On the the Fence

So I guess no one wants our money. 

A few months back when we were deciding what to spend our tax money on, we got a few estimates from some ornamental wrought iron fencing companies. The pricing between the companies was relatively even, give or take a few hundred dollars. 

After we decided on getting the front yard fence, we tried contacting the company that was our first choice, but after a week of phone tag we decided to give up. 

There was another company we considered using (the company that did the security bars for our rear window and basement door), but we weren't sure of their ornamental wrought iron expertise. 

This is the design we we had in mind for the fence tips. Fleur-de-lis of course (A symbol of Louisville, as well as NOLA amongst other things)! Gotta keep a little bit of Kentucky in DC, right?

This what we hope the finished product will look like:

Next we reached out to another company that stopped by when we weren't home.  The guy that came by dropped off his business card in the mailbox, but never gave us an actual estimate for the work. When we followed up his visit with a phone call, he couldn't find the estimate and said he would call us back (yeah, and we're still waiting...). 

After all this run around, I thought maybe it would be better if we started from scratch, so we called yet another company for an estimate, but he didn't even show. I even called to check on his status, leaving a voicemail on his phone, and reminding him of our missed appointment.  The guy didn't even bother to return my call to issue an apology.  We were beginning to think that the market for wrought iron fence companies was a gigantic joke.  Does anyone want to work?!?! 

Right when we were about to throw in the towel on the whole situation, Justin reached out to our favorite bartender at our local watering hole (he's quite the handyman!) and he gave us a reference. 

Luckily the guy he referred us to was able to come out to our property and give us an estimate the next day. Although his estimate wasn't as favorable compared to the company that was our first choice initially, we figured we should go for it while the opportunity was there.   We weren't ready to play another round of phone tag, or have our phone call get snubbed. 

Now that we've finally found a company that appears to be willing to take our money, we first need to put down a deposit. Second, we'll need to get a building permit from DCRA.  Justin was really freaking out about getting one because he didn't want us to get caught performing illegal construction on our house without one.  Working without one can cost you a hefty penalty of $2000!  Once we get past those two steps, I guess we'll go from there...

Have any of you had the same problem with contractors? You would think that in this economy contractors would be chomping at the bit for work; however, in our situation, the companies that we dealt with were either really disorganized or just couldn't be bothered.