W J McDonough Fences

W.J. McDonough Fence Co builds its own fences. That is the through-line: a Medford company at 85 Mystic Ave with its own woodshop and staining setup, where sections and posts are pre-stained and nail holes filled before anything reaches your yard. William J. McDonough is president, and BBB records 15 employees and 44 years in business, with the company started in 1982 and incorporated in 1988. The product range is straightforward — wood, PVC and chain link, plus ornamental iron. A 2024 permit covered 180 linear feet of six-foot black ornamental iron fencing on a Brookline property, valued at $15,290, which gives a sense of the scale of job they take. Its BBB page carries an A+ grade, and the same page states plainly that the company is not BBB accredited — two separate facts worth reading as such. There are no reviews on either directory, so there is no customer rating here at all, and none should be read into BuildZoom's score, which is calculated from permits and licence status. A few claims on the company's own marketing are its own: a 75-year family fence-building tradition, 35 years of woodshop expansion, 80% of jobs coming from referrals, and an Angie's List Super Service award 15 years running. Note that the 75-year tradition and the 44-year company are different things. On licensing: fencing-only work is exempt from Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration under MGL c.142A §14, and BuildZoom's own note says no contractor licence is required here — so the absence of a registration number is not a mark against them. Ask instead for a certificate of insurance and workers' comp, since those are what actually protect you on a fence job. A sensible call if you want a built-to-order wood or ornamental fence rather than a stock panel drop-in. Ask to see the woodshop's stain options, get the property line settled before digging, and ask for a few recent local jobs you can look at.