CAPITOL FENCE & DECK

Had to get on Angie’s List to leave a review for Mike and his team at Capitol Fence. About 10 years ago I used Capitol Fence to install electronic swing arms to some garage gates I built. The install was great. The guys were professional and the job was done perfectly, even on a gate they didn't build. They installed a Liftmaster unit they had recommended. So why did it take me 10 years to write a review?? About 5 years ago I ran into my first minor problem with the opener and called Mike for some help in troubleshooting. He knew right off the bat the problem, just had to replace a few batteries which it turns out is routine maintenance. I got the batteries and installed them...boom worked beautifully. A few years after that, I had another minor issue so I called Mike. He wasn't quite sure how to handle this one so he had his installer call me to help out. The guy called and got me back up and running in no time. Now, just today, I reached out for Mike to help me troubleshoot another item and he happily did it. To sum it up, he did a great job for me 10 years ago but the thing is he has come to the rescue for me several times since then. He's the real deal if you want someone that is there for you after the sale. Most would have wanted to send out tech and charge me an $80 fee. I have only been in Austin for 13 years. I have had several home projects in those 13 years. Unfortunately I have also had some really crappy contractors in that time so I thought it was necessary to talk about someone who lives by the "old school" way of thinking. Offer great service and be there for your customers when they call you again. I think many of the contractors in Austin have forgotten that part. Mike is the real deal!!

I am extremely well-pleased with the entire project that from the time I called for an estimate until the work was completed took less than a week. - record time and highly quality workmanship. People who answered the phone were on-task; the estimator called right back; came to house for measurements a day later - and in one morning the entire work was finished. Just the kind of installaion we wish could happen every day. I highly recommend this company. And as a result, the street appeal is much better - importanty, the stairs are safe. What more can I say.....

came out to take measurements and look at the job. Never followed up or sent a quote.

Excellent work at a great price

I ended up not going with them.

It was a 19-week-long very frustrating experience. PLEASE don't use this contractor. I tell you because I care about you, not because I'm bitter. Just want to save my friends the headache. If you know me, contact me and I can explain.

Darren was great to work with - he gave us lots of options, was clear about cost and what was included. He answered all our questions and his installers did an excellent job installing a high-quality automatic driveway gate and system. We are using them again to get some additional fencing done. Highly recommend.

When we built our house 5 years ago, I took one look at the builder grade fence and told my wife "plan on replacing that in half a decade". Right on schedule, it started coming down on it's own. I contacted 3 fence companies, and was very specific about what I wanted bid. I requested a 7' high cedar privacy fence with metal poles and 3 stringers. (There was actually a 4th company that I contacted, and their response was "you don't need that". To which I asked "how do you know what I need without setting foot on my property". End of discussion.) One company wrote up a bid for a 6' fence with wooden posts. I called them on it, and asked if they wanted to rebid. They said "don't worry it will just be a little more". OK one down. The second company wrote up the bid correctly, but didn't specify the materials they were going to use. They were also incredibly expensive. Capitol Fence was the only company that wrote up what I considered a complete bid to include specifying the exact materials they were going to use, as well as breaking down the costs (installation, demo, gates, etc). What really sold me was the option of getting welded steel frame gates that are fabricated on site. The first thing that usually goes out of whack is the gate...it will start dragging and not close correctly. Not these things...they're going to still be standing long after I'm gone! We had weather related delays, but once we got started it sailed right through. The back of our property backs up to a walking trail, so Mike (the company president...who actually came out to give me my bid) was insistent on getting that side done in one day for security reasons. That meant a lot to us. In the end, we got a great fence that's built the way I would do it myself if I had the time and energy (ie; over-engineered!). It's straight, solid, and not going anywhere. The site supervisor Darren and the crew were courteous, professional, and hard workers. Finally, the invoice reflected exactly what we expected with no "surprise" charges.

I would rate them A for quality - it looks fantastic, and I was impressed with the team that did the work. However, responsiveness was very bad. When I reached out for an estimate, they were the first to come out, and by far, the most personalized and comprehensive. He took the time to understand what I wanted to do, so of the 5 companies I looked at, they were the only ones that gave me an estimate for what I actually wanted. They also sent me the estimate in a format that I could just forward on to my HOA for approval. My complaint is that after they came out, I had to call SIX times to get them to send the estimate - 4 weeks later. Then when it came time for the final staining and invoicing, it was another series of calls to get it done. So overall, I felt like their pricing was fair, quality was fantastic, but you have to have some patience to deal with the estimate and invoicing.

The work performed and the the crew that came to our house were excellent. We have a pretty lage backyard for a central Austin house and although it took longer than quoted we are very happy with our fence. We had two gates included in our project and they were custom fit and welded on site, the quality of the metal and wood work is excellent. My only problem is one that I have with how many fence companies in Austin operate. You have one individual come out and walk the property with you. They help select materials, assist in the design process, schedule time fram and pricing. Then when work begins another individual arrives with a crew and they want you go over most of the details again, but this time they are looking at the details from a construction standpoint not a design/salesperson standpoint and without fail decisions that I as the client thought were final are now up for re-consideration or alteration. I had this issue with Capitol Fence, but the crew at our house and crew leader were true professionals and the end result was just what we were looking for.

I was very happy with the work they did on my fence and gate. They were very professional, fast, and did a beautiful job. Just recently I called because I had a problem with the gate. It turns out it was just a dead battery, but William was out the next day and got it working again in no time.

They did an excellent job and I'm extremely pleased with the result. The beginning of the job was problematic, as the estimator did not follow up with an estimate after his initial visit. I called him again because of the mostly good reviews the company had on Angie's List. When he did submit an estimate, the cost was off by 10,000 feet which I brought to his attention and it was corrected. Thus the C for responsiveness. That said, the rest of the job went very smoothly. Allen was a great job coordinator, helpful and responsive in every way. And the crew - Leno, Jose, and Leo - were just outsanding! They built the fence as though it was their own. Everything they did was careful, precise, and totally professional. I cannot thank them enough for giving me the sturdy, attractive, and - hopefully - long lasting fence that I desired. I would recommend the company's work; especially ask for this crew to build your fence.

I contacted Capitol Fence through their website originally. Someone called me within a couple of days a talked to me a bit about the fence I wanted. He then came out the following week and spent 45 minutes talking to me about different options. Before he left, he said he could give me some estimates within a couple of days. A week and a half later, I still hadn't heard anything, so I called to make sure it hadn't slipped through the cracks. The receptionist expressed surprise that I hadn't heard back, took my information and said someone would get back to me as soon as possible. I never heard back. I'm not sure whether these guys have so much business that that don't have to follow through on jobs they're not interested in or what, but it is really irritating to have an hour of my time wasted and not even get a response. I'm not sure why these guys have such a high rating.

I had almost the same experience as the previous post. I emailed in a request and a few days later got a call from a salesperson who did not exude confidence. He came out at the appointed time. He actually was thoughtful about things but did seem hesitant and not confident. He said he'd email the bid in a few days. Weeks went by. I called the office and he was paged. Nothing. I called again about a week or so later, and left a message (receptionist was out), saying i wanted another salesperson. Owner called me back immediately apologizing, saying he'd get notes from the original guy. He eventually called back (maybe a week to ten days later), saying he got the notes and asked me if i was still interested. I called back (missed his message) saying YES and just email me the quote. Nothing. I have waited about 6 weeks on this one, and it's time for me to move on.

I contacted Capitol Fence because of the good reviews here and they were very close by. The receptionist told me I'd get a call-back from one of their esitmators. After a few days of nothing, I callec back again, the receptionist apologized and said she'd page an estimator again. I finally got a call back many hours later, and he scheduled a time to come out. He came out and was not a very good salesman. Very hesitant, no real confidence, and seemed like he really wanted to be somewhere else. He took measurements and information and said he'd put together an estimate for replacing my fence with a new one, and email it to me. He made sure he had my email address. A week goes by and nothing. So I call again, and the receptionist says she'll check and have someone contact me again. Another week goes by with nothing. I made a total of four calls to them, including the initial contact, and to date, a month later, I have not heard back from them. I can't imagine why anyone would want to work with Capital Fence, given their seemingly utter lack in interest in their customers, gaining any new business, and their totally unprofesional behavior. I will certainly never call them for work again.

My experience with Capitol Fence and Deck was 5-stars all the way around from start to finish. I'm very attentive-to-details & so were they which made us a great fit! Darren Tompkins (estimations mgr) was on-time for our appointment, very patient, meticulous with his quotes/diagrams & offered some creative suggestions which we implemented. Alan Norton (operations mgr) came out to our property on-time to go over all the details to make sure that we were all on the same page prior to beginning. Alan went above and beyond by locating our property lines & suggesting where to place the fence in his professional opinion. When the job was completed, Alan came back by to evaluate his crew's professional work & to confirm that all was to my satisfaction. Adelfo & Jece are more than fence installers. They are craftsmen. Adelfo pays attention to the finer details which sets their work apart from the rest. Furthermore, they even started & ended the project on time! It was refreshing to experience a company that wasn't concerned with only profits but also with using quality materials, taking pride in their work & providing personable service. If you cannot tell by my review, they exceeded my expectations & I hope you experience the same.

The salesman was quick to come out and was very friendly with lots of information. After we accepted the quote, I was assigned a project manager who was very attentive. The crew that came out was professional and spoke some english. Both the project manager and the crew were willing to work with changes throughout the installation. They did an excellent job and the quote was less than others in the area.

Salesman Mike Morrow returned my call almost immediately after I left a message saying I wanted to obtain a quote. I was going to obtain quotes from three different companies, and Mike was the first salesman I talked to. He was very helpful in answering all my many questions, and even offered some additional information about fencing that helped me ask intelligent questions of the other companies I called. At the end of the call he asked for my business,...something that I've noticed has dwindled over the years. A few days later (not so soon that I felt pressured) Mike called and left me a message offering to answer any additional questions I might have, and reiterated that he'd like to earn my business. I had actually decided to go with another company; both companies received excellent reviews on Angie's List, but the other company's quote was a bit less AND they weren't going to charge me extra if it turned out that they would need to use a jackhammer. (I wanted metal posts installed, and my part of town has a lot of caliche rock.) Capitol Fence, on the other hand, was going to charge me $10 for each post that required jackhammer work, and that could have added up to a nice chunk of change. I called the other company on a Monday afternoon and told the receptionist I was calling to hire the company for a fencing job that I had obtained a quote for a few days early. She explained that all her salesmen were at lunch, but she would have someone call me "as soon as they get back." The rest of Monday passed. No call. All of Tuesday passed. No call. The first half of Wednesday passed. No call. I figured that any company who can't be bothered to call a customer who has plainly stated she is ready to sign a contract must not value my business,...a much different vibe than I had gotten from Mike at Capitol Fence. So I called Mike and told him that I appreciated his customer service and that I wanted to give him the business, but his quote was a bit higher than another company's quote. I said that I would contract with him immediately if he would meet the other company's price, and I told him exactly what it was. He worked his numbers and said he couldn't meet the price, but he came down half way AND said he'd waive the cost for the jackhammer, which was my greater concern. SOLD! Everything unfolded very smoothly from there. Mike met me at my home the next day (at a time convenient to me) to take official measurements, prepare the contract, and collect the 50% deposit. He thanked me for my business and assured me that I would be happy with the finished product. He explained that the next two days would be spent working with the utility companies to get clearance to dig, and that the construction supervisor (Alan) would phone me on Monday to schedule my construction. Like clockwork, two days later little flags appeared on my lawn, where the utility companies had marked my water and gas lines. On Monday Alan called and scheduled construction for the next day, Tuesday. On Tuesday morning Alan came to my home (again, at a time convenient for my work schedule) and walked my yard with me to be sure he understood exactly what I wanted, including gate placement and details like that. When I got home from work that day the work was complete and beautifully done. The crew had cleaned up so well that I couldn't tell anyone had actually been there; it was as if new fence just magically appeared. I had one small concern: My house is made of stone and is therefore difficult to get the fence plants to stand exactly "flush" against the house. This caused there to be a bit of a gap between the fence and the house at ground level. Not enough to be a problem in most cases, but I happen to have a friend who visits often, and brings her very small dog (four pounds, no kidding). That size dog could wiggle through the small gap, whereas my labrador would never have even noticed a gap of such a small size. I called Alan the next morning and explained my concern. He repeated my description of the gap in his own words to be sure he understood exactly where and what I was concerned about, and assured me that he'd have it fixed. Two days later the gap was gone. Close investigation revealed that they had actually carved curves into one of the fence planks so it could sit exactly flush against my stone house. It was precision work that was more than I had ever expected. Mike was right: I am totally pleased with the finished product, AND with the entire process from start to finish. This job was for only a small portion of my fence that needed immediate repair. But you can bet that when I'm ready to have the rest of my fence replaced, Capitol Fence is the only company I will call. Oh, and by the way,...a salesman from the other company finally called me about two hours after I had made a verbal commitment to Mike. I told the other company that, when I didn't hear from them, I contracted with another company. Did he respond with an apology? No. Request that I give his company another chance in the future? No. Express remorse that he had missed an opportunity to earn my business? No. He responded by asking me, "Was it a big job?" as if losing a small job was no big deal. While it's true that this was a small job, I have a sizable yard. When I replace the rest of the fence, I will be spending around $10,000. And my neighbor said he'd check with me when the work was done to see if I would recommend he use the company to replace his fence. So the way I see it, losing my meaningless "small job" will eventually end up costing that other company at least $20,000 in lost business.

They did a very nice job, completed the job on schedule, and were fairly priced (I think they were the middle bid). All in all, a great job. The fence looks great and has held up well so far (2 yrs to date).

They were really good. They had to build the fence around some trees and they did a really good job doing that. Our old fence was covered in poison ivy and they took care of it. They built a little section inside the fence as a dog run. My dogs have managed to get out of the fence in some places because they didn't nail all the boards down.

They estimated the job on site, gave me options for the gate motor. Everything was finished and clean within 10 days. Needed an antenna for better gate remote after a couple of months. I called and it was taken care of at no cost.

Capitol Fence did a wonderful, professional job-and they consulted us anytime they had a question or a decision to make. We have received many compliments about how aesthetically pleasing the design of the fencing turned out. I would use this company again with no reservations at all.

Promptly returned my phone call inquiring about having the work done. Came out when promised and gave a complete bid of work that can be done to meet my needs. Even recommended a less expensive option that would work for me. Came to do the work when they said they would and made sure all work was as I expected.

This job was absolutely professional from the beginning to the end. Mike was honest, friendly and thorough in his estimate and in returning all phone calls. The back of our lot ascends to a steep incline that is solid rock. The installation team took great care to make sure all of the steel posts were mounted solidly in concrete. Then the main installer measured each plank to insure the slope of the planks were evenly installed. We have two dogs who like to get out and run off. The installation team was sensitive to keeping the gate shut and made sure the dogs didn't run away. They worked on Saturday and half a day on Sunday to make sure the job was completed as promised. We liked this company so well that our next door neighbors had them install some fencing, too. One of the reasons we chose Capitol Fence is that Mike informed us about the different grades of cedar plank. He took a lot of time to explain the different methods other businesses use to acquire cedar that is not always American Western Red Cedar. Because we had so much rock Capitol Fence did have to charge a jackhammer fee. However, it was less than other companies quoted. The one thing I didn't like was the surcharge of $1 per foot for using a credit card. I got around that, but wish I could have earned my frequent flyer miles, too!

I was happy as it only took them one day to install the steel posts in concrete and then four hours the next day to install the fence. It was a pleasant experience and they did no damage to my flowers and left no mess. Their price was reasonable and I would recommend them.