Your fence around your residential property does a lot of work for your family. Good fences keep children and pets safely in a yard, while keeping sources of danger out. They help secure and protect your stuff, while also protecting you from liability. They’re also pretty and help improve curb appeal and home value. None of this is true when you have fence damage, however. If your fence has been damaged this winter, it is no longer doing its job. In fact, a damaged fence does the opposite, inviting trouble and putting you at risk for liability and damage. A damaged fence is not something you should put on the back burner. Read on for tips to getting your fence damage fixed this spring.
Is It A Shared Fence?
If the fence is shared with your neighbor, meaning both of you are responsible for it, the costs to repair the damage may be legally sharable too. But simply arranging for a repair and sending your neighbor half the bill isn’t fair. Talk to your neighbor first about the damage, how it happened, what they think should be done to fix it, and if they have suggestions for who to get quotes from. Make sure they are part of the process (if they want to be) if you expect them to share the bill.
What Caused The Damage?
Before fixing your fence, you need to discover the source of the damage. Sometimes it is obvious – a tree fell down in a storm and landed on a section of the fence. Other times it is less obvious – did that section collapse because of rot or a termite infestation? Major issues like termites need a professional to aggressively deal with them. Other issues like rot may be the result of age or lack of maintenance. If you’re not doing what you need to to prevent rot, you’re going to be replacing the fence sections again and again.
Should You Talk To Insurance?
If the damage is major and not due to neglect on your part, talking to your insurance company might be a good idea. It is easy to forget that your policy might include your fence and it could help cover the cost of making repairs, especially for damage due to winter weather and storms.
Let Hercules Fence Help Set Up The Perfect Fence For You
Hercules Fence takes pride in being experts in residential, commercial, and high-security fencing. We have been serving our clients since 1955, with only the most knowledgeable of staff. Our staff is ready to serve you from Maryland and the Washington Metropolitan area. Our branch offices are in Manassas, Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia, and Maryland.
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