Price per foot is an output, not an input
Quoting by the foot is fine for a phone estimate, but it should come out of your own cost build-up — not a number a competitor posted online. Build the job, then check what the per-foot figure ended up being.
The four pieces
- →Materials: posts, panels or pickets, concrete, hardware, gates — plus a waste allowance
- →Labor: crew hours including layout, demo, digging, and haul-away, at your true loaded rate
- →Site factors: slope, rock, tree roots, access, existing fence removal, permits and locates
- →Overhead recovery: your monthly fixed costs divided across the jobs you realistically run
Then add margin, deliberately
Margin is not what is left over — it is a number you choose before quoting. Decide the percentage that keeps the business healthy, apply it to every job, and let the estimate come out where it comes out.
Holding the price
When a homeowner pushes back, change the scope, not the margin: a different picket, fewer gates, staged phases. Discounting the same scope trains every future customer to ask.
Pricing well only pays off if the estimates get booked. Fast, human follow-up is what turns a good quote into a signed job.