Emergency fence repair when a run comes down and something is loose.
Xcel Outdoor Living, out of Spring Valley, Illinois, across Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam, Marshall, and Lee counties. If a fence came down and something is on the wrong side of the gap, call. Tell us what happened and we will tell you what we can do. We did not have to build the fence to come and put it right.Call 815-579-2323
Before you do anything else
- Contain what the fence was containingThe dog indoors, on a lead, or in a run. Do not judge the gap by how big it looks: a dog that found one opening will try the rest of the line.
- Stay off the part that movedA leaning panel is being held up by whatever it fell against. Keep children away from it and do not pull at it to see how loose it is.
- Then call and say what came downHow many sections, whether a post snapped or lifted, and whether it is a boundary fence or the one around a pool. That is enough for us to know what we are coming to.
What we treat as urgent
Three situations, and underneath they are one situation. The fence has stopped being a boundary, and something that was on one side of it is now free to be on the other.
- A run down with an animal behind it. The common one, and the one worth ringing about tonight rather than in the morning. A dog does not wait for the quote.
- A pool that is no longer enclosed. If the fence around a pool has gone, the pool is open until it is back. What your village asks of a pool barrier is theirs to set and worth a call of its own, and the repair is one we move on.
- A boundary open onto a road or a neighbour. A run along a road that has come down, or a line between two yards that no longer exists. Both are worse at night than they look at four in the afternoon.
Anything that is not one of those three is still real work and it is still ours. A fence that is leaning, grey, rotting at the base, or has a gate that has dragged for two summers belongs on the fence repair page, where there is room to talk about whether it is worth fixing at all.
Call 815-579-2323
A finished run of ours, not a repair
What happens after you call
- You get an answer on the phone. Tell us what came down and we will tell you what we can do about it. The weather and the ground move a schedule around more than anybody would like, so we would rather give you a real answer than a slot.
- Somebody comes and walks the line. The visit costs you nothing, and the number comes after it rather than down the phone. Nobody can price a run they have not seen, and how much of it moved is the whole question.
- The locate goes in, and it sets the pace. New post holes need a utility locate before anybody digs, and a locate has a waiting period written into state law. It is the reason we will not tell you the fence is back up tonight: that promise belongs to somebody who is not making the call.
- The permit is ours, if the repair needs one. We file with your village or county and the fee sits inside the number you were quoted. A few towns want the property owner’s signature on the application, so that much comes back to you.
- There is no clock on this page, on purpose. The answer depends on where the crew is, what the ground is doing after the storm that caused it, and the locate. A time we might miss is worth less to you than knowing where you sit.
Not this urgent?
Four things people ask on the phone.
The fence is down and the dog is getting out. What do we do right now?
Contain the dog another way before you look at the fence, and assume the gap is bigger than it looks, because a dog that has found one opening will work the rest of the line. Indoors, a run, or on a lead is all fine and none of it is a fuss. Then walk the fence and see whether it is one section or the whole run that moved, because those are two different phone calls. Ring us once the dog is somewhere it cannot get out of, not before.
Can you put it back up today?
Often not, and the reason matters more than a time we would miss. If the repair needs new post holes it needs a utility locate first, and a locate has a waiting period before anybody is allowed to dig. That is state law rather than our scheduling. So the fence goes back once the ground has been marked and cleared, and that is why what you do in the meantime to keep the dog in matters more than how fast we drive.
The fence around the pool came down. Is that different?
Treat it as urgent and treat the pool as open, because that is what it is until the run is back up. What your village or county asks of a pool barrier is theirs to set rather than ours to interpret, and it is worth a call to them as well as to us. What we can tell you is that a pool enclosure is a repair we move on, and that when you ring it helps to say it is the pool fence rather than a boundary fence, because it changes what we bring.
Does the whole fence have to be redone, or just the part that came down?
Usually just the part, and that is the cheaper answer as well. Wind takes the panels and posts it can reach and leaves the rest standing, so a run that lost three sections often needs three sections. What decides it is the posts rather than the panels: a post that snapped is replaced, and a post that is sound takes new panels without coming out of the ground. Somebody walks the whole line before quoting, so you find out which of those you have before you spend anything.
Or write it down.
If you would rather not talk, this reaches the same place. Say what came down, how much of it, and a number to reach you on. Somebody still comes out and walks the line, the visit is free, and the number comes after.
Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PMCall any time.We’re usually booking a few weeks out.
Fully insured & registered