Powers Custom Fencing LLC
About us
Powers Custom Fencing was started in the late 1990's in Vienna, Va. I started Powers Custom fencing after learning how to build custom homes in the Newport News and Fairfax area. I loved building homes and working with wood, and I knew early on that this would be a trade I would learn and learn well. After a hurricane hit the Newport News area in the 90'sthings were devastated and work was put on hold. I moved back to Vienna , Va. ad immediately took a job with a company called Best Fence. I was not yet an experienced fence builder, but I knew carpentry. I quickly worked my way up and became the director of operations for Best Fence. This happened in less than one year. I was running the crew, doing estimates, and I also continued to do installations as well. I learned how to build every style of fence, and I learned so much about the different types of materials used for fences. One thing I paid attention to was the removal of old fences before installing the new fences. I was able to learn why certain things would rot, or warp, or lean, and we began a new practice of fence repairs. Many times a fence can be repaired , and thousands of dollars can be saved, instead of building a whole new fence. At the time Best Fence was owned by two men one was Mr. Beekman B. and the other was Mr. Cliff W. At this time in the mid 90's many people were still advertising in the phone book and newspapers, and websites were not nearly as popular as they are today. The two men that owned this company were paying out a great deal of proceeds to keep up with several other local companies by using phone books and newspapers. It was at this point that they made the decision to get out of the business and pursue other ventures. I still loved doing fence work and these men were willing to let go of the fence equipment at a good deal to me. I already had all the contacts in the supply end of the business and I knew the company inside and out. An added bonus was that my sister had married a ma tat was very good with web design. So the story goes I had a website built Best Fence shut down and Powers Custom Fencing was born. We already had clients since we were based in Vienna, and word was spread quickly. We were an instant success. I decided to add the word Custom to the name because so many people had fences that would go beyond the scope of what most companies would call industry standard fences, and many potential clients would be lost by these other companies. This is where I would come in. I would build people any style of fence they wanted, and cater to their needs rather than try to sell them something they didn't want just to make a sale. I have built so many hundreds of custom fences at this point, I became known in the area as the custom cedar arbor/pergola/ custom gate guy. I genuinely have a passion for fencing and I love the work, even to this day I dig holes almost every day. We began to branch out and started to get commercial contracts, with companies such as Wal-Mart, Verizon and Sprint. We would build the loading doc fences for wall marts all over the area that kept getting damaged by big semi trucks backing into them. The cell phone companies would have us build fences around the new cell phone towers that were going up all over the area. With lot of hard work and great employees , and a good website built by Dreamten Studios.Com Powers Custom Fencing was the best company in the area. At one point we were running 9 trucks every day and we had more work than we could handle almost. We became so fast at what we did , that we actually built a fence around the Reston Animal Zoo in One day. This was a job that was thousands of feet long and it was done in one day. It was at this point that the economy started to slow down, and it was hard to keep all the men busy every day. Slowly but surely Powers Fencing became a small more family oriented company , and I began doing mu...
Business highlights
Services we offer
Our specialty is wood privacy fencing and wood picket fencing. The most commonly used material in the fence industry is pressure treated pine, and we have our own process for this. A wood fence can last as long as you want it to We also install all other types of fences. The most common are cedar and pine. Give me a call, but my recommendation has always been cedar. Treated pine has changed over the years and does not hold up as long as the cedar. I recommend wood fences are stained or sealed
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 89% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 2% |
difficult in just scheduling a time for him to come out. Once we did
agree on a date, he called last minute saying he was not available.
After again trying to reschedule and pushing for a final date on when
the service would be accomplished, when he did finally come out there
were many excuses, mostly personal. He did finally repair our wooden
gate's fences and once he did get to work, he did a fairly good job. It was
the hassle and we found unprofessional scheduling to keep having to call
him again and again to even get him to show up that makes us not want
to use him again in the future.
"I feel bad that that [member name removed] is not happy with the work we did. The truth is that I did the work, I replaced the hinges and I rebuilt two gate with new lumber. It says clearly that it is an additional cost for these items, and I was told by the husband that they purchased a deal and it needed t be done. I used a few hundred dollars in lumber and another $75 in hinges from my own pocket , after driving 38 miles each way. I am sorry that they feel that the $125 deal did not work out for them. I would be glad to come out and fix any items that you feel are not up to par, or need more work and I will do this gladly. I was told by [member name removed] that I head until a certain day to do the work, and I had it done before his deadline. In actuality Angie's List has set terms as to when they need to be done by and I was definitely more than two months ahead of schedule. One more thing that has been difficult, is that I specifically told Angie's list that if I do any big deals after the first one was completed that they wold have to be in Fairfax. The [member name removed] family does not live in Fairfax and they were able to buy the big deal, which is an Angie;s list matter. This has happened to me several times and I do not know why. I literally spend more money in gas than I actually make after supplies and hardware is used. I spent 9 hours of labor and about $300 in materials for the [member name removed] job and drove there twice to do the work. So I lost out at a bare minimum of $600 just for my time and materials. I do apologize and I wish you were not unhappy, but I went far out of my way to complete this job by a deadline that was set by the client, not the Angie's list deadline. I am a small family based business, and not a large company that has many people in it. The jobs get done in the order they were received, I have clearly learned that the Big Deal is good for the Homeowner , but the contractor's are getting eaten alive on this. I sincerely apologize , and if I can do anything to make this any better I will. Thanks Tim 571-471-3781"
"I have never heard of this client nor has she ever contacted me. Once again Angie's list has put the wrong feed back on my account."
"Dear Angies List , we have never been contacted buy this person nor do we know them or have we ever talked to them. this IS THE 3RD TIME IN A MONTH YOU HAVEMANAGED TO SCREW UP THE FEED BACK, I THIK WE SOLD START RATIG YO GUYS. Just like most corporations once they get big enough the little guys start getting screwed."
"I have never heard of this client nor have I done work for or taken anu money from thisclient. This review must be a mistake. Brad , my favorite rep, you should be on this sort of thing, it's nad enough the guy that has to wait 2 weeks to have a picket nailed in leaves bad reviews this is the lasr thing I need. I say that all in good humor , I know it wasa mistake and it will be removed once discovered,"
"This upsets me, honestly a comment like this the one that hurts me the most. I went on a weekend after I received a calll from [member name removed]. and gave him an estimate. Even though it was raining and my day off I did it anyway because I actually enjoy meeting with people and having the opportunity to do work. I explained to [member name removed] the nature of the two most commonly used woods for fencing and how they differ, I asked him to watch his neighbors brand new fence that was treated pine and how fast it would deteriorate. I acually told [member name removed] that his fence did not really need to be replaced and that he could get some more years out of it. I did not try to up sell him at all., I left feeling confident and as I called to report back to the house that I was done for the day I specifically mentioned that I thought my last appointment went well. After a day or two I put the quote together and sent it over. Around this time I was using a new quote system and what may have happened is the way I had it set up is that it could have gone into a junk file. When I reffered to a smaller job 50-60 feet that was a genreal comment about fences as a whole. Most big corporations don't like smaler jobs. On the other hand, I love them and they are my favorite ones. His job was the perfect job to come in and do in one day and be finished, which is the only real way to make money in fence work sicce we have to be so competitive and the materials are so expensive. It is unfortunate that he did not get my quote, and I would have loved to do his fence, it had perfect alley access and it was a straight line. It couldnt get any easier. I actually stilll have his file sitting right in my quote bin and it is marked no reply. I am sorry that it happened and I harbor no ill will towards [member name removed], I only wish I could have done the fence, I'm sure I would have been less expensive and done tons of extra detailed stuff for no charge like I always d, any of my real clients that appreciate me can verify this. I am sorry [member name removed] that it worked ou this way., If you would like I coulld re-send the email to you , it has the date on it I am sure at that point you would realize that it was a misunderstanding. As Always Thank You Angie's List and Thank you to all of the good clients on Angies List. One more thing that I would like to add to this comment reply is that the zip code of [member name removed]'s house and the neighborhood , is a very affluent area and the cost of a fence would not be unaffordable for anyone in the neighborhood, I can guarantee it. For me however and where I live, that could be the difference of my family being able to survive for another few,weeks. It's not like we are destitute or anything, but we are by no means part of the neighborhood that [member name removed] lives in. That's all out of me from now. Thanks Tim powersfence,com"
I signed a contract for the above mentioned work on 3/26. The scope of work was projected to take 2-3 days, give or take due to weather. The job was completed on 4/15, and I am a very happy customer. One thing worth mentioning is that Tim for whatever reason, underbid my job and underestimated the length of time and materials necessary to complete the scope of work. He readily admitted that he is a super busy guy and at times does not bid a job correctly. What makes Tim special though is that he did not come back to me (his customer) and ask for more money. He stuck to the contract we agreed upon and worked diligently until he finished the job. My job ended up being an overwhelming undertaking and pushed his schedule way back for other customers as a result. Most likely, Tim lost money on my job. But Tim has a strong work ethic and stuck with it until completion.
I give Tim and Powers Custom Fencing a solid "A" rating. The only reason I gave him a "B" in responsiveness and a "C" in punctuality was due to the fact that he juggles jobs for so many customers, especially when he offers Angie's List Big Deals, that he oftentimes cannot manage the timing of the work load as projected in the contract and sometimes he can be delayed in getting back to you. He is a very busy guy, but that is the kind of guy you want to hire because that speaks volumes for how many customers put their trust in his company. And speaking from personal experience, my fence looks so fabulous now that there are no words to describe my satisfaction, and Tim's work has extended the life of my fence for many more years. He has truly earned an "A" rating with his remarkable work.
I strongly recommend Powers Custom Fencing. Tim, Jose, Julio and Tim's various friends/helpers were a pleasure to meet and very skilled and conscientious.
Thank you so much for sticking with my job Tim and for doing a better job than I could have even imagined. I really appreciate it!!
* Thursday 3/21 - I got a note that it wasn't difficult and we corresponded throughout the day and determined that The Big Deal was the way to go so I put in my order. Got a Thank You from Tim and said I'd show up on the list and the next week I'd be done. Since my initial deadline was 3/10 from my HOA (I had other contractors give me the run-around before I ended up with Tim after signing up for Angie's List to find a reputable contractor), this was good news!
* Thursday 3/28 - I asked if we were on the schedule - a week had passed and nothing had been completed.
* Friday 3/29 I sent a follow up as I hadn't heard back. Got an email from Tim that he had been busy (I can understand since a deal like this can send a lot of work!) and would call that night.
* Monday 4/1 - No calls, so Monday morning I sent a note with my number to make sure he had it. I called him around 1pm and we chat a bit -- he had been meaning to call but hadn't yet. His guys had been to the house and said I had broken posts that needed to be replaced so it wasn't part of The Big Deal. I had no broken posts that I knew of so I asked that it just be fixed per our previous discussions. That night I emailed that I had verified the posts weren't broken (it's a town house community so maybe the wrong posts were looked at) and to please go ahead with the schedule. I got a rather lengthy note back, explaining their experience, what fences they built, etc., which I knew and believed, and that they would definitely take care of it.
* Friday 4/5 - Got home from work and still nothing, so I sent another request for an update Monday 4/8 - No response, so I tried calling and the voicemail said email was the best way, so I sent an email in the morning. By lunch I hadn't heard back, so I called another fence company that I had turned down 2-1/2 weeks prior when I thought Powers was going to do it, and he was already in the area, showed up within an hour and fixed in less time than that, for the same amount as The Big Deal.
I don't begrudge them for not being able to do the work within The Big Deal like we had discussed was possible at the beginning - but I think The Big Deal may be more to keep track of for a small business going into what is probably the peak time of year for this kind of work. I have a fence to be built at my new house - I'll probably still consider Powers as I think they can do a great job based on the reviews here. This just wasn't a good fit.
"One problem may be that we do work in Bristow and I have told my rep that numerous times.Angiies list , I am about fed up with you we work the District of Columbia and Arlington county, and that is what I pay for. You need to take care of tis by today ot I a gone,"
"One more customer that Powers Custom Fencing has never dealt with. Angies List you have a few hour to get the facts straight , or we are done here. This is ridiculous. (Member name removed), I have never heard that name until now."
"I arrived at the home of [member name removed] with my foreman and had a look at the damage. we realized immediately that 6 posts needed to be removed and replaced and one gate needed to be taken down all the way and rebuilt. As per the Angie's list Big Deal Fine print a post replacement is $50 per post. Taking down gate and rebuilding it and adding new hinges and a latch would be $90 for the hardware and a small fee for the rebuild. Before doing the work I wanted to call and get authorization without just doing the work, and apparently the number that was given to us from the coupon was no longer valid, so we sent an email detailing what needed to be done and awaited a response. I received no response, so I sent another email, which I still have and which is dated and I still never heard back from the customer. I assumed that they either did not want to spend the money or that maybe they were out of town. I never do extra work that will cost more than the big deal without first verifying that I am cleared to buy the supplies and do the work. I am not sure what happened in this case, but I do know that the neighbor tried to get my foreman to do some fence work for him without calling me and I told my foreman to have him give me a call. I was hoping that maybe during this call he could help me contact [member name removed], but he never called. Whenever a mistake is made whether it is our fault or the fault of the client , I to do the work at no charge since these people are Angie's List Customers, ad I am offering the same deal here. If a mistake was made in communication on our end or otherwise, I am offering to do the work personally at no charge, regards Powers Custom Fencing"
I trusted him and paid him in full for the work, even though it was unfinished. He promised me and naively I took him at his word.
He also gave me a couple of suggestions for dealing with a tree that was growing through the fence.
Tim was an absolute pro. The work itself took a little longer than I expected, but I really believe that's only because Tim worked hard to make sure the job went above my original expectations. For example, the custom cedar fencing ended up being much more complicated than expected due to some gradations in the ground, subterrannean root systems, underlying concrete from the driveway/sidewalk, the placement of my shed, etc. But whenever something needed my attention, he explained what he was doing, made spot-on recommendations, and really helped create an amazing fence. Bottom line, he cares about his product and he cares that his customers are satisfied. Even with the problems our job site gave him, he never cut any corners, and he turned out a top-notch fence. Also, I think it helped that he was on the job, at the site, either doing or supervising every bit of the work.
I would absolutely recommend Tim to anyone needing fence work. We have other property lines that we didn't have fenced at this time, but when we do fence them, we absolutely will go back to Tim.
Low and behold on Monday I get a text at 7:08am stating: "Chris, since I just put the check in yesterday, it is going to take another day to clear. We are here ready to go, but the check hasn't cleared. Our days is free tomorrow, so we will be there tomorrow this time. -Tim"
I replied: "Don't deposit that check. If you're not going to start today then I'm going to pay by credit."
He never replied that morning so I called him several times to no avail. I left message saying that if I didn't hear from him by noon that day then I'm going to cancel the job. Still no call.
So feeling as though I was a total sucker for paying him by check, I canceled it. If Tim explained himself later then maybe I'd give him a 4th chance. Well I finally got a response at roughly 4:15pm, about 9 hours after our original exchange. This text conversation devolved into a back and forth tirade from both sides. He called me a nut job and I called him a lousy businessman. You can't really recover after that.
Tim might mean well but he's a terrible businessman. Just in over his head. He needs more assistance. But his lack of responsiveness and never ending series of excuses is tired and old. He needs to be more honest with his clients, namely me.
Also, he wanted to charge me a cancellation fee even though he cancelled on me! Ridiculous...
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Tim scheduled utility companies to come out and mark the property. Once he confirmed they had done that, he scheduled construction for a couple days later. He and a coworker showed up in the afternoon and made remarkably quick progress. They had already had a long day doing other work and getting our boards milled (very nicely, I might add), but they stuck with it beyond sunset and got very nearly finished before it was time to close up shop for the day. Tim came back the next morning to install the remaining few horizontal boards and build us a nice picture-frame style gate to match the rest of the fence.
Tim was communicative throughout construction, explaining why they were doing what they were doing, why our fence is stronger than others, etc, and he left me confident that we really do have the best doggone fence around here. It's a thing of beauty, and the cedar smells nice, too.
"It does me good to see a review like this one. I would also like to add that it was my pleasure to build this fence for the customer . He had a few options to go wit . the more expensive option was actually the best option and he realized this. I believe I stuck to my work and gave him the best looking fence in the neighborhood. I also must add that this is a neighborhood where every fence as to look the same. So In a neighborhood at least 100 homes that all have the same fence, I am certain that the customer has the nicest one of them all."
"I will begin by saying that this is disappointing to me. I am a very hard working person. Lately I have been working every day to keep up with my clients and to complete my projects. Angie's List and the clients that Angie's List has provided for me have been 99.9% wonderful. I have used many services over the years some good and some bad. I can say with great conviction that Angie's List has been the best service that I have ever used. The representatives have been wonderful and the clients have been great and I enjoy working with people who find Powers Custom Fencing through Angie's List. With all of that being said, when I get a review like this one it bother's me, and it confuses me. It seems as if all of my hard work can get overlooked by the comment of one inpatient person, who quite frankly is mistaken. The same day that the customer called me I promptly returned her call, as I do with all of the messages I receive on a daily basis. The customer informed me that she had purchased the fence maintenance package (The Big Deal). I spoke with her briefly and explained that since she lived in Bowie which is a one hour drive for me, that it would be helpful if she could snap a quick photo of the fence. Typically if a client has a repair need, I can assess the damage from a photo and come prepared to do the work on my first trip and complete the entire repair. This has worked out with at least 20 or more of the Big Deal clients I have had. The customer purchased the coupon on the 4th of February 2013 , and I spoke with her that day about the photo. It took her until February 25, 3 days ago to send the photo of the fence that needed repairs. This normally would not be a problem at all. I allow people to take the time they need to work out scheduling, so it did not alarm me that it took her 20 days to send the photo. I replied to her and told her that I would get with her soon to schedule the work. This was 3 days ago. This morning I received a poor review from the customer only 3 days after she sent me the photos of her fence. I had the customer scheduled for the repair for this coming friday March The 1st. I was astonished when I read the review, and ultimately discouraged that this happened. I treat each and every customer with respect and I provide high quality work for each and every one. I complete the Big Deal maintenance packages in the order they are purchased. I have had nearly 50 of them purchased throughout the time I have been on Angie's List, and they have worked out well and I have enjoyed performing the work. I would like to now take the time to apologize to the customer if she feels that I failed to provide her with the service she was seeking. I will go on the record now and offer her several hours of my service for no cost, and I will gladly repair her fence free of charge. I will continue on with my hard work and and this will not slow me down or change the way I conduct business. I am an honest and very hard working man, and the reviews that I have from my Angie's list clients speak for themselves. I go above and beyond for ever single person I work for, and they have rewarded me by sharing this with the Angies' List community with positive reviews. I would like to give a special thanks to Angie's List and the wonderful people I have met and worked for through Angie's List. The Angie's List staff has been wonderful and informative, and at the end of the day I feel that they care about Powers Custom Fencing as much as they care about the homeowners that use Powers Custom Fencing. Keep up the good work! Sincerely, Powers Custom Fencing."
"I thoroughly enjoyed working with Member. He knew exactly what type of fence that he needed and he got it. After I did the initial estimate with him we came to an agreement within a week.Several days later the fence was completed and I was satisfied that iI had done my best. I like Member and it makes me happy that he appreciates my work. Thank You Powers Custom Fencing"
There were some unfortunate complications due to the massive amount of concrete that somebody else used previously. This wasn't Tim's fault, of course.
The work performed appears to be well done and although I didn't get any extras like others, I would not hesitate for a moment in using him again.
"I enjoyed helping Member with his repair. The company that originally built the fence used several hundred ponds of concrete to set one post and the post broke off at the ground level. I banged away at it for over an hour until I realized that it was a losing battle with the tools I was using. At this point I informed Member that a larger commercial grade jackhammer would need to be rented to complete the work. I asked him if he would be willing to cover the $125 per day rental fee plus the $25 post and concrete fee, and he gladly accepted. After working for several hours I got the massive concrete footing out of the ground and installed the new post. I was able to keep the work within the scope of the 3 hour maintenance Big Deal , even after 2 trips and the rental of a jackhammer. I love a good challenge, it keeps me on my toes. I also enjoy working for people who understand that not every single repair is a simple and easy repair. Sometimes companies or contractors build things incorrectly, and years later guys like me have to come behind them and fix their mistakes. Thank You Member!"
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