We recently had a tornado strike our neighborhood. Most of our neighbors had extensive roof/fence damage and several homes were extensively damage--a couple likely total losses. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured, and we count our blessings that our property damage was minor in comparison. The winds blew down a section of our wooden fence, snapping two 4x4 posts off at the ground, and it blew a piece of aluminum trim off of a fascia board along the gable.
Being extremely busy with work and holidays, plus with the weather being crazy and having fewer days lately with the weather cooperating to allow outdoor work, I decided to get a bid from a local contractor repairing neighbor's homes. I figured that while my job was typically too small to be worth their time, they were already in the neighborhood doing other work, so it would just be an opportunity to make a few more bucks while I get a reasonable bid.
Turns out I was way off base. I got a quote for over TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS to make these repairs. I promptly declined and decided to do it myself instead, like a proper mustachian. The weather cooperated the following weekend, so I went to work.
During the repair process, the wooden fence boards and posts were not rotten, just overwhelmed by tornado-force winds and snapped off at ground-level at the top of the concrete footing. Doing some quick google detective work, I was able to find a product the saved both time and money to repair those posts rather than having to dig up and replace the entire posts with new wood, concrete, etc. The product I found was called EZ Fence Mender and I was able to purchase it locally at Home Depot. It's a thick metal brace that wraps partially around the 4x4 posts, contains a pointed end and you hammer it into the concrete footing and then drill screws through holes into the top part of the post...it's splint. A few of these, some 3" deck screws, my impact driver and a couple hours of sweat later and VOILA! BAM! Problem solved. Cost less than 50 bucks for supplies.
I did end up having to hire someone with a ladder high enough and with the proper equipment (aluminum trim brake) to do the other repair, but found a local vinyl guy to do it reasonable. All-in it cost me a couple hours and a couple hundred bucks for all repairs.
After thinking about this more, I wonder if the original contractor was bidding it so high to be able to "absorb" my insurance deductible so I could file a claim to get him more money and cost me "nothing". Be wary of scammers after a storm/disaster.
