for putting in a fence.

The owner returned my call very promptly, and also came out promptly to give me an estimate. The price was good. The work was done soon after I returned the contract. I'm very pleased with the results. I give them a solid recommendation and will definitely use them again if needed.

They were just a little bit slow getting it in, but it was a busy season. The gentleman that came and did the work was nice. He responded right away. He came out and took care of my estimates and the gentleman who put it in was very good also.

High quality work and punctual service. Maybe not the cheapest but I have no concerns about the workmanship.

I needed a fence post replaced and called Fence Master, Rick came out for an inspection of the work and found issues with my fence. He gave me an estimate and I agreed with price, which I felt was reasonable. The work was done within a day of the inspection. Great job, we will do business again. Thanks

They accommodated my schedule which was greatly appreciated. They came out as scheduled and fixed everything that was needed.

Rick was very responsive from our first phone call. He came out quickly for an estimate and had great suggestions for our fence. He explained everything including the materials he would use and why. He kept in contact throughout the process, answering all of my questions and as soon as we were ready for installation, he had a crew out right away. The crew went above and beyond while installing the fence. They even took the dirt from the post holes and put it neatly in a dent in our garden, rearranging the decorative rocks so it looks like it was always there. We are thrilled with our new fence and look forward to enjoying it for years to come. I highly recommend Woodmaster Fence. They are professional, reliable and really nice people to work with.