Comparing Three Fence Bids Fairly
Three totals are not three prices
Collect three quotes for the same back yard and you will get three different footages, three different assumptions about the old fence, and at least one that quietly leaves out a gate. Comparing the bottom lines at that point tells you almost nothing. The work is to rebuild all three onto one common scope, then see what is left.
Step one: fix the footage yourself
Walk the line with a measuring wheel and write down your own number before you read anybody's. If one bid says 186 feet and another says 212, one of them is including the section along the neighbor's side that you were not planning to replace, or one of them measured to a survey pin and the other to the existing posts. Sort that out first, because a per foot comparison built on the wrong length stays wrong all the way to the total.
Step two: list what each quote does not say
Pull the same set of items out of each document. If a bid is silent on one, treat it as excluded and go ask.
- Removal of the existing fence and disposal of the debris
- Hole depth and diameter, and whether every post is set in concrete or only the corners and gate posts
- Post material and spacing, since eight foot spacing on posts holds up differently in spring wind than six
- Number of gates, their widths, and the grade of hinges and latches
- Sprinkler and utility damage: who repairs a cut line, and at whose cost
- Grading, cleanup, and whether spoil from the holes is hauled or spread in the yard
Step three: adjust, do not discount
Add the missing items back at a fair market number rather than mentally forgiving the low bid for leaving them out. If Bid A includes demolition at 900 dollars and Bid B is silent on it, Bid B is not 900 dollars cheaper, it is unpriced. Once every quote carries the same eleven or twelve items, divide by your own footage and look at the adjusted cost per foot. That figure is comparable. The original totals were not.
What is left over is judgment
After normalising, real spread usually comes from a few places: heavier posts, deeper holes, better hardware, a longer workmanship warranty, and how much of the crew is employed rather than picked up for the week. Around here the depth question carries the most weight, because clay that swells and shrinks through a hot dry August will find any post that was not set far enough down. A bid that is 12 percent higher and buys six more inches of hole is not the expensive one over ten years.
Keep the three normalised sheets. If a change order shows up later, the sheet is what you compare it against.