Fencing quote seems high

[MerryAnton]

Had a quote for 7 standard fence panels, 6 concrete posts, 6 x 6" gravel boards of £600 and fitting will be £180 on top.

Does this sound reasonable? Must admit I thought the materials sound very expensive but fitting fine.

That sounds very cheap!

Wow that sounds really cheap. Are you sure they are decent fitters?

Cheap!

Price of materials has gone through the roof recently, maybe that’s why?

@umbel

Price of materials has gone through the roof recently, maybe that’s why?

I hadn't thought of that - there are supply issues and the fitter said he can't get everything until mid June so perhaps they're more than I've researched.

Fence supplies have really shot up in price. We recently priced up replacing ours and I was shocked at the price. For supplies alone it will be around £1500. Haven't had a quote for fitting yet. Your fitting quote seems very cheap.

Fitting quote is good - DH will be labouring on the fitter so he's reduced accordingly and charging a flat day rate, which included taking the old fence away too. He's a handyman type, has done lots for a neighbour and his work is good.

The materials are just double what I'd estimated

I think that’s a good quote

Had a quote for 7 standard fence panels, 6 concrete posts, 6 x 6" gravel boards*
Do you mean 7 posts, 6 panels, 6 gravel boards?

We had to replace one panel recently. The problem wasn't the board, it was the transport. We found that the cost to deliver one board was the same as the cost of the board itself! Some places refused to even countenance delivering a single board. Thank goodness for a friend with a van.

What sort of panel are you looking at? I've had a quick look at the fencing/garden supplies place near us and the size/type of panel is the biggest variable. Even looking at the more standard end, I've easily got the materials up to £500 so I'm not sure how much slack there is in the quote before you allow something for taking away the old fencing. The handyman will get a trade discount but if his quote is lowish and he has agreed to work with your OH, there's no point quibbling about the amount of the discount imo.

But it's reasonable/sensible to make sure you know what type of fencing he's quoting you for as you may decide that the price difference between different panels is not much but you prefer the look of one over the other.

I’d ask him exactly which panels he is going to install. The cheapest panels are about £40 each so that seems expensive for materials if he chooses the cheapest ones. Personally I wouldn’t use the cheapest ones as they don’t last as long.

We just paid

Fence panels £35 each x5 6ft panels
Gravel boards x5 £11 each
concrete posts 8ft x6 £14:50 each
fast drying cement x6 bags £6 each

Delivery about £8
Cheaper fence panels were £25 but not as nice
DP and FIL putting the fence up

Your quote looks good as more panels etc

You didn't include cement. Using the place we used your materials would be £544. That's seven panels, cement, posts and gravel boards. That's using the basic £25 panels and not the £35 one's we bought

This is a competitive quote
Supply the materials yourself if you think it's too high but honestly I'd just go with it.

We had 11 6ft ones with gravel boards and posts done last year for £1350 (split with neighbour so we paid half that) so your quote sounds exceptionally reasonable.

Small town in the NW last year. £900 for 4 x fence panels, gravel boards, concrete posts, cement and labour. I went with the cheapest quote! I think yours sounds very reasonable.

Not what you asked, but if he's taking the old fence away, how is he disposing of the material? He should have a waste carriers licence and will need to pay to tip commercial waste if doing things properly. The waste is legally still your responsibility. He may have that cost covered in the materials?

It's a decent quote. We had fencing done in February. It worked out as £120 per panel including concrete posts and boards, fitting and closeboard fences. So your quote would have been £840 with the company I used.

Really helpful thank you so much for the replies.

That's reassuring the quote isn't as high as I thought; (why does everything end up being double what you think!)

Bite their hand off before the price goes up again and get them to order immediately. The market is mental right now! We're doing an extension and steel and timber are both up 10-20% in 6 months.

We had a quote for some steel a month ago, considerable price increase in the meantime (third of the steel for half the price) and they could only hold the quote for 24 hours because the market is that level mental.

Pressure treated panels (tantalised) are more expensive & will last much longer. Your quote is probably for basic panels.