Capital Fence, Inc.

It went smoothly! Jim came by, took measurements, sent me a quote in a couple of days. At no time was I hassled to sign a contract, like I was with other companies. The price was very reasonable, and the quality is excellent!

Capital Fence was great! The crew was professional, efficient, and put up a gorgeous fence. There was a slight permitting delay, but that was not really their fault.

Buyer beware! Capital installed a new fence in November 2018 and it's deteriorating already: The wood is rotting or peeling, panels have fallen off, the door latches (which never worked properly) are broken, and the posts holding up the fence are easily moved. We paid nearly $6,000 and will likely need to install a whole new fence in the coming years. (We previously submitted a negative review about our interaction with David MacKenzie, but hoped that at least the workmanship would be acceptable; it wasn't, as it turns out.) I can't emphasize enough that you should look elsewhere!

Buyer Beware, Buyer Beware! I hired them to install a pool fence of almost 350 linear feet, no small project, around my new pool which is almost complete. Unfortunately, almost nowhere does the fence meet code in regard to the distance of the bottom of the fence to the ground. In Montgomery County, MD (where this company is located) the gap must be 2 inches or less, which almost nowhere my fence meets that criteria. The pool company is holding up finishing my pool and when I spoke with the owner he blamed it on the ground not being level and told me he will do nothing. The pool company said this is outrageous and no ground is completely level especially when you're looking at hundreds of feet. Capital Fence has since not answered a few more emails I sent them asking if they think this is right. This company was recommended to me and, truthfully I don't think I've ever been treated this poorly by any contractor.

Capital Fence was great to work with! They replied to emails and calls very quickly. The quote was spot-on. Their crew came bright and early on the day of demo/install and finished within 6-7 hours. It was incredible! Would 100% recommend.

old chain-link fence was removed and new cedar fence was installed

Capital Fence are experienced professionals who do a great job. After spending time looking at our planned fence project with a representative of another fence company (not named here, but widely known in the metro DC area) and getting their estimate, I felt like we should maybe look further. So I looked at Capital Fence, saw their excellent ratings, and reached out to them. After spending time to look at the project with Dave MacKensie, I knew we'd hit a far better professional level with him and Capital Fence. He clearly had years of experience in the business. A fence project isn't a huge undertaking, but he was thorough in his assessment of the project, had great suggestions on how it should be done, including around plants and trees... and the estimate came in 20% lower than the more widely known company! When Capital's team actually did the project, they were painstaking and detail oriented. The fence was effectively built in place - no pre-fab sections - and it looks great. It is so good that our next door neighbors now want theirs done as well. Overall, we couldn't have had a better experience.

We had a full fence installed and selected upgrades based on sample photos provided by the company. We opted for and paid for several upgrades that were never installed and we were told they showed us the wrong sample photos and "sorry for the inconvenience". The upgrades were 10% of the total project and they have not returned several calls or emails after admitting fault in writing. Classic bait and switch.

Although Capital Fence ultimately installed what appears to be a fence of acceptable quality, our experiences with this company, and specifically its owner, David McKenzie, were extremely disappointing. In particular, David’s lack of professionalism and outright hostility when we expressed our concern about the situation described below should raise a red flag for anyone considering hiring this company. Our original request was that Capital Fence install an identical new fence to replace our old, damaged fence. Not being experts with fences, we assumed the company would indeed replace the fence with the same fence we had in terms of size. We relied on their expertise—and in retrospect, that was our biggest mistake: assuming we could rely on them to provide us what we asked for. Unfortunately, we did not get a tape measure out and measure the height of our old fence to specifically request the same height. When the contract arrived with the price estimate of roughly $6,000, we assumed they had quoted us a price for the same size fence. Instead, the contract specified a 7’ fence. We didn’t think to question that size fence, assuming that was the height of our old fence, and signed the contract. Upon installation, we were surprised to see how much taller the fence was than our previous fence. We called the company and David indicated that he too was surprised to see that they had installed a 7’ fence because that “was not the norm.” Indeed, it was taller than our previous fence, and as we later learned, also more expensive. David offered to come back out to the house to see if there was some “minor surgery” they could perform to trim the fence back to the 6’ fence we had envisioned. We appreciated his offer to do this and awaited his report. A couple weeks later, we received a new estimate for an additional $1,500 in work that would need to be performed to trim the fence back to the lower height. When I called David to express concern about this, he initially indicated he “felt bad about this,” but then informed me that we were “stuck with the 7’ fence” and that I “shouldn’t have signed the contract.” I explained that we signed the contract relying on their expertise and assumed we were getting the same size fence. I explained to him that, in the conversations leading to the price estimate we received, no one ever indicated that the 7’ fence was taller than what we had—or more expensive. I expressed disappointment because most non-fence experts like ourselves should have been able to expect that someone from Capital Fence, at some point, would have said “hey, did you want to get a taller, more expensive fence than the one you had before?” Our answer surely would have been “no.” David indicated that he “didn’t remember” whether he had that conversation and I assured him that both my husband and I know that we did not—again, because, had we understood what we were getting, we would have chosen the less expensive, 6’ fence like the one we had before. When it became clear that we would be stuck with the 7’ fence unless we wanted to pay another $1500, I said that I would be posting this review of our experience with his company, at which point he grew angrier and even more unprofessional, stating, “Don’t threaten me like that. I’ll get on there and rebut everything you say, lady.” As David will likely explain in his rebuttal, it was indeed our fault for not having gotten out a tape measure ourselves to measure our old fence before signing the contract. However, given the competition in this industry, we as consumers should reasonably be able to expect that a company owner will be forthright and honest, will fully explain our options (including a simple “hey, are you sure this is what you wanted?” if the requested service is “not the norm”), and respond professionally if problems arise and try to reach a mutually amicable resolution. So beware: If you choose Capital Fence, use a tape measure, read the fine print in the contract, and hope nothing goes wrong because any concerns will be met with hostility, not with professionalism.

Positive: - Cedar fence looks good. Delivered to specs. - Installation crew was friendly, worked quickly. - Process of getting the initial quote and then revised quotes was efficient. - Price was in line with market, competitive Issues - We were told 1-2 weeks lead time, it ended up being 5-6 weeks lead time. - We had an issue with regard to how the fence fit with the retaining wall that we wanted resolved. The salesperson seemed to question the issue, rather than understanding the additional work we wanted done and why we were not satisfied. We subsequently did get a quote for additional work, but decided not to proceed with it. - The team did not ask how to deal with electrical wiring that went along the fence. And post-installation, they left a live electrical outlet hanging out onto the sidewalk - which was a safety hazard. Was not their job to address the electric, but still should have been handled more carefully. - Payment terms are favorable to the company. They took partial payment up front while I waited for 5-6 weeks, but then were very aggressive about immediate payment, seeming more concerned about getting paid day-of before even understanding if I considered the work done or was satisfied.

Fast response, got the job done in 1 day, great customer service.

We contracted Capital Fence to fence in several acres of pasture. The price was competitive and the work was too notch. There crew was very professional and hard working. We have more work we need done and will definatly be using Capital Fence again!

We needed a new fence for our puppy. Capital Fence did a fantastic job! The staff was friendly and the crew was professional. The fence looks great. Highly recommend Capital Fence!

Great! Salesman, office staff and installers were beyond professional and courteous!

Overall very, very pleased with the work Capital Fence did for us! Crew chief was very nice and helpful and did excellent work! Our dogs are very grateful for a job well done! Kim W.

Everything went great. The fence installers went above and beyond to ensure I was happy with fence placement, they even helped to clear out some debris that was missed when I initially cleared out the back yard. Everyone was very professional and kind! I highly recommend Capital Fence. Jacqueline

Mike was great, professional and punctual. The crew did a great job as well.

This company was fabulous. Mike was extremely professional and responsive to our questions, etc. the crew worked very hard and was so polite. We put up a 6 foot fence around our entire back yard. There were tall cypress trees on either side of the property that needed to be trimmed to make room for the fence. They did all that. The debris was removed and the fence on completion is stunning. It is a 6 ft cedar with single arched gate on one side and double gate on the other. It is a beautiful addition to our property.

Highly recommend. Very good communication. Installation crew was A+.

I could have asked for a better experience! From the initial meeting, the owner came to my home and took measurements and provided an estimate within 24 hours. The work was started quickly and the crew was reliable and did an outstanding job. The same crew came each day and the year were very professional. The office managers were very friendly and helpful and everytime I spoke with them they answered my questions. I am definitely going to be using Capital Fence again in the future to install more pasture fencing.

It took a while to get scheduled, but once that occurred, the fence was installed as I requested, and we are pleased with the outcome. Nice work.

Fantastic job Capital Fence did on my yard. 200 feet of 36” vinyl white fence around a portion of the back and it looks FANTASTIC! Dave and his crew are punctual, professional and did a great job. Yard was spotless after they left. The crews worked till 7:15 at night to finish the job. The price was great. I’d recommend Capital Fence anytime. Mike O

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Scheduled fence installation on 5/18/16 in which first deposit was due. Deposit was paid and initially received a two week time frame for installation. After multiple emails and various reasons for delay by Capital fence came by on 6/22/16 for installation, over a month later. Had a painter scheduled to come by about two months after installation but the painter noticed some bad 2x4s (of the which the bad side was intentionally facing outward away from our house) and wilted wood boards. I informed Capital Fence on 8/23/16 about the bad wood, the next day I received an email that a service order was written up. And now again after several email and calls Capital Fence has not come to fix the bad wood on the date of this review, but have only received statements that it would be fixed "soon", but have not received an exact date. I have left 3 messages to speak to the owner but have not received a call back and the original sales person does not even answer my emails anymore. The fact that I am currently not receiving a response is one thing, and in addition as of right now I have NO CONFIDENCE THAT CAPITAL FENCE WILL HONOR THEIR ONE YEAR WARRANTY. Proceed doing business w/ caution.

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