Craftsman Fence Corp.: Three Generations of Family Fencing

Now in their 48th year, Craftsman Fence Corp. is a longstanding family business with a loyal clientele all across Long Island. Here, third generation owner Rudy Pinka Jr. shares some advice for starting your next fencing or gate automation project, the best fence for privacy and luxury and more.

Which of your services are most popular or most requested this time of year?
Obviously, our residential fences, our custom automated access estate gates and our driveway/asphalt service—those are the busiest in the spring.

When is the best season to begin the process of putting in a new fence?
There really is no season anymore. We work year-round, 12 months out of the year. Barring a dramatic freeze, which we really don’t get anymore, we work year-round, so I’m not going to say there’s a better time than another. Typically, spring wakes everybody up to start their projects, but if somebody were to ask when should they start, it really doesn’t matter anymore. If we were further north, it would obviously be prior to December, but on Long Island it doesn’t matter.

What are the latest trends you’re seeing in East End fencing?
On the East End, obviously deer fences. The deer population, just doubles and doubles. And it’s also very very busy right now with automated gates.

If a homeowner already has a fence or privet installed, how difficult is it to add an automated gate?
If approached properly, it can be a very simple process. It’s definitely something we do all the time, as well as adding automation to existing gates. The other thing that’s very popular right now is updating existing automation to today’s technology, because technology seems to be advancing so quickly that every year we get an updated version of automated access. Something that was installed 10 years ago is antiquated already. And the people who have the money to spend, want to stay updated. That service is very busy right now because we have telephone entry systems that don’t need to be wired anymore, so it’s less problematic.

Years ago, we were wiring all of our telephone entry systems to the house via telephone wire in the ground. And then a landscaper comes to plant a bush and breaks the wire. Now, 90% of what we do runs on a SIM card and cellular telephone, so there’s no more wire under the house. We do a lot of solar now, as well, so there’s definitely a lot of interesting stuff with automation.

What types of fencing do you recommend to clients looking for a good balance between privacy and luxury?
I’ll be honest, and it probably sounds terrible to say, but it really does depend on your geographical location. If we’re talking out east, where money is a little less of a problem, a custom cedar fence always tends to stand out more than another. Custom cedar or a mahogany fence is always going to be, to me, the top-of-the-line fence. That’s your basic privacy plus your luxury at the same time.

Tell me about your other services—railings, decks, sheds, land clearing and anything else that’s commonly requested this time of year.  
Right now, we’re getting a ton of requests for sheds, and that’s even becoming a little more popular on the East End, where that wasn’t the case years ago. But even now, with people moving out because of COVID, they tend to find themselves with more year-round objects—bicycles, Christmas lights and decorations, whatever it may be—and they’re looking for additional storage. Sheds are very popular.

And then, obviously, people who are living on a piece of property that’s larger than they’re using, now they want to clear some more of their property and fence it in, so that’s very popular in the spring. To be honest, the way things are going right now (knock on wood) everything’s good.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We actually work very well with architects. Some companies I know prefer not to, because it can be a lot of work working with architects—they could call every day with a different idea until they finally get what they want. But we welcome architects to call the company, and we will work with them!

To learn more about Craftsman Fence Corp, visit craftsmanfenceanddeck.net.