A customer's simple comment about my post spacing made me rethink my whole layout.

I was finishing a cedar privacy fence in Springfield last month, and the homeowner came out to check the work. He just stood there for a minute and said, 'Looks strong, but the posts feel a bit crowded on the west side.' I had them at my usual 8-foot centers, but he was right. The property line dipped in a weird way, and keeping that rigid spacing made the last section look squeezed. I went back the next morning and pulled two posts, resetting them at 7-foot and 9-foot centers to follow the land's curve better. It took an extra hour, but the flow of the fence looks so much more natural now. I was so stuck on the 'rule' I forgot to actually look at the space. Has anyone else had a client point out something obvious you totally missed?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_foster9221d ago

Oh totally! I've been so focused on the plan I didn't see the actual yard until the client mentioned the gate swing.

shane_fisher3721d ago

Last summer I had a deck project where I was so focused on the perfect 16 inch joist spacing I didn't notice the main support beam was blocking the best view of their garden. The homeowner had to point it out, just like @mary_foster92 said about the gate swing. I felt like a total goof for missing something right in front of me. Sometimes you get locked into the technical details and forget the whole point is how the thing actually works in the space. That fence fix sounds like it was totally worth the extra hour.

foster.quinn20d ago

Yeah that "locked into the technical details" thing is so real. I read this article once about how experts can miss obvious stuff because their brain is in the weeds. Mary_foster92 is right, you have to step back and see the actual space, not just the plan. It's like your eyes are following the tape measure instead of looking at what the whole thing is for. Good on you for hearing the client out, that's how you avoid doing a technically perfect job that still feels wrong.