California Fencing builds and installs fences, decks, and retaining walls for residential clients throughout Marin County. The company works with a variety of natural and composite materials (including redwood, cedar, Ipe and Trex), and its wide ranging experience with fence and deck designs allows it to customize each product for the homeowner’s specific needs.
Owner Robert Easley credits much of California Fencing’s success to its ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with its clients. “We pride ourselves on our trustworthiness, and that’s a big reason why our customers call us for more work and recommend us to others,” he says. “By combining a customer-oriented business approach with high-quality products, we’ve really been able to stand out.”
California Fencing’s website, www.calfencing.com, features an extensive photo gallery that showcases many of its recent fence, deck and retaining wall projects so potential clients know exactly what to expect. “When people see the finished products we have on our website, they get a real sense for the quality of our work,” affirms Mr. Easley.
“Our main objective is to leave our customers completely satisfied, so we pay close attention to their needs and always deliver exactly what we say we’re going to deliver. We understand homeowners expect a high level of quality and service when they take on fence and deck projects, and that’s exactly what we provide.”
When installing a new fence on your property, take into account how it works with your landscaping.
For many homeowners, installing a new fence isn’t just an aesthetic or functional addition to their daily lives—it’s the motivating factor for redoing an entire landscape. “A lot of people think of the fence as the canvas and the shrubs, trees, and flowers as the painting,” says Robert Easley, owner of California Fencing in San Rafael. “Even though a fence contractor can’t perform the actual landscaping work, they can still tell you what types of plants can be safely installed near the fence, which can be just as helpful.”
If you already have a well-planned landscaping design, Mr. Easley advises hiring a fence contractor who is experienced at working in and around gardens. “In those cases, you need to tread very carefully and take special care when removing dirt,” he says. “Sometimes, you have to move a plant that’s been there for 30 years and then reinstall it once the fence is up. A good fence contractor will be able to do that without issue—it’s a normal part of the job.”
Many homeowners ruminate on whether or not to stain their wood fences after they’re installed, but according to Mr. Easley, this is a purely aesthetic choice that doesn’t help preserve the wood in any way. “Some people choose to stain their redwood fencing, but about 85 percent don’t,” he says. “Unstained redwood turns from red to gray as it ages, but it still looks good.”
Before your fence project begins, ask your contractor if it uses pressure-treated wood for its fence posts—they’re chemically treated to resist damage caused by water and insects, so they’ll work as efficiently as possible once they’re in the ground. Also, once wood has been pressure-treated, it doesn’t need to be sealed because it has already been injected with preservatives.
Maintaining customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect of any business, but it's even more important for fence companies that have earned the prestigious Diamond Certified award. For California Fencing, the key to achieving and maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction is simple: deliver exactly what it promises to every client, no matter what. "Whether it's as simple as keeping an appointment or as involved as delivering a high-quality fence for the promised price, we always do what we say we're going to do," affirms owner Robert Easley. "We view every promise as an opportunity to win customer loyalty."
California Fencing has been building and installing fences, decks and retaining walls for residential clients throughout Marin County since 1985. The company works with a variety of natural and composite materials (including cedar, redwood, Trex and Ipe), and its comprehensive experience with fence and deck designs allows it to customize its products for homeowners' specific needs.
Unlike less experienced fence companies that strive to maximize their workload volume by taking a "one size fits all" approach to every project, California Fencing focuses on personalizing each customer's project as much as possible. "We determine what our customers want and then give advice based on our years of professional experience," says Mr. Easley. "Ultimately, it's all about listening to their ideas or concerns and making them feel comfortable with the entire process."
Another distinguishing feature of California Fencing is its ability to take on fencing projects that are in unusual or complicated configurations. "We have almost 30 years of experience, so we've seen just about every fencing problem and configuration there is," says Mr. Easley. "Hills, streams, ditches–there's nothing our crews haven't seen and effectively dealt with."
