Fence Company in Baton Rouge, Ascension, and Livingston.
Premium Cedar Privacy Fence from $25 a foot, aluminum and iron from $45, vinyl from $50, composite from $60. $2,000 minimum project, and a lifetime workmanship warranty on every fence. Price yours below in ten seconds — no form, no phone call.
Get your price and your build date without a sales visit.
Most fence companies book you a week out, send a salesman to your yard, then take a few more days to get you a number. Ours takes about two minutes and you never leave the couch. Type your address, trace your fence line on the satellite view of your own yard, and your price is on the screen — material, gates, old fence tear-out and the monthly payment if you finance it. Like the number? Put $150 down and you are on the schedule. Our office manager Kelsey calls you within one business day to set your build date, and we are typically running two to three weeks out. The $150 comes off your final invoice.
Instant Estimate CalculatorYour address → trace the line → your price → $150 down and Kelsey calls within one business day
This is an estimate for planning only, not a quote. Real pricing moves with height, style, terrain, access, how much old fence has to come out and get hauled off, and what the site actually looks like when we walk it. Every number we put in writing comes after an on-site measurement, and there is no deposit to get one. We publish these rates so nobody spends an afternoon finding out we are not a $20 a foot company.
Our prices are on this page on purpose.
Wood from $25 a foot. Aluminum and iron from $45. Vinyl from $50. Composite from $60. Minimum project $2,000. If that is outside what you had in mind, you have not wasted an afternoon finding out — and neither have we.
You can get a fence built in this parish for less than we charge. We know, because we get called out to replace those fences four and five years later. Here is exactly what the difference buys, so you can decide for yourself whether it is worth it — before either of us spends an afternoon on a walkthrough.
Posts from a lumber yard, not a big box
Pressure treated posts from Picou Lumber. No warps, no splits, no fist-sized knots. A cheap fence is almost always a cheap post, and the post is the one part you cannot fix later without pulling the whole run.
Cedar pickets, not pine
Pine is what gets you to $20 a foot. It also shrinks as it dries, and about eighteen months later you are looking through the privacy fence you paid for. Cedar holds its width and adds ten years or more.
Gates that are actually engineered
A 3 inch steel post and an aluminum frame under every gate, wrapped to look like wood. The cheap version is a timber frame and two hinges, and you can spot those from the street by year two.
A lifetime workmanship warranty
Not one year. Not three. If our workmanship fails on a fence we built, we come back and fix it — which is a promise nobody can make on a $20 a foot build, and the honest reason they do not make it.
Permits, the HOA submittal and 811 locates are all in the number too. Tear-out and haul-off of an existing fence runs $2 per foot and shows up as its own line on your estimate. No day-of surprises, no change order because nobody looked at the survey.
Premium Cedar Privacy Fence fencing — from $25 per foot
The fence most of Louisiana wants.
Cedar pickets on pressure treated posts, at 4, 6 or 8 feet, built four ways depending on how much you want to see through it. It is the most requested fence we install and the one we have built more of than anything else since 2017.
Side-by-side
Pickets butted edge to edge. The most cost effective privacy fence we build and the easiest to repair one board at a time. In cedar the boards stay tight; this is the style where pine lets you down.
Board-on-board
Pickets overlapped so there is no gap at all, now or after the wood seasons. Pick this one if the entire point of the fence is that nobody sees through it.
Shadowbox
Alternating pickets front and back. Identical from both sides, which settles the good-side-out conversation with your neighbor and satisfies most HOA committees.
Horizontal
Boards run flat instead of vertical for a cleaner, more modern line. It asks more of the framing and the post spacing, which is why it is worth having a crew that has built them before.
Cedar privacy fence and double drive gate, finished side to the street
$25 / ftStarting price, cedar pickets included
4, 6 & 8 ftStandard heights, subject to parish and HOA limits
+$4 / ftOptional PostMaster+ post upgrade, wood only
Every fence we build includes:
Pressure treated posts from Picou Lumber
We buy our posts from Picou Lumber, not the big box store. It is top quality lumber without the warps, the cracks and the heavy knots you get out of a Home Depot or Lowe's bunk. The post is the part of a fence you cannot fix later, so it is the last place to save forty dollars.
Premium imported cedar pickets
Cedar adds ten years or more to the life of the fence, looks better than pine the day it goes up and better still in year five, and it smells like cedar for months. The real reason we use it: cedar does not shrink like pine. Pine pickets pull apart as they dry and you end up looking through your own privacy fence. Cedar stays tight.
Gates built on a steel and aluminum frame
Every gate gets a 3 inch steel post and a lightweight aluminum frame, wrapped so it still looks like an ordinary wood gate from the yard. It is just built to last. Your gate will not be the one sagging into the dirt two summers from now, unlike your neighbor's.
A lifetime workmanship warranty
Not three years, not five. If our workmanship fails on a fence we built, we come back and fix it. That is a promise we can only make because of what goes into the fence in the first place — the posts, the pickets and the gate frames above.
Permits, HOA and 811 handled
Your project manager pulls the permit, puts the HOA architectural submittal together and calls in 811 locates before anything goes in the ground. You will not make one of those calls, and nobody puts a post through a gas line.
Wood fences only: upgrade to PostMaster+ posts, add $4 per foot
Steel posts driven four feet into the ground, carrying a lifetime warranty from our supplier. They will never rot, rust or crack, and they are clad so the fence still reads as wood from both sides. On a 175 foot fence it is about $700 to take the post out of the equation permanently.
Commercial grade aluminum with a powder coated finish that resists fading, chipping and rust. It will not rot, it will never need repainting, and maintenance is a rinse with a garden hose when the pollen settles. In a climate that spends half the year humid, that matters more than it sounds.
Flat top
A clean, classic top rail that suits almost any house. Multiple heights and panel widths, and the easiest style to run along a front yard without closing the house off.
Spear top
Pickets carried through the top rail and pointed. More presence from the street, and a deterrent that reads as one. The common pick for front yards.
Barrier code
Local rules govern height, picket spacing and gate hardware. We build to what your parish and your insurance carrier enforce, and we put the spec in writing before material is ordered.
Racked for slope
Aluminum panels rack to follow a grade instead of stepping down it, so you do not end up with gaps under the fence where the yard falls away.
Iron is the most durable fencing material we install, and properly set and maintained it lasts a lifetime. It is heavier than aluminum, it takes a real footing, and it can be fabricated to a drawing rather than ordered out of a catalog. If you want a custom driveway entry or a panel profile nobody else on the street has, this is the material that does it.
Flat top
Straight top rail, two or three rail configurations, 4 to 8 feet. The most popular profile and the most budget friendly way into iron.
Spear top
Pickets pressed to a point above the top rail. Traditional, gothic and colonial houses wear it well, and it adds a visible layer of security.
Curved top
Pickets extended and curved outward. Secure without looking severe, which is why it shows up on commercial frontage and larger properties.
Finial top
Decorative finials in a range of patterns. The detail that makes an iron fence look designed instead of ordered.
The honest trade-off: iron wants periodic paint. Catch surface rust early and touch it up and the fence is effectively permanent. Ignore it for a decade and you will be paying someone to strip and refinish it. If nobody in your house is going to do that, buy aluminum at the same price and be happy.
Vinyl gives you a solid privacy wall with no maintenance calendar attached. Nothing to stain, nothing to seal, nothing to rot, and nothing for termites to eat. Tongue and groove panels leave no gaps to shrink open, so the fence looks the same in year eight as it did the week it went in. Wash it when it needs it. That is the list.
No finish schedule
No staining, no sealing, no sanding, ever. Over fifteen years that is the whole argument for vinyl, and it is a good one.
Holds its color
It will not silver out after two Louisiana summers the way untreated wood does, and it will not need a fresh coat to look new again.
Full privacy
Solid tongue and groove panels with no gaps, which makes vinyl a straight answer when a wood fence has already disappointed you.
HOA friendly
Uniform color and a consistent face make architectural approval straightforward in newer neighborhoods. We put the submittal together for you.
Composite is wood fiber bound in polymer, so it carries real grain and real weight instead of the flat face of a vinyl panel. It is the most expensive privacy fence we install and the one that looks most like wood at ten years old, because it will not rot, will not feed insects and will not need staining. If you want a fence that reads as timber and never asks for a weekend, this is it.
Looks like wood
Grain texture and heft that a hollow vinyl panel cannot fake, in colors that hold rather than fade.
Zero maintenance
No stain, no seal, no rot, no insects. The same short list as vinyl, in a board that feels like lumber.
Solid privacy
Boards that do not shrink, cup or twist, so the line you approve is the line you keep.
Worth it when
You are staying in the house, you hate maintenance, and you want the fence to look like wood the entire time. Otherwise cedar or vinyl is the better buy.
We are masons as well as fence builders, so a run does not have to be all pickets. Brick columns set between wood or aluminum panels, a full brick privacy wall across the front, stone or tile on a low wall that ties the yard to the house — it is the same crew that builds our outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, working in the same materials.
Brick columns with fencing
Columns on footings at the corners, the gates and at intervals down the run, with fence panels spanning between them. It is the single upgrade that makes a fence look like it came with the house, and it is where most people spend their extra money.
Full brick walls
Reinforced and footed properly for Louisiana clay, with weep holes so water gets out instead of sitting in the wall. Matched to your house brick where you want it to disappear, contrasted where you want it to announce itself.
Stone and tile walls
Stacked or veneered stone and tile faced walls, at seat height around a patio or full height where you need the screen. The same finishes we use on outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, so the whole yard reads as one build.
Entry columns and piers
Driveway columns for a swing or slide gate, with the conduit for an opener, lighting and a keypad run inside the column while it is being laid rather than chased in afterward.
Masonry is quoted per project rather than per foot, because a column is a footing, a course count and a cap, not a length of fence. Tell us on the walkthrough and it goes in the same written number as the rest of the yard.
A fence gets looked at. A gate gets used, and that is where cheap work shows up first. Every gate we hang is built on a 3 inch steel post with a lightweight aluminum frame, wrapped to match the fence so it looks like an ordinary wood gate from the yard. It just never leans.
Single gates
Four to six feet, the one you actually walk through. Adjustable hinges and a latch that still lines up after the first summer, with self-closing, self-latching hardware where code calls for it.
Double gates
Eight to twelve feet, wide enough for a mower, a trailer or a truck. Drop rods, braced posts and a frame that does not rack under its own weight.
Driveway gates
Single swing, double swing or slide, matched to your fence or fabricated as a feature entry in its own right.
Automation
Openers, keypads, remotes, safety loops and exit sensors, with the power and conduit run as part of the job instead of left for an electrician you have to find.
The same double gate from the inside. This is what is holding it up.
Look behind the pickets
Why our gates do not sag.
From the yard, that gate looks like the rest of the fence. Turn around and you see what it actually is: a 3 inch steel post on each side, a lightweight metal gate frame carrying the pickets, and cable bracing run corner to corner so the frame stays square instead of racking into a parallelogram.
A standard wood gate is a timber frame, a diagonal brace and two hinges. It works for about two Louisiana summers. Then the wood moves, the frame drops at the latch corner, and you start lifting the gate to close it. Everybody knows that gate. Most people think it is just what gates do.
It is not. It is what a wood-framed gate does. Ours are built on steel because the gate is the part of the fence you put your hands on every single day, and it is the first thing anyone notices when it stops working.
3 inch steel gate postsSet deeper and heavier than line posts, because they carry a swinging load
Metal frame, not timberLight enough to swing easy, stiff enough to stay square
Cable and turnbuckle bracingAdjustable. If it ever moves, it gets tightened, not replaced
Wrapped to matchSame cedar pickets as the fence, so from the yard it disappears
Pressure treated posts from Picou Lumber, straight and free of the heavy knots and cracks that come out of a big box bunk. On a wood fence you can take the post out of the equation for good: PostMaster+ steel driven four feet down is $4 a foot more and carries a lifetime warranty from our supplier.
The pickets
Premium imported cedar, because pine shrinks as it dries and turns a privacy fence into a louver. Cedar holds its width, adds ten years or more to the life of the fence, and looks better doing it.
The line and the grade
We pull a string line off your survey, not off the old fence. Where the yard falls we rack panels to follow the grade instead of stepping them and leaving a gap a dog walks under.
Hardware and gates
A 3 inch steel post and an aluminum frame under every gate, hinges sized to the weight they actually carry, latches set so they still catch when the wood moves. The cheapest part of the job and the first one people notice.
What it costs
Priced by the foot, quoted in writing.
Here is where each material starts. Every one of these includes pressure treated Picou Lumber posts, premium imported cedar pickets where the fence is wood, and gates built on a steel post and aluminum frame.
Premium Cedar Privacy Fence — from $25 / ft
Cedar pickets, 4 to 8 feet, in side-by-side, board-on-board, shadowbox or horizontal.
Ornamental aluminum — from $45 / ft
Powder coated, rust proof, racks to a slope. Clean lines that do not block a view.
Ornamental iron — from $45 / ft
Heavier and stronger, fabricated to your drawing. Flat, spear, curved or finial tops.
Vinyl privacy — from $50 / ft
Solid tongue and groove panels, no staining, no rot, holds its color.
Composite — from $60 / ft
Real grain and real weight, zero maintenance. The one that still looks like wood at ten years.
PostMaster+ posts — add $4 / ft
Wood fences only. Steel driven 4 feet down, lifetime warranty from our supplier. Never rots, rusts or cracks.
Gates are priced per gate on top of the footage, and the number moves with height, style, terrain, access, and whether an old fence has to come out and get hauled off. Our minimum project charge is $2,000. That is why we do not quote a final number over the phone — we walk the line, measure it, and put it in writing.
$2,000Minimum project charge
FreeOn-site measurement, no deposit to get a number
LifetimeWorkmanship warranty on every fence we install
2 to 3 weeksTypical time from signed contract to install
A fence on its own is a perfectly good project and we are glad to build one. But most people who fence a yard end up using it more, and then they want somewhere to sit. Same crew, same project manager, one schedule.
Grills, griddles, sinks and refrigeration, gas fire pits and full brick fireplaces.
Gunite and fiberglass, with the barrier fence and the deck designed at the same time.
Say so on the walkthrough and it all lands in one written number. Say nothing and you get a fence, which is fine by us.
Our work
What a finished yard actually looks like.
Most fence calls start because of a dog, a toddler, or a neighbor. They end with a yard you use, because that is the only way we build them.
Gable pavilion with an exposed truss, lit at duskBrick fire pit with a curved masonry seating benchBroom finished walkway running along the side of the houseAttached patio cover tied into the house roof line
Our shop sits on Airline Highway in Prairieville, which puts most of this market inside a half hour drive. Don't see your town? Call us — we are likely already down the road.
Why is your price higher than the guy who quoted me $20 a foot?
Because of what is in it. Pressure treated posts from Picou Lumber instead of big box lumber, premium imported cedar pickets instead of pine that shrinks apart, gates built on a 3 inch steel post and aluminum frame, permits and the HOA submittal, and a lifetime workmanship warranty behind all of it. We publish our prices so nobody has to sit through a pitch to find out whether we are in their range.
What warranty comes with a fence?
A lifetime workmanship warranty on every fence we install. If our workmanship fails, we come back and fix it. On a wood fence with the PostMaster+ upgrade, the posts also carry a lifetime warranty from our supplier.
What does a fence cost per foot?
Premium Cedar Privacy Fence starts at $25 a foot, ornamental aluminum and ornamental iron at $45, vinyl privacy at $50 and composite at $60. PostMaster+ posts are an optional $4 a foot on wood fences. Gates are priced per gate. Those are starting points ā height, style, terrain, access and whether an old fence has to come out all move the number, which is why the real one comes after we measure the line.
What kind of posts and pickets do you use?
Pressure treated posts from Picou Lumber, not the big box store. Their lumber comes without the warps, cracks and heavy knots you find in a Home Depot or Lowe's bunk, and the post is the one part of a fence you cannot fix later. Pickets are premium imported cedar. On a wood fence you can upgrade to PostMaster+ posts for $4 a foot more, driven four feet into the ground and carrying a lifetime warranty from our supplier ā they will supplier, and they will never rot, rust or crack.
Why cedar instead of pine?
Cedar adds ten years or more to the life of the fence, and it looks and smells better. The practical reason is shrinkage: pine pickets pull apart as they dry, and a year later you are looking through the privacy fence you paid for. Cedar holds its width, so a privacy fence stays a privacy fence.
What makes your gates different?
Every gate we hang is built on a 3 inch steel post with a lightweight aluminum frame, then wrapped to match the fence. From the yard it looks like an ordinary wood gate. It is just built so it will not sag or lean the way a timber gate does after a couple of Louisiana summers.
Can you build brick columns or a stone wall instead?
Yes. We are masons as well as fence builders ā brick columns set between fence panels, full brick privacy walls, stone and tile faced walls, and driveway entry columns with the conduit for an opener and lighting run inside. Masonry is quoted per project rather than per foot.
Do you tear out and haul off my old fence?
Yes, and we price it as its own line rather than burying it. Tear-out, haul-off and disposal run $2 per foot, added to your estimate, so you never have to rent a trailer or find somewhere to take the old fence.
Do I need a permit for a fence?
It depends on the parish, the height and whether your neighborhood has an architectural committee. We handle the permit and the HOA submittal as part of the job, and we call in 811 locates before anything goes in the ground. You will not have to make those calls.
Who owns the fence, and does the good side face out?
The finished side faces your neighbor on a standard install ā that is the convention here and it is what most HOAs require. If you want the finished side in, a shadowbox fence looks the same from both sides and ends the argument. We will walk your property line and your survey with you before we set a single post.
How far out are you booked?
Fence work is typically scheduled two to three weeks out, and we tell you the real date at the estimate rather than a date that sounds good. Weather moves things in Louisiana and we will call you when it does.
Do you repair fences or only install new ones?
We do both. Storm damage, a leaning run, a sagging gate, a section taken out by a falling limb. If a repair is throwing good money after bad we will tell you that instead of selling you one.
Financing
Build Now, Pay Later.
Move the slider to see roughly what a project runs per month. Financing through our lending partners Acorn and Lyon Financial runs from $1,000 to $450,000 — it is offered by the lender, not by Parish Outdoor Builders, and you can prequalify with no hard inquiry on your credit report.
Project amount$8,000
$1,000$120,000+
Acorn and Lyon Financial finance from $1,000 to $450,000.
$94Estimated per month
Example rate 7.24% APR
Term 15 years
Total amount paid $41,040
No Early Payoff FeePay it down or pay it off whenever you want
Credit Scores as Low as 610 ApprovedSubject to the lender's review — not every applicant qualifies
These are estimates for planning only. Financing is offered through our lending partners Acorn and Lyon Financial, not by Parish Outdoor Builders, and every loan is subject to the lender's credit approval. The 7.24% APR shown is an example rate used to illustrate a payment — your actual rate, term, payment and eligibility depend on your credit profile, the loan amount and the lender's underwriting, and not every applicant will qualify. Financing through Acorn and Lyon Financial runs from project amounts of $1,000 up to $450,000, and the lender's program approves credit scores as low as 610 — approval is still theirs to give and not every applicant will qualify. The program carries no early payoff fee, so a loan can be paid down or paid off at any time without a prepayment penalty. Prequalifying uses a soft credit check that does not affect your credit score; a hard inquiry may occur only if you choose to complete a full application. Nothing here is a commitment to lend, an offer of credit, or financial advice.
Dante HarrisOwner · Parish Outdoor Builders
Our promise
We are not perfect. We just do not leave.
On a job with this many moving parts, something will eventually go sideways. A delivery runs late. A pour does not finish the way we wanted. What I will not do is disappear when it happens. If something is not right, you call your project manager and it gets handled. If it is bigger than that, I come look at it myself.
We are going to make mistakes. We are not going to stop until you are completely happy.
★★★★★
Originally this was probably going to be a 4 star review because we had a little hiccup during the project. But after seeing how much they actually care about making things right, I had to change it to 5 stars. As soon as we called our project manager Rodney, he had it taken care of the next day. Then Donte, the owner, came by himself to make sure we had been completely taken care of without us ever reaching out to him. That went a long way with my husband and honestly is the main reason we will 100% be recommending Parish Outdoor Builders to our church and anyone else!!
Karen & Mike DupreLeft on the Parish Outdoor Builders website
Ask your neighbors
What homeowners said after we left.
4.9★★★★★4.9 out of 5 · 96 customer reviews All Reviews Verified by Trustindex
★★★★★5 out of 5
Originally this was probably going to be a 4 star review because we had a little hiccup during the project. But after seeing how much they actually care about making things right, I had to change it to 5 stars. As soon as we called our project manager Rodney, he had it taken care of the next day. Then Donte, the owner, came by himself to make sure we had been completely taken care of without us ever reaching out to him. That went a long way with my husband and honestly is the main reason we will 100% be recommending Parish Outdoor Builders to our church and anyone else!!
Karen & Mike Dupre Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
Could not be happier with the patio cover they built for us. We use the space almost every night now. The concrete work came out really nice too. Our dog even chased Rodney around the yard for a minute š
Sarah Broussard Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
We had them extend our driveway and pour a new pad for our outdoor kitchen. Rodney kept everything moving and answered my questions when I called. Job came out great
Really good experience from beginning to end. We did a covered patio with a large concrete slab and it turned out better than I pictured. Rodney was easy to get ahold of and stayed on top of everything
Tyler Richard Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
Dante came by a couple times while they were building ours and wanted to see how everything was coming along. He actually noticed something we wanted changed before we even said anything. That was nice to see from the owner
Jason Thibodeaux Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
We added a pergola and extended our existing patio. Dante was involved during the project and checked in with us about what we wanted. The crew did a really good job and cleaned everything up when they left
Patio looks awesome. Rodney handled the project for us and made it pretty simple. He even brought us a bottle of bourbon to celebrate when the backyard was finished which was a pretty cool touch
Chris LeBlanc Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
Kelsey was super helpful getting everything scheduled. We love the new patio and cover!
Our backyard was basically just grass before this. Now we have a concrete patio, pergola and a place to put our furniture. Dante stopped by the property during the build and made sure we were happy with how things were going. Very happy with it
Matthew Boudreaux Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
We had a gazebo installed and also added onto our concrete patio. Rodney was our project manager and kept us updated when things changed. Everything turned out really nice
Courtney Comeaux Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
Love the new patio cover!!! Looks great and was finished quicker than I expected. They also gave us one of the Parish care packages with tshirts, Yeti cups and some other goodies which was a nice surprise
Dante was really involved with our project. He came out to look at the work himself and called me after to make sure we were good with everything. The driveway extension and patio came out great. Would definitely recommend Parish Outdoor Builders
Daniel Bergeron Verified · Parish Outdoor Builders website
★★★★★5 out of 5
We wanted somewhere to hang out outside and this was exactly what we needed. New slab, covered patio and a little pergola area. Looks great and the whole backyard feels different now
Great experience and quick. Quote on the spot and deliver within reasonable time. Highly recommended and will use for future project on the other side of house.
douglas smith Verified · May 2026 · Google
★★★★★5 out of 5
They done an outstanding job, the workmanship was the best ever, I would recommend them to anyone and the price was beat by every other company.
robert mitchell Verified · May 2026 · Google
★★★★☆4 out of 5
Very fair pricing. The best of three quotes. Great work, final product looks good. We did have some installation timing issues. Job lasted a few days longer than originally planned. May not have been totally their fault. I will still recommend to others.
James McCall Verified · May 2026 · Google
★★★★★5 out of 5
Dante was great to work with. He came out quickly, provided a competitive quote, and maintained timely communication while working together. Some unexpected hiccups arose and his team remained patient and diligent throughout, listening to our needs and adapting accordingly.
Allie A Verified · April 2026 · Google
★★★★★5 out of 5
I recommend Parish Fence & Gates for your electric gate needs. Iām one satisfied customer!!
Sabrina Scott Verified · April 2026 · Google
★★★★★5 out of 5
Parish Fence built me a beautiful, professional quality fence and went above and beyond to address my needs. I would recommend them to anyone looking to get a long-lasting fence!
Alex Clavelle Verified · March 2026 · Google
96 verified reviews from South Louisiana homeowners. We print 33 of them in full on our reviews page — the rest, including our fence work, are on our Google profile. Read them → · See them on Google →
Ready when you are
Set it once, set it straight.
You have seen the numbers. Next step is a free on-site measure and a firm price in writing. No deposit, no hard sell.
Quality is remembered long after the number is forgotten. Everybody in this parish knows somebody who saved a few thousand dollars up front and paid for it twice. Here is what you are actually taking on when the bid is low because the contractor is not licensed, not insured, and not planning to be around.
The risk of hiring an unlicensed, fly‑by‑night contractor
Fines and stop‑work orders. The city or parish can red‑tag an unpermitted structure mid‑build. The work stops, the fines are yours, and in some cases what is already up has to come back down at your expense.
An injury in your yard becomes your problem. If a crew is working without workers’ compensation and somebody gets hurt on your property, you can end up the one being claimed against — and your homeowner’s policy is what they come looking for.
No real recourse when the work is bad. An unlicensed contractor answers to no licensing board. Your only path is civil court, and an LLC that dissolves on Friday has nothing left to collect on Monday. We take our 5‑star rating seriously and we would rather fix a job than lose one.
A lien on your house for money you already paid. If he does not pay his lumber yard or his subs, they can file a lien against your property — even when you paid him in full.
A denied insurance claim after the first storm. Carriers ask whether a structure was permitted and engineered. A cover attached to your house that was never engineered for Louisiana wind load is the one they will look at hardest.
Trouble at resale. Unpermitted work shows up in the inspection. It gets discounted, renegotiated, or it kills the deal outright, years after you thought the job was finished.
A warranty is only worth the company behind it. A written warranty from a business that is gone in eighteen months is a piece of paper.
An abandoned job and a deposit you cannot chase. Half a slab, an open trench, and a phone number that stops working is a common enough story around here that you have probably heard it.
Strangers in your yard nobody vetted. Day labor hired that morning, no background, no accountability, working ten feet from your back door.
How we are set up so none of that is your problem
State licensed. Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, LSLBC #063699. Verifiable before you sign.
Over $2,500,000 in coverage. General liability and workers’ compensation. The certificate of insurance is attached to every proposal automatically — you do not have to ask for it.
We pull the permits. Parish permitting, setback and floodplain review, engineering on the covered structure, 811 locates and inspections are handled by your project manager and priced into the job.
A written workmanship warranty. Three years on structures, lifetime on fences, from a company that has been at the same shop on Airline Highway since 2017.
One project manager, start to finish. Same person from the walkthrough to the last sweep. Not a salesman who hands you off.
Our reviews are printed in full. Good and bad, word for word, with the bad one left in. Go read them.
