CUSTOM FENCE & DECK CO

There was one person in the company who contracted out all the work. The people that subcontracted to do the work were excellent.

Before the deck could be built her crew installed a french drain and relocated a mature lacey leaf Japanese maple. I am proud to say the tree is thriving in it's new home. Loi's crew also replaced eleven sections of fencing. She extended the fence line down from the original spot to encompass my side yard. A retaining wall had to be built to elevate the grade of the land and yards of soil were brought in. She had the fence posts painted black and a double gate was installed. It changed the whole appearance of my side yard and it looks great when you see it from the front of the house. Now I have an entry area that fits the beautiful deck in my backyard.

In a word: FANTASTIC. Loi made the initial inspection and provided the bid. I presented it to my homeowner's association and it was approved. Materials were ordered, work began on an agreed upon date and was completed a day ahead of schedule. If I can offer any advice to readers of fence reports, I would suggest you know the EXACT location of where you want your fence to go BEFORE inviting professionals to come out and bid the job. Know what you and to be included in the work, i.e. will the fence builder do any pruning, brush removal, etc. and if so, want is down with the cuttings? These should be understood in writing BEFORE work begins. We did all of this and had a great experience. The crew showed up on time, got right to work and we got am excellent job. 2% was added to use credit card which is pretty standard and it wasn't a surprise: It's printed right on the bid. THANK YOU!

Fantastic experience from start to finish. Loi came to my house the next day after I called, she was very polite and gave me a great offer and could start the following week. After getting a second bid from a different company (for almost twice as much and a 2-3 week wait time) I decided to go with Custom Fence. Due to the crazy weather we were having, Loi wasn't able to give me an exact start date; however, she kept me informed each day of the approximate start date. Normally, it would've been a two-day job, but due to the flooding, only one of her employees made it to my house the first day (Thursday), the following day they set the posts. Happily, her employees were willing to work on Saturday to finish the fence, so that I didn't have to go a whole weekend of keeping the dog on a leash! They started bright and early and worked right until darkness set in and were able to 100% finish. The two men that built the fence were very courteous, only trampled on the plants that were unavoidable and cleaned up the mess exceptionally well. Additionally, they were kind enough to repair an existing gate that needed some minor work for no additional charge. The fence looks fantastic and I'm almost looking forward to the next wind storm since I'll have a fence that (hopefully) won't fall over every time you look at it. Great experience and I highly recommend!

This is by far the worst company I have ever worked with. I had originally requested an estimate covering fencing for myself and all of my neighbors and to split the cost per yard. That was done fine. The problems were in the crew's availability to work and the owner's refusal to fix a problem that was misunderstood on their end. I am not a fence person and do not work in construction. I had asked for 3D drawings of the design and did not receive them. On the day construction was starting, I met with the workers and told them what I wanted specifically. Without drawings (which I should have just drawn on a napkin to settle this) I had to rely on a verbal agreement from the construction crew. When I got home, I found that the fence was not built the way I wanted it. I called the owner to tell her about the mistake and she refused to admit they were in error. The only offer to remedy the problem was to charge me more to fix their mistake. In the end, I conceded to the argument and got a fence I did not want. The crew was nice, but getting them to actually work for their boss was another issue. I had requested she finish the job by 12/26/08 and she failed to meet the deadline (the job started on 12/2/08 and was supposed to take 2 days). Weather withstanding, I heard problems like "I can't get a hold of my crew" and "My worker has his truck impounded." I asked her to make me her #1 priority since they were going to be late finishing; she promised me that I was. When I called her to ask if today would be the day a crew would come out, she responded with, "Yes, when they finish setting up posts on another job first." Invoices were a problem as well. Measurements were off on a side that would "pad" the bill, and when I asked if she would come to my property to measure and settle the dispute she said (verbatim), "I just got back to Tacoma, I'm not driving all the way back there." This is the final bill we were talking about and she was going to charge me an additional $445 for labor and materials. There were 2 locks I asked to have installed which were electronic deadbolts from a home improvement store (I bought them myself). Since they are not set up for extreme weather, I asked to have a box built around them to protect them from the weather. This I was not charged for (which she was going to charge labor hours for and feels this was quite the concession). These boxes are big enough to house the locks and no larger. When asked if she could install the locks, I was told she would (again) have to charge me 3-4 hours of labor. I asked what her labor charges were and her response was "We charge labor and material together only." I asked her to split them up and she would not. Who knows how much I would have been charged if I agreed to additional labor. My fence was finally finished today (12/29/08) and I am not happy with what I have, but happy it is finally over with. Stay away from this company. They are simply awful!!

Very professional. Arrived on time for estimate. Began work as scheduled. I asked that they complete the work in 2 days because I didn't want my backyard open to the street for too long. They completed the work on schedule despite rain. The fence is exactly what I asked for. The gates are nicer than I expected. Workers were polite and cleaned up after themselves.

Everyone we dealt with was fantastic: Tom set up the project and unfortunately, we can't remember the names of the two lovely men who built the fence. They were very courteous, extremely quiet, finished the job in a very timely manner (three days) and left the yard in better shape than it was in (they cleaned up after themselves every day they were here).

Thom was very pleasant and courteous and seemed very clear about the job. However, when the crew showed up, Thom was not there and I had to review with the crew where the boundary was, how it was to be installed adjacent to a hedge, where to turn the corner, etc. etc. I felt as if I had to manage the crew and ensure that the installation followed the appropriate boundary. The crew was also not native English speakers. In addition they cut my hedge drastically which I did not want done and permanently damaged it. When I reviewed all of this with Custom Fence, Thom was not available so I aired all of my concerns with his partner who was not receptive and quite curt. Basically I was told I should have contacted them if things were not going right with the crew.

They came out and did the job in one day and I was very pleased with it.

The vinyl fence had to be ordered. When it arrived, CF&D made an appointment to come out. They were on time, worked very efficiently, and cleaned up very well when finished. I am considering having them replace an aging cedar fence next year.

I chose this vendor based on my experience with the estimate; Tom asked good questions (e.g., considering the neighbors' needs) and provided a competitive price. The work was scheduled about two weeks out. This was a two-day job; on the first day, the old fence was torn out and new posts placed in concrete. The yard looked like a war zone after day one; half of my fence was left in my front yard -- and my neighbor's front yard - for two days. On the second day they worked, the new fence was built and the remaining scrap hauled away - mostly. There was a lot of gravel and wood debris left in the yard (not to mention nails), and I was highly annoyed that they left some large tree branches in my neighbor's yard. The work itself was very good; it's not top-quality cedar, but good for the price, and the fence and gates are extremely solid. But if I wasn't going to re-landscape my back yard anyway, I would have been furious at its condition. I'd recommend close supervision of the crew.

They were quick to schedule a bid, was within 10 minutes of the appointment time for the bid and provided a written estimate on the spot. Originally I was scheduled for work 3 weeks out, but a cancellation came up and they were able to complete work a week earlier. Work was completed as stated, within 3 days. Fencing looks great and all gates work. It did take them 2 weeks to install chain link gate, apparently due to the fact that they outsource the welding of the gate, but it was installed after I called a few times. They did not keep me updated on the status themselves. Also, the crew did leave concrete drippings in my yard I had to clean up, posing a risk to myself and my lawn mower, along with the excess dirt dug from the post holes, which I still have to clean up. It would have been nice if they had moved this out of the yard, or put it in one pile instead of many.

Tom, the owner, came out (on a Saturday no less) and gave us an estimate. He was very friendly, helpful & answered our many questions. We scheduled for the fence to be installed about 3 weeks later. The crew arrived on time & were very friendly. The job ultimately took three workers three days. The fence looks great. The estimate was higher than the actual cost too!! Always a plus.

I needed a privacy fence installed along one property line. I also wanted the fence to connect to my adjoining garage to effectively form a dog run/Storage area. They were right on time to give me my estimate. They told me they use the finest grade cedar for all construction, and were very proud of the true 4 by 4 fence posts and three foot deep post holes. I was told the whole job could be done in a day. The fence looks very nice and is very sturdy. They did finish in one day as promised. Overall I am pleased with the fence. The bad part of the job was in my opinion the workers did not have sharp saws and many of the 2 x 4's displayed frayed edges. This could have been fixed by a quick once over with a sander on the frayed edge. The 2 x 4's were also not of a great quality as many of them had notches or were not missing parts of the wood. The company can accept credit cards, but will charge a 2% service charge. This is a large amount for that convenience.

They showed up right on time at 9, the morning following the infamous Hanukkah Eve windstorm of 2006. They worked quickly and efficiently, and in fact we didn't even have any contact with them until the job was done. By 4 p.m. they were finished; they cleaned up the area neatly. They also had to chop down a large bush and a small one, and they cleaned up the branches from that as well. We have been very pleased with the appearance and durability of our fence.