# The Prince William County Fence Planning Checklist

From Fence For Family & Friends · Catharpin, Virginia · (571) 839-9868

Use this before you sign anything, with us or with anyone else.

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## 1. Before you call anybody

- [ ] **Walk your property line and find your pins.** Fences get built on assumptions and moved at
      the owner's expense. If you cannot find the survey pins, your plat is usually on file with the
      county, and a survey is cheaper than relocating 200 feet of fence.
- [ ] **Decide what the fence is actually for.** Privacy, a dog, a pool, a property line, or looks.
      The honest answer changes the material, the height, and the price more than anything else.
- [ ] **If it is for a dog, name the escape trick.** A jumper needs height. A digger needs the
      bottom closed off. These are different builds.
- [ ] **Photograph the run.** Note the slope, trees, utility boxes, and anything the crew has to
      work around. Sloped and wooded lots cost more and should be priced that way upfront.
- [ ] **Call 811 before anyone digs.** Utility marking is free and required in Virginia. Any
      contractor who skips it is telling you something.

## 2. The two approvals people forget

These run in parallel, not one after the other. Starting them in sequence adds weeks for nothing.

- [ ] **Prince William County permit.** Requirements turn on height, placement relative to the
      property line and right-of-way, and whether the fence is a pool barrier.
- [ ] **Homeowners association / architectural review.** Most neighborhoods around Gainesville,
      Haymarket, Bristow, and Linton Hall govern height, material, color, and style.
- [ ] **Check which way the finished side has to face.** Many covenants require the good side
      toward your neighbor and the street. Board-on-board and shadowbox look finished from both
      sides and solve this permanently.
- [ ] **Find out when the review committee meets.** Many meet monthly. Missing it by two days can
      cost you a month.

## 3. Pool fences are a different category

If the fence is a pool barrier, treat the code as a design constraint from day one.

- [ ] Minimum barrier height met
- [ ] Maximum gap beneath the fence not exceeded
- [ ] Nothing climbable on the outside face
- [ ] Gates self-closing **and** self-latching, with the latch above the required height
- [ ] Gates swing away from the pool

Rebuilding a run that fails inspection costs far more than designing for it at the start.

## 4. The seven questions that separate a real quote from a lowball

Ask every contractor who comes out. The differences here are where a suspiciously cheap quote
usually hides.

1. **How deep are the posts set, and are they in concrete?** Below the frost line is the answer
   you want. Shallow posts are the most common corner cut in fencing, and you do not find out
   for two or three winters.
2. **What exact material and grade?** "Wood" and "vinyl" cover a wide quality range. Heavy-gauge
   vinyl and thin big-box vinyl are not the same product.
3. **What is the post spacing?** Wider spacing uses fewer posts and sags sooner.
4. **What hardware is on the gates?** The gate is the part you touch daily and the first thing
   to fail.
5. **Who is actually doing the work?** The person quoting, an employed crew, or a subcontractor
   nobody has introduced you to.
6. **What is the workmanship warranty, in writing, and for how long?** A verbal warranty is
   not a warranty.
7. **Is the permit and homeowners association submission included, or is that on me?**

## 5. Comparing the quotes

- [ ] **Get everything itemized.** Materials, linear footage, gates, post depth, and labor,
      broken out separately. A single lump-sum number cannot be compared against anything.
- [ ] **Check the footage is the same on every quote.** Different contractors measure differently,
      and the cheapest quote is sometimes just the shortest fence.
- [ ] **Count the gates.** Gates are expensive. A quote with one gate will always beat a quote
      with two.
- [ ] **Ask for a certificate of insurance before work starts,** not after.
- [ ] **Be careful with large deposits.** A reasonable deposit covers materials. It should not
      cover the whole job.

## 6. What we would want you to know

Most fence projects in this area land between $3,000 and $8,000, and the spread is wide because
linear footage, material, height, gates, and terrain all move the number. Anyone quoting you over
the phone without seeing the yard is guessing.

The most useful thing you can do is have each contractor walk the line with you in person. You
will learn more in ten minutes in the yard than in any brochure.

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**Fence For Family & Friends**
Tony Sandoval · Catharpin, VA
(571) 839-9868 · at.fenceff@gmail.com

We answer every request within one business day. Free on-site estimates, your price in writing,
no obligation.