Before You Sign

This page is linked on every Hollar Fence quote, above the line items. There is nothing to sign here. It is here so that the fastest way to end up unhappy with a fence — finding out after it is built what a fence can and cannot do — never happens to you.

Fencing gets built outdoors, on ground that moves, out of material that came out of a tree. Most of what goes wrong after an install is not a build problem. It is weather, soil, or a material grade that was picked to hit a budget. We would rather tell you that today than argue about it eight months from now.

Read the sections that apply to your project. If something in here concerns you, say so before we start. Almost every item below has a fix or an upgrade available, and every one of them is cheaper to handle before the posts are in the ground.

This page sits alongside the Hollar Fence warranty. It does not replace it.

Contents

Applies to every fence we build

1. What the Hollar Fence warranty covers

2. Terrain and ground movement

3. Material warranty — what we make vs. what we buy

4. Standard build practices and personal preference

Wood fence

5. Material grade — cedar vs. builder grade

6. Ripped pickets

Chain link

7. Shop-built gates on sloped ground

Before you sign your estimate

8. What to bring up with us

1. What the Hollar Fence Warranty Covers

Hollar Fence provides a 1-Year Limited Workmanship Warranty and a 1-Year Limited Gate Warranty, both beginning the day your installation is complete. They cover defects in our workmanship — the parts of the job that are ours to get right.

Workmanship on the fence, covered for 1 year:

• Panels separating from posts due to improper fastening

• Posts leaning or shifting due to an insufficient amount of concrete or improper setting depth

• Pickets detaching on their own due to installation error

• Rails detaching from posts due to inadequate fastening

• Post, rail or picket alignment and spacing that leaves the fence structurally unstable

• Loose or missing fasteners attributable to installation error

• Uneven fence height or grade alignment caused by improper installation technique

Workmanship on gates, covered for 1 year:

• Gate alignment that prevents proper opening, closing or latching, or hinge and latch failure, due to workmanship

• Structural integrity of the gate due to installation error

• Failure of fasteners, brackets or hardware caused by improper installation

• Rails, pickets or panels detaching from the gate due to installation error

How a claim works. Notify us in writing within 30 days of discovering the issue, and while the warranty is still in effect. We inspect the work, and we repair or replace the affected portion within a reasonable time. That corrective work is your exclusive remedy under the warranty.

What voids it. The warranty is null and void if payments due under the agreements were not made on time, or if the fence is modified, altered, or has anything attached to it after we finish. Coverage applies to the original customer named in the agreement only, and does not transfer to a future owner.

What it does not reach. Weather events and acts of God, damage caused by you, third parties or animals, ground shifting and soil movement, repairs or adjustments made by others after completion, and any condition beyond our reasonable control.

The rest of this page explains the most common of those exclusions in plain language, so none of them comes as a surprise later. Your signed warranty document is the controlling agreement — this is a summary of it, not a replacement for it.

Material and product warranties are separate. Manufacturer coverage on ornamental panels, vinyl, hardware and gate operators passes through to you directly. We will help you file a claim and handle the labor side, but the coverage itself comes from the manufacturer.

Upgraded coverage is available. If you want added storm coverage or terms beyond what comes standard, ask before you sign and we will price it.

2. Terrain and Ground Movement

Oklahoma soil moves, and a fence set in it moves with it. This is the single most common callback we get, and it is not a build defect.

When the ground is wet, our clay soil swells. When it dries out and bakes, it shrinks and cracks. Those cracks open up room around the concrete footing, and the post can shift even though the concrete block itself never came loose. On ground that was filled or graded and never fully compacted, the same thing happens without the drought — soft soil simply does not hold as tight as undisturbed ground.

What you may see over time:

• Posts that lean slightly or come out of plumb

• A gate that drags, rubs, or stops latching cleanly because its posts moved apart or out of square

• Small gaps opening under a fence line where the grade settled

Not covered. Movement caused by soil conditions, drought cracking, freeze and thaw, erosion, poor compaction, or water running along the fence line falls outside the warranty. We set every post to our depth and concrete spec regardless of soil, but we cannot warranty the ground itself.

If your property has known fill, heavy clay, drainage running along the fence line, or a history of foundation movement, tell us before we bid. We can go deeper, add concrete, or upsize gate posts. All of those are cheaper as part of the original build than as a repair.

3. Material Warranty — What We Make vs. What We Buy

Hollar Fence does not mill lumber, roll steel, or manufacture panels. We buy from vetted suppliers, we cull the bad material we catch on the truck and on site, and then we build with what is left. Our warranty covers our labor and craftsmanship. It does not cover the material itself.

Wood is a natural product and it will never be perfect. Expect some amount of:

• Knots, and knots that loosen or fall out over time

• Warping, cupping, twisting or bowing as boards dry out

• Checking, or surface cracking along the grain

• Color variation board to board, and weathering to gray over the first year or two

None of that is a defect. It is what wood does outdoors in Oklahoma.

Not covered. Material characteristics and material failure are outside our warranty. If a picket warps badly or a knot blows out after installation, we are glad to come replace it, but it will be billed as a service call for time and material.

Where a manufacturer offers a warranty — ornamental, vinyl, composite, hardware, gate operators — that warranty is yours and we will help you use it.

4. Standard Build Practices and Personal Preference

We build to our standard operating procedures. Every crew builds the same way, to the same quality standard, so the fence you get matches the fence we showed you.

What that means is that we make the ordinary build decisions for you unless you tell us otherwise. Fastener type, nail line spacing, which side the pickets face, how posts are finished, where we start a run — all of it has a default, and the default is what you get.

If you want something specific, tell us before we start:

• Pickets or trim covering the posts

• Screws instead of nails

• Nail lines aligned across the run

• A particular picket face direction, cap or trim detail

• Anything you saw somewhere else and want matched

We can build almost any of it. Some of it is free, some of it changes the price, and we will tell you which before we order material.

Not covered. If a preference is not raised before the build starts, tearing out finished work to redo it is billable. We cannot build to a preference we were not told about.

When in doubt, ask. We would much rather talk through it at the estimate than find out at the walkthrough.

5. Material Grade — Cedar vs. Builder Grade

We recommend cedar. When a client chooses a builder-grade picket to bring the price down, the price is not the only thing that changes.

Cedar

• Pickets: not warranted as a material, but covered where installation error caused the failure

• Posts and structure: covered 1 year for improper setting depth or insufficient concrete

• Behavior: slower to warp, naturally rot resistant

• Cost: higher up front

Prestained Douglas fir or pine

• Pickets: not warranted

• Posts and structure: covered 1 year for improper setting depth or insufficient concrete

• Behavior: more knots, more warping and cupping, shorter life

• Cost: lower up front

Builder-grade pickets are cheaper because the mill grade is lower. More knots make it through, the boards move more as they dry, and they do not hold up to Oklahoma sun and humidity the way cedar does. That is the trade, and it is a legitimate one if the budget calls for it.

We will still cull what we can on site. We are not going to nail up the worst of the bunch.

Not covered. On builder-grade material, the pickets themselves carry no warranty from us — not at installation and not afterward. Knotted, warped, cupped or split pickets can be replaced at your cost. Our installation of the posts and structure stays covered either way, on the same 1-year workmanship terms.

If you want the cedar and the budget is the obstacle, ask us about phasing the project or reducing scope instead. We would rather build less fence out of better material.

6. Ripped Pickets

Every fence we build will have at least one narrower picket in it. That is not a shortcut, it is arithmetic.

Pickets come in fixed widths — usually 3½", 4", 5½" or 6". Your fence line is whatever length your property is. The two almost never divide evenly. To close out a run, we rip a picket down to the width that is left over so the line finishes tight instead of leaving a wide gap.

How we handle it:

• We make the fewest cuts possible, so you keep the most full-width pickets

• Ripped pickets land at the end of a run, at a corner, or beside a gate post wherever we can put them

• Gaps stay consistent across the run rather than stretching to avoid a cut

Expect this on every wood fence. A ripped picket is a normal part of the finished product and is not a defect or a callback item. If you want ripped pickets placed in a specific spot — or split evenly across a run so the difference is less noticeable — tell us before we start and we will lay it out that way.

7. Chain Link — Shop-Built Gates on Sloped Ground

Standard chain link gates are welded square in our shop. Most Oklahoma yards are not level. Setting a square frame over sloping ground means one side of the gate will sit closer to the dirt than the other, and you will see a gap under the high side.

That is geometry, not workmanship. A square gate cannot follow a grade.

Your two options:

Standard shop gate — included in your price. Square welded frame. On sloped ground, expect an uneven gap under one side.

Custom welded frame — additional cost. Frame cut and welded to follow your slope, so the gap underneath stays consistent.

Not covered. If you choose the standard gate, an uneven gap underneath is expected and is not a warranty item. If the gap matters to you — dogs, small kids, livestock — tell us at the estimate and we will price the custom frame.

A gate on sloped ground also has to swing uphill or downhill. We will set the swing direction that works for your grade, so if you need it to open a particular way, say so before we build.

8. What to Bring Up With Us

Almost everything on this page has a fix, an upgrade, or a workaround. All of them are cheaper before the material is ordered than after the fence is standing.

Before you sign your estimate, tell us about:

• Soil you know to be soft, filled, heavy clay, or prone to movement

• Water or drainage that runs along the fence line

• Any way you want the fence built that differs from standard — fasteners, nail lines, picket direction, covered posts, trim details

• Where you want ripped pickets to land

• Whether an uneven gap under a chain link gate is a problem for you

• Sprinkler lines, invisible fence, low-voltage wiring, septic, or anything else buried that a locate will not find

• Property line questions, HOA approval, or a neighbor who should know we are coming — ask us for the Good Neighbor Form

Warranty claims. Notify us in writing within 30 days of discovering an issue, and while your warranty is still in effect. We will inspect the work and make it right if it is ours to make right.

Hollar Fence · Broken Arrow, OK · Questions about anything on this page? Ask before you sign. That is what it is for.