Jan 02
The Popular A&E Network Show Features our Product
The A&E Network show “Fix This Yard” recently featured a WamBam Fence in an episode. Check it out!
Check out our latest video which shows a WamBam Vinyl Privacy Fence take on a Big Ass Fan that huffs 75mph sustained winds its way.
The conclusion? Our no-dig fence is certified to survive sustained wind loads of 75mph- and this is where a category 1 hurricane starts.
We’ve had an article get published on quite a few sites and newspapers around the country, most notably on the LA Times website, which boasts an audience of 8.6M! Below is the article.
Tips for installing a vinyl fence the easy way
(ARA) – If you need to keep the neighbors out or the pets and children in, it may be time for a fence, preferably one that will last a lifetime and requires very little maintenance. But if you know much about installing a fence, chances are this is a home project that makes you want to run for the hills. After all, who wants to rent power augers, dig deep holes, tear up the yard, remove excavated dirt and pour hundreds of pounds of concrete?
Probably not you. The good news is that you can actually install a fence without all this hassle. Do-it-yourself homeowners across the country are now installing sturdy vinyl fences without digging holes, making a mess of the yard or pouring concrete.
No-dig vinyl fence systems are installed by driving pipe deep into the ground using a post pounder. Fence has been installed this way for years, but for vinyl it can be tricky because it’s almost impossible to drive pipe into the ground perfectly straight, which results in crooked fence posts. This problem is solved by a clever leveling device that compensates for the crooked pipe so that when you slide your vinyl fence post over the pipe, the post is ultimately straight and level.
While driving pipe into the ground can require a bit of muscle, it’s still much easier than digging 3- or 4-foot-deep holes, dealing with excavated dirt and pouring three or four bags of concrete per hole, as most traditional vinyl fence installation instructions demand. Alternately, you can also rent a pneumatic post pounder to make it even easier.
Some skeptics wonder how a no-dig vinyl fence will perform in high winds. “We have had our digless fence products wind-load tested by an independent third party laboratory and it has been certified to stand up to 75mph sustained winds, which is where a category 1 hurricane starts,” says Denise Esser from WamBam Fence, an online company that ships no-dig fence to homeowners all over the country through www.wambamfence.com.
Installing vinyl fence by driving pipe into the ground has been used in Western Canada on tens of thousands of fences for more than a dozen years by both professional fencers and home owners. However, it’s only recently that companies like WamBam Fence have been manufacturing a full no-dig fencing solution designed for the do-it-yourself homeowner, offering a variety of styles and sizes. Alternately, there are companies that offer just the leveling devices to keep the pipes straight. This enables you to buy them online and use them with pipe, posts and panels purchased separately.
Homeowners often end up hiring a professional due to the amount of labor and equipment involved in a fence installation, but the no-dig method makes it much easier – and therefore more attainable – for the average do-it-yourselfer. With an innovative no-dig installation method, installing a vinyl fence is one home project that just got a lot easier.
THE STORY
This past December, we had an amazing opportunity to be a part of the popular TV Show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition”.
WamBam Fence gets an amazing opportunity
It all started when Ty Pennington, star of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, was surfing the web one day and stumbled across our fabulous fence. He declared that he just had to have a WamBam Fence for an upcoming episode…
That’s how I wish I could start the story of how WamBam Fence got to be involved with this high profile TV show, but alas, the truth is not quite so glamorous. Still, like most opportunities, it was the collision of events that were meant to be.
On the Set of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
My name is Denise, and I’m one of the founders and owners of WamBam Fence. If that sounds cool, the next sentence is not: I’m also member of Toastmasters International. If you’re not sure what that is, just Google it, and you’ll realize that it’s kind of geeky.
At a recent Toastmasters meeting, I had only just met Wade Miller, co-owner of Bellamy Homes, the company chosen for the EMHE build. Less than a week before the build, a few of us met up for a drink after a meeting, and someone piped up, “Well, Wade, you know if you need a fence that you can just ask Denise.”
“Really?” He replied, “Because I think we do need a fence. It wasn’t originally a requirement, but now it is.”
Knowing that there were many ears tuned in, I gave the right answer: “Sure, I can get you a fence.” I was thinking they needed maybe 10, 20 panels tops, and that it would be pretty cool to be a part of the project.
“How many feet?” I asked.
“Close to 400,” He replied.
Toastmasters Geeks Unite! Denise Esser of WamBam Fence with Wade Miller of Bellamy Homes, the company chosen for the build
I almost spewed my drink all over the place. “Um, wow. That’s a lot. Ok, well, I’ll have to check inventory.” It was a weak back paddle; I knew we had the inventory. It’s just that that was a lot of fence! I wanted to be a part of this project, but it was no small commitment for a relatively newer start-up like us. People assume that with a show like this, your logo and company name get splashed all over the place, bringing in major revenue. That’s not the case at all. Unless you’re willing to pay the big bucks—and I mean BIG BUCKS that would blow our marketing budget for years to come—the show will never display a logo or mention your company name. There is absolutely no coverage of your company, brand, or product.
WamBam employee Linda LaChance pitches in
Those petty doubts quickly went away. It was a great opportunity to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, and even though it was a heck of a lot of product, it was really cool to be able to give back to the community and be involved with this. It’s funny how things work out, too- because although we were all in to donate 100% of the product, when our manufacturing partner found out about the opportunity, they immediately offered to give us half the product for free in exchange for a press release.
John leads the fence project and he and his team from Archer Western Contractors do a fantastic job
We were a bit nervous about the install. Since we are manufacturers, we don’t offer installation services. I need a few more years at the gym pumping iron before I can wam bam pipe into the ground like nobody’s business. Wade found a crew of 15 or so volunteers to install the fence, which had to be completed in 15 hours. While we were sure that they would be competent—after all, our product is designed to be easy to install– having a crew of people unfamiliar with the product on such a tight timeline caused us a bit of anxiety. We really wanted it to go smoothly, quickly, and yet look good. A good install is critical to the final fence looking good.
Many hands make light work!
On the day designated for the fence install, Stephen, Linda, and I went on site to pitch in. There was security and check in areas where we received our mandatory hard hats and t-shirts. Once we got to the site, it was really cool. The energy at the build was amazing. It was shocking to see a half-built home that was supposed to be completed in only 2 more days. The amount of people and organized chaos on site was invigorating. Stephen, Linda and I pitched in a little, but the real heroes were the volunteers from Archer Western Contractors, particularly John Stull who lead the team. They worked tirelessly for hours to get the fence installed. Of course our anxiety was completely unnecessary- they did a great job and the fence looked fabulous.
A job well done
As if the opportunity wasn’t cool enough, when I learned a bit about the family receiving the home, it struck a chord within. The Fridays have fostered more than 30 children, and last spring they fostered a boy who showed them a video of his 4 siblings, all split up by the system. Declaring that a family should never be split up, the Fridays adopted all 5 children. Because their home was too small, the Fridays were forced to convert their carport into bedrooms to make space for the children. Ironically enough, this story hit kind of close to home for me, because many years ago, my grandparents did a similar thing: despite having 7 kids of their own, they took 3 orphaned children into their home so the siblings wouldn’t have to split up, and raised them as their own. Knowing that my father grew up in a home with a similar situation– and seeing how much difference my grandparent’s act of kindness made in the lives of my adopted Uncles and Aunts– I was able to appreciate the Friday’s sacrifice that much more.
The recipients of the home have a very similar situation to my father's childhood home
Once the dust settled, Wade met with the family to go over how to operate their new home. He buzzed me an email: “I have to admit that what they raved most about was their fence. They were so happy to have a fence it was crazy. I think it’s because there are so many new children coming through their home that they want to keep them off the neighbor’s property.” This email made my day.
Close to 400ft of fence goes up in about 10 hrs (excluding gates and finishing touches)
The show isn’t scheduled to air until 2012 for a Christmas special, and we’re excited to see the finished episode. We don’t expect to see much fence on the show, because the home’s fence is just a subtle backdrop to define the borders of their property, as any good fence should be. What really matters is being a part of something bigger than ourselves and being able to give back just a little morsel to the community.
Normally we like to hire professionals to do our videos and photography, but since the Extreme Makeover project was last minute, our go-to guys weren’t available. What you see is my ad hoc photography, videoing and attempt to slap it all together. It’s pretty grass roots, but I hope it can at least capture the essence of the experience.
All the pictures are on the WamBam Facebook page. Click here to see the whole album.
We’re excited to launch a new line of product: WamBam Traditional.
This new line is installed the traditional way- by digging holes and pouring concrete. For a company that’s so big on digless fence, you may be wondering why we’re offering a traditionally installed line that is not “Fence that’s fun to install” as our digless fence tagline so proudly declares.
Like the beginning of everything, it starts with a story.
We’re proud of our relationship with Tier 1 retailers such as BJs.com, HomeDepot.com, Menards.com and Costco.com. These are great companies that we are honored to partner with to sell our product. When we launched our original WamBam digless fence line, we charged ahead with these name brand accounts, and flooded them with 54 different items. The more the merrier, right?
Wrong.
Unlike selling widgets online, our digless vinyl and aluminum fence systems require some education for the end consumer to understand. It also requires a great deal of components to do a complete project- from posts to panels to gates to caps to anchor kits. Trying to force a project-based product into their systems resulted in problems. It was difficult to properly educate their customers on digless fence. Customers weren’t sure why they needed digless anchor kits, or worse, weren’t aware that posts needed to be ordered separately and simply didn’t order them. The project-based product–combined with the unique digless installation method–resulted in an abnormal amount of uneducated and frustrated customers who weren’t able to simply order a digless fence correctly online.
So we needed to simplify. That was the goal. Our current program was a little like fitting a round peg in a square hole in their dot com platforms, and as a result, it was clunky and cumbersome for the average user browsing www.homedepot.com for vinyl fencing to simply order our fence (and any fence, for that matter!) online.
So we axed all the items, and re-birthed just a couple of our best sellers with some major changes. The panels come in a one-box unit that also include a post and a post cap. The install method is traditional so customers don’t have to wonder what the heck an anchor is and why they need to order it. These changes made it simple for our resellers to merchandise online, which in turn will make it easier for the end customer to order and understand.
Don’t get us wrong- we are still just as passionate as ever about WamBam digless fence. It’s a game changer, and people love it. Soon you’ll see an upgrade on our site making it easier to purchase all the components required for your digless fence. Plus, we love the fact that we can talk to our customers and ask them questions. Qualifying customers helps us ensure that we are a good fit and that they will have a great experience. However, in the world of major dot com retailers, we feel that the new WamBam Traditional line is much better suited for them because of its simplicity.
The new line is now available on www.homedepot.com and www.bjs.com and soon will be on other name brand websites you know and trust. Below are product video demos for the new line which will be found on these sites. You can throw some virtual tomatoes at Denise!
The polls are in! With almost 900 votes, we are overwhelmed and grateful to all who participated in our contest. Below are our winners who will be receiving a check in the mail.
First Place $500
Ralph from Missouri installs the Curious George Vinyl Fence with some help from ex-football players. He got 320 votes!
First Place: Ralph from University City, MO and the Curious George Vinyl Fence
Second Place $250
Carol from Michigan modifies her Peeping Tom to be in accordance with city bylaws, and decks it out for Christmas! She was nipping at the heels of Ralph, and at one point took over, closing out at 300 votes.
Second Place: Carol from Ann Arbor, MI and the Peeping Tom/Steady Freddy Vinyl Fence
Third Place $100
He may be 75 years old, but he sure knows how to install a fence and recruit his Facebook friends for 113 votes! Allen from North Carolina shows off his skills with the Plain Jane Fence.
Third Place: Allen from Salter Path, NC and the Plain Jane Vinyl Fence
Wow- we are overwhelmed with the response to our 2011 Photo Contest entry! We are so thankful to everyone for all their great entries. It was a very tough decision, but we have narrowed it down to the top 25 entries based on finished images, quality of the install, and creativity.
Now we need your help to vote for the winners! It’s really simple. Just go to our 2011 Photo Contest Contest Facebook photo album, click on the first photo, and click the arrow to scroll through the photos. “Like” your favorite entry. The winner is the entry with the most likes.
We encourage people to judge based on the final project, the quality of the pictures, and creativity.
If you want to comment on entries, go ahead and get creative!
There is some cash at stake:
1st place: $500 cash prize
2nd place: $250 cash prize
3rd place: $100 cash prize
Contest voting ends Monday, January 30, 2012. Happy voting!
The DIY network did a great job with the show- and our product! This segment shows a whole family gathering to install WamBam’s vinyl Even Steven fence.
We welcomed Lisa Vail to our team in July of 2011, and figured it’s high time that she introduces herself!
Hi y'all, I'm Lisa
Hey Ya’ll!
If you have not figured it out by now yes, I am a true southerner. I think that since WamBam is located in North Carolina that Stephen and Denise felt the need to hire someone with a southern drawl. Actually, I think in the interview process when I asked Stephen why he did not have a southern person, he was slightly embarrassed. Don’t tell him but my sercret plan worked…… Embarrasment = Job.
Normally when you call in I will answer the phone, so before you start thinking I have an accent, you are wrong: its everyone else that has the accent, not me! We have such a diverse group here I have found myself talking like Denise and Linda, well kind of with a slightly different twist. Believe me, I am always taking ribbing about my pronunciations.
Working here at WamBam has been such a wonderful experience. I have worked for companies in the past that proclaimed (pretended) it’s all about customer service but here a WamBam it IS all about our customer’s and making their experience the best possible. We have such a great group and we all truly love our jobs and taking care of customers. Oh, and also if you have a question regarding your vinyl and aluminum fence orders and shipping, I am your person. I will be glad to answer your questions and even track down your orders. So please do not hesitate to give me a call, I will be more that glad to help out.
Lisa
We’re excited that WamBam’s vinyl fence is going to be on the DIY Network TV show “I Want That”. Set your DVRs for Dec 14, 2011 at 9:30pm to watch our fence live and in action!
Tobin does a fantastic job installing his vinyl WamBam Fence
Denise, Lisa, CJ, et al,
I completed the fencing project of about 200-feet of Plain Jane vinyl fence in three sections with two gates over the last two weekends by myself. It has been over 20-years since I worked on a fence, so this one was a bit different. Not hard, just different in a good way with my neighbors being amazed at the swift progress and professional appearance.
With a view like that, we'd like to share a beverage with you on that porch! Oh, and the mountains are nice, too.
I thought I would share some thoughts and pictures with you and the other “Wam-Bammers”.
When things got real ugly:
The bent tip LOCKED the post in the wrong position and height such that would NOT move up or down or even twist-around with a 36′ pipe wrench. After an hour or two I dug down through the “hard pan” to almost the base, but then exhaustion turned into innovation. I used a compression fitting to adapt a water hose to the 1.25″ OD Wam Bam steel post and literally “hosed it out” after pounding/loosening the dirt plug out. This might work as well to water-dig a hole (messy though).
A quick tip when close to another fence/wall and the steel post inevitably leans the wrong way. Although counter-intuitive, bend it to you a bit more, but then twist it around 180-degrees with a pipe wrench. Be care full to have the lower yellow anchor already in place because the pipe wrench will burr the steel post, (and watch your hands as well).
Looks great!
When things got way pretty:
As the remainder of the pics show, the three sides and two gates look and work great. We used the Plain Jane for continuity with with our existing rear porch deck railings. We also think the 4-foot height and open rails are more neighborly than a 6-foot solid panel.
Someone has a green thumb
Other stuff:
The gate on a 45-degree angle looks and works great since I used the hinges to obviate the whole angle issue. However, I had to use an old (it was in the bottom of one of my tool boxes for 20+ years waiting for its moment…) wood gate latch that I could reverse. The Wam Bam latch was not reversible - being either upside down or with the handle tang backwards.
I have a 4-pack set of the posts leftover. Maybe some day I will enclose the entire side yard and around the front as well. The mini-wiener dogs vote YES, but the “SheFO” votes NO and I am apparently a laborer with no votes.
Thanks for reading, peeking at pics. Please let me know if I have a shot at the $100 contest, (but don’t mention that possibility to Sheila).
Tobin from Winnemucca, NV
"Hey, what's with this fence? Now we can't roam the neighborhood anymore!"
Tobin also gave us a rave review on Homedepot.com (where he purchased his fence):
I wanted to try this product because of the innovative approach. I was NOT disapointed! Everything arrived OK and the instructions were great. Their website and news letter were done first rate and fun to read. This fence panel – along with the rest of their gates, posts, etc, were thought out as a full product line – not simply copied in the cheapest manner as some products are.
You still need to think about how to lay it out, but if you make an error – you can actually back up and it all works out OK.
Thanks Tobin, for being such a great customer and for taking the time to share your experience!
PS We vote “YES” to enclosing more of your property with a WamBam fence! And yes, you definitely have a shot at the contest!
Your house and property does our fence proud!
Here at WamBam Fence, we strive to offer the best technical support that we possibly can. In an effort to provide assistance to people outside of business hours, and to also make it easier for customers to easily search for answers, we are happy to launch our new knowledge base.
Our knowledge base is a no-nonsense, highly searchable repository of articles giving the answers to obstacles customers might encounter while installing their fence.
Have any suggestions for usability, functionality or article suggestions? Drop us a line- we’d love your feedback!
A beautiful shot of a job well done!
Hello WamBam,
Why is it seemingly straightforward, singular projects have a way of snowballing? It all started with the removal of trees on the terrace that were heaving and starting to crack the concrete walks and drive.
Well, time to replace the concrete and… let’s add that pad on the side of the garage that we’ve wanted for years! Bobcat here and scooping up the old stuff in no time. Hmmm, we’ve always hated the grade of the front yard and as long as we have a bobcat and dump truck at our disposal, we might as well have them scrape off the yard and replace that too! Bring on the new sod and many hours of watering during this past particularly hot summer. All looking good except for that tired, rusting chain link gate/fence at the end of our pretty new boat pad.
The old chain link fence has got to go
Hmmm…. local fencing options very limited and ordinary. Off to the Web! Lo and behold, WamBam jumped right out. Nervous Nelly was calling my name! Even though is was not a huge project, there were some challenges. The fence/gate needed to be shortened as well as tied into the existing chain link fence. These modifications were easily managed.
Good riddance, chain link fence!
There were minor issues that were promptly remedied. Customer support at WamBam is awesome! A special thank you to Stephen. Everyone LOVES this fence. The perfect entry into my garden! Hope you enjoy my pictures. I haven’t a single regret and would not hesitate to recommend this to my family and friends.
Work in progress
Thank you for my vinyl fence!
Diane in Wisconcin
We are pleased to announce a new enhancement to our website to make it even easier for our customers to figure out their vinyl fence or ornamental aluminum fence project. Our new “Build Your Project” feature enables a person to put the coordinates of their project into the wizard, and POOF! a material list is generated. At the end, with one click of the button, all the items can be easily added to the shopping cart.
https://wambamfence.com/home/cart.html?cart_action=wizard
The latest feature of our site
Here is a hilarious and winning testimonial from John B who lives in North Huntingdon, PA:
“Erecting fencing is not a favorite summer pastime… then come to think of it, it is not a favorite pastime during any season. However, “The Boss” gave me little choice and fewer options.
MacGreggor, aka "The Boss"
Having installed a few fences in my day, I really did not look forward to installing another one. From cyclone, split rail, and privacy panels, I could see my entire summer pass in front of my eyes. Several years ago, I installed white vinyl railing around my deck. Therefore, I wanted something to match and blend in.
I began by reviewing online offerings at national box stores. Options were clearly available, but I was not impressed. A search of local installers followed resulting in possibilities but with a hefty price tag. Finally, I searched online for something “new and truly innovative.” Most search results offered the same-old-same-old.
Research Complete
Looking over product offerings did not indicate a clear winner but looking at installation techniques did. There was this company in North Carolina claiming to have the better way of installing fencing……”RIGHT!” I understand marketing so the claim of ease of installation was taken with a few grains of salt, several shots of tequila, and followed by a quick suck on a lime.
I read over the information available on the WamBam web site, not once, but several times. My feelings were reserved on the claim, “The only fence that’s fun to install.” At 61, I have been dragged around the block a few times, and once thought that it would fun to own a bridge AND ocean property that had a nice view of land. But fence that was fun to install? Whoever wrote this must have done the ads for “caveman insurance.” Fun is sitting on the deck with a few six-packs and watching someone else install their fence.
Convenience ME!
I sent an email requesting information on the Simple Simon fence style. A prompt and informative response from Denise suggested that I might want to consider the Even Stephen style. With continued skepticism, (over ease of installation) I did a design and created a materials list all the while receiving the look of “Where is my fence?” from The Boss.
I then called WamBam’s office to obtain information on how to make modifications to the gates I would need for the project. I was directed to Stephen who asked all the right questions and indicated that I, with the right tools, could make the modifications.
I reflected on my options. Purchase local, have it installed, and pay 60% more for labor. Purchase local and install myself by digging holes and planting poles in concrete. Or, take a leap of faith and try the new guy. I emailed my design and parts list to Stephen; he quoted me a price and said to let him know what I thought. I called and placed an order with the new guy.
The fence arrived and I was looking at this!
Thoughtfully packaged and shipped, but ouch, my aching back… I then questioned my sanity for not taking option 1. But I immediately set to task and moved the boxes to the backyard, and then retired to my deck with a few cold-and-wet cans of one of my favorite beverages.
Several days earlier, I had received a package from WamBam containing a clip to help self-install the leveling donuts, installation instructions, and a booklet on “Murphy’s Law.” I only scanned the materials then, but now I would attempt to wrap my head around the project while I could now lick, hold, and see the materials. To my surprise, the processes and steps were clearly organized and followed the same principles of any other fence installation BUT without digging (still skeptical).
The Murphy’s Laws booklet included some advice about NOT using dynamite! Really… anyone who has installed fencing knows that blasting is not only fun, but is better than breaking one’s back with digging. The problem is post 911 this stuff is no longer available at the local feed-and-grain store. I also could not find any military grade materials online. But, should I encounter any potential “back breaking” obstacles, I could always improvise. I did not watch all of the episodes of “Macgyver” for nothing and July 4 provided an abundance of raw materials.
In the beginning…
The photographs above visually display the beginning.
Laying out the installation
Yes, The Boss is in my office chair!
Notes-to-Self
REAL men do not read or take installation instructions seriously because they:
- Are written in Chin English.
- Contain confusing language.
- Provide illustrations and/or pictures that are as confusing as the language, and/or were taken or drawn by a preschooler to save money.
- These instructions are spot on and when followed all is good!
The pictures demonstrate how I ran my string line, measured off distances, placed the post holders in the ground, and then simply inserted the pipes into the holders to get a picture of what I was doing and where I would go. The rough outline allowed several small design changes that enhanced installation and aesthetics.
All the while, the pressure from The Boss was mounting and I was stressed out from the constant stare.
The FUN Begins!
Note the position of The Boss when the real work is taking place!
With all planning finalized, I began driving the posts. Using the Basic Betty Post Pounder, I easily drove the posts into place. This should not be confused to mean that I did not experience rock issues or correct for level.
When pounding began, a rhythm took over. Since “real” men do not read instructions, and yes there is a warning in the instructions to be careful, be warned least Basic Betty is directed toward one’s head. When the post’s height just slips under your reach, and Betty no longer has contact with the post, steel and bone will meet. The black-and-blue knot on my forehead had a face under it for about a week. Fool me once, shame on you…well it happened a second time when I was kneeling during the final strokes, BUT this time I drove Betty down on my thigh, now shame on me!
Installing Rails
Since my installation was designed in two unconnected segments, I chose to complete the small segment that included one of the two gates.
I hate to waste anything, and yes, I turn all precious liquid containers bottom up to drain all the “nectar of the gods” out. So, I cut apart the shipping skids and created spacers to demonstrate spacing before making final installation of rails. What this enabled me to do was once again modify my installation to ensure a continued professional look to the project. Here you can see the beginning of the changes as I modified the design to include 4-rails per post. The Even Stephen style is supplied with 3-rails per post. When installing the post with the gate, I discovered that 4-rails would enable me to:
- Customize the installation so that The Boss could not escape his new play area. With the spacers in place I attempted to coax The Boss to escape, and he did. Therefore, I reduced the size of the spacers by 1” resulting in a virtually escape-proof design.
- Permit symmetry so that all lines flowed.
- Customize the height and width of the gate for a very customized installation.
Post heights have not been modified at this point so that I could ensure a symmetrical and aesthetically professional finish.
Additional Modifications
The pictures indicate one change in plans.
Looking to keep an esthetically pleasing look, I made additional modifications and moved from 4 to 5-rails in certain areas in the largest segment. Yes, this did result in a shortage of rails and I did incur additional cost, but the result was so worth it. After all, I made a substantial savings by not buying local and electing self-installation.
3-rail to 4-5ail and then to 5-rail design change
These photos demonstrate the rationale for using 5-rails in one part of the fence design, 4, and 3-rails in a few others. My slope was such that this enabled me to maintain a professional look! Is this possible?
Almost There!
Being pleased that The Boss could not “leave the building” (sorry to all Elvis fans), and appearances were symmetrical and professional looking, I began utilizing the supplied fasteners. When looking at the materials, I was unsure of the look and stability of the long screws. Yes…. I continued to be a skeptic. However, I found out in the completion of the small section:
- The screws did NOT distract from the look of the installation
- The screws were structurally sound and secured the rails to the post (grandchildren considerations)
The Completed Project
Final View?
Not quite...
WELLLLL…….. NO! I am sorry, but I will have to append that later. I am looking at landscaping and have thoughts on lighting using LED’s. This is at the planning stage and I have thoughts of how to use the cut off vinyl posts to create lighting that also ties into lighting installed into the top of the posts. I do hate wasting anything.
Parting Thoughts!
I emailed Stephen during day 2 that:
- I was having fun
- That the installation was professional in appearance (I can show my mistakes but choose not to do so!)
- That “WamBam”ing was simple and easy. However, it is not effortless
- With some degree of diligence and thought, customization can occur on the fly and does not have to be written in stone tablets during the design.
Total time from receiving materials to demonstrated completion was just 2 weeks. HOWEVER, the time included:
1) Ordering and receiving an additional rail section
2) Spending time with The Boss on the deck, where I enjoyed partaking of Johnny Buffet’s…I mean Jimmy Buffet’s favorite beverage. I did tack actual time at 30-hours, this included approximately 6 hours of thought and redesign.
Overall, I am extremely impressed. I experienced a company whose ads “told it like it is.” The hype that I considered brag was not. It was just plain fact. And this was quite refreshing.”
What does The Boss think?
If he’s even half as impressed as we are, he’s thrilled! Great job, John!
We’re excited to introduce our latest video showing WamBam’s Vinyl Jiminy Fence installation in action!
We’re excited about our new chat feature!
Come say hello!
This feature will only be available when we’re online–which means business hours (and some evenings and weekends)– but we hope it helps service our customers even better.
Stop by and let us know what you think!
Nyle single-handedly knocks out his fence in a day and a half!
Nyle was so thrilled with his WamBam Fence system that out of the goodness of his heart he took the time to send us a letter informing us just what he thought of his WamBam fence project. It made us so happy that we just had to pass it along. Thanks, Nyle, for being such a fabulous customer!
Re: WamBam Fence
July 4, 2011
Dear Stephen,
I feel obligated to communicate the high degree of satisfaction I have experienced with WamBam Fence. Although I have installed some fences in my years, I have not installed a fence SYSTEM as well planned and executed as yours.
The "Before" Shot
At 65 years old I was not looking forward to digging posts for 126 feet of fencing. I evaluated practically every vinyl fence option available, including fence contractors and their products. It did appear there are as many different versions of fence as there are contractors’ opinions of how fencing should be installed. After exhaustive research I decided to purchase the WamBam SYSTEM, and I emphasize SYSTEM.
Working hard
I define the WamBam SYSTEM, as follows:
- Excellent web-site with easy-to-understand product offering, video and published instructions
- Expedient follow-up and acknowledgement of order, at a personal level
- Quick delivery
- Quality components packaged accordingly
- Preparatory hard copy instructions mailed prior to shipment receipt
- Installation ease (It is actually fun!)
- Creative/Innovative…Clever
- Phone assistance very accessible, knowledgeable and responsive
As a recently retired global corporate leader I believe the WamBam Fence SYSTEM will become the international standard.
The 125 feet of Simple Simon fence was installed in about 1½ days, with occasional help from my wife carrying parts to the site. WamBam Fence is truly a do-it-yourself system. It eliminates contractor quoting, call-backs and concerns of liability for contractors that may not be insured. (Yes, the homeowner may be responsible for injuries to contractor employees on your property!)
Looking good, Nyle!
If I had decided to auger and anchor fence posts with concrete I’d still be working on the holes. It’s been a pleasure to work with the WamBam Fence SYSTEM. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering q high quality fence system. Pictures enclosed/attached.
Sincerely,
Nyle La***
Northern Minnesota
I'm sure you're the star of the neighborhood!
Here’s some photo contest entry highlights of the past month!
Not only does Diane submit a picture, but also a runner-up for WamBam's new poster boy!
“Thanks for a great product. My dogs can now run free in the back yard!” – Diane from Evansville, IN
Charles gets creative by cutting his picket into a swoop style
Steve does a great job with his privacy fence
“I am very happy with it and all my neighbors have given me positive feedback.” – Steve from Willimantic, CT
Phil puts the finishing touches on his house with the Simple Simon Fence
“Not bad for a Saturday afternoon.” – Phil from Ostrander, OH
Maybe Doug will have us over for a pool party?
“This vinyl fence is exactly what I wanted and my wife and I love it. It was easy to install and is very durable…even in high winds.” – Doug from Williamsville, IL
Starring Linda LaChance!
Hi Everyone! I was welcomed into the WamBam Family back in March and it’s time I introduced myself. Of course being on the shy side it has taken Denise hitting me with a WamBam pipe anchor a couple times to get me to do this. I’m just kidding about the shy part. I must admit I’m a talker. I truly love connecting and helping people. WamBam gives me this opportunity daily. I have talked to people from the East coast all the way to the West coast. It makes my day interesting. I have to say WamBam customers are the BEST! I know it can be a lengthy process to purchase a fence, but by the end of the process I feel like I connected with you in both the business and personal sense. The WamBam Family is here to help you before, during and after your installation so if I can help you in any way please let me know. If there is something I can’t help you with, I’ll get you to the right person. I mean it truly when I say… I love my job!
We can barely keep up with our explosive growth around here, and we’re hiring! If you know of anyone who fits the bill, have them email a resume to stephen(at)wambamfence(dot)com.
Customer Service Representative
Experience Required:
1-3 years customer service strongly preferred
Job Overview:
We are seeking a customer service representative who will assist the Do-it-Yourself customer through their purchases, follow-up with them, and hold their hand through the order and installation process. You love people and enjoy helping to solve their problems. Your adaptable to change and a good listener and communicator. You should enjoy do-it-yourself projects and creative problem solving.
Hours:
9:00am-4:00pm with an optional ½ hr- 1 hr lunch break.
Application Process:
We encourage you to spend some time on our website and our blog. If you feel that you would be a fit, send us a resume with an email answering the following questions:
- The best personal growth book you have ever read, and why.
- An example of when you came up with a creative solution to a problem.
- The worst experience with a customer you ever had, and how you handled it.
- Why you are interested in working at WamBam Fence.
Our booth at the hardware show
Our booth at the hardware show
Our booth at the hardware show
Last year we introduced WamBam Fence to the world at the annual National Hardware Show in Vegas. This year we were back with a vengeance.
I ended up working the show solo, because things are just too crazy at the office to have had anyone else leave. It was a bit of a challenge to set up myself, but thankfully I was able to pilfer some help along the way thanks to our sister companies- Mayne Outdoor Products and New England Arbors. There was only one casualty when the showcase piece fell on top of me during tear down. I have an impressive gash and bruise on my back. I guess I should just be thankful that it didn’t land on my head!
The show was a success with some solid leads, even though it was a bit heartbreaking to inform several people that we’re pretty much all out of product. However, a lot of people broke out into a grin and said that it was a great problem to have. I’m not sure I share the sentiment as we are unfortunately turning sales away every day.
After a week in Vegas, the old saying “the best part about going away is coming home” rings very true.
The good news keeps coming!
Costco.com has beautifully merchandised some of our aluminum fencing on their site www.costo.com!
We’re thrilled to be partnering with such a powerful brand.
“What?! We’ve already blown through all that product just in the past week? Oh man, we’re screwed. Lights out until July at WamBam Fence.”
This is what Steve proclaimed after a recent conversation about inventory issues that seemingly have come out of nowhere. While he is being dramatic, the truth still remains: We are back-ordered on certain models of fence. And we don’t like it one bit.
We didn’t know how to project sales this spring because we had no history of product sales. While we thought we beefed up inventory enough to have lots of product (and figured we erred on the side of too much as opposed to too little), we didn’t expect it to go quite like this. We’ve ordered more containers, but since they come from overseas, they are going to take 6-8 weeks to get to us. We do have another container coming into our warehouse on Monday, but a chunk of the material has already been spoken for and will be shipped out the door as fast as it was shipped in.
People tell us that this is a good problem, and sure, we’d rather be dealing with these headaches than lack of sales. Still, it’s a tough spot for us to be in.
We’re working through this, and we just ask our customers to be patient with us. We still want to provide you with a WamBam Fence, and hope you can bear with us while we navigate these growing pains. We will have product by the third week of June if everything goes perfectly. However, things don’t usually go perfectly, so we’re saying July 15 to be on the safe side. If you still want a back-ordered item, email us or call us and we’ll put you on the waiting list. We’re working on a “first come, first serve” basis.
Things at WamBam Fence are happening fast and furious!
We’re excited to partner with Sam’s Wholesale Club who is offering some of our products on their website.
We’re thrilled to be partnering with www.homedepot.com! After about 7 months of hard work on behalf of both companies, they now offer our entire line on their website.
We’re very excited to have such a powerful brand carry our products!
We love it when our customers show the WamBam spirit, and Kevin from Hawaii took it over the top! He installed his WamBam Fence and told his 4 year old daughter that Jurassic Park lay beyond. To drive the point home, he got creative in Photoshop.
- Kevin from Hawaii decides to have a little fun with his WamBam Fence and Photoshop
Who would have thought that Jurassic Park would have chosen a WamBam vinyl fence to contain the dinosaurs?*
Originally when Kevin called about wanting a WamBam Fence, I pretty much tried to dissuade him. Shipping to Hawaii is not cheap. Kevin wanted a WamBam Fence, though, and was willing to pay extra to get it there. We arranged for his fence to be shipped to the West coast, where it was then loaded into a container and sailed across the Pacific. It was then trucked to his house. Everything went smoothly, much to our relief– and Kevin’s.
Kevin was a great customer all around, giving us lots of feedback and pictures. However, he also enjoyed tantalizing us with tropical weather reports (in December) and pictures of his surroundings. After seeing these images, I wanted to personally deliver the fence, but it just wasn’t going to fit in my 40 gallon backpack.
You'd pay extra for shipping your fence, too, with this practically being your backyard. Thanks for tantalizing, us, Kevin!
The real shot. I think I need to do some boots-on-the-ground fence inspection...
We hope your daughter doesn’t get nightmares, Kevin! Thanks for giving us the laugh of the week- and maybe even the month.
*Please note that WamBam Fence cannot guarantee their fence for the use of dinosaur containment, particularly Tyrannosaurus Rexes, and will accept no responsibility for injuries as a result of wayward dinosaurs. 
This is the subject of an email that recently came through from a customer. The email gave us a little chuckle, and the pictures really took it home!
A 75 year old grandfather installs his fence single-handedly
“I found that if you read the instructions including Murphy’s Fence Laws, which are very clear, before beginning your fence it becomes a very easy installation.
I read the instructions regarding how to figure what you need to order and started out with a portion that I felt comfortable with, about a 1/4 of the total order. I wanted to be sure that it was as easy as they said. When it arrived on a Wednesday late in the day, I unpacked the boxes to check the order.
Day 1
You must understand that I am a 75+ year old man who had a heart attack just 7 years ago and I was in the real estate business all of my adult life running a large firm.
On Thursday, I started installing the vinyl fence and much to my surprise I was able to install all 6 sections in 1 day.
Day 2
I then ordered the rest of my fence and when it came, I was able to finish it in 2 1/2 more days. I must admit that my daughters were concerned about me doing this by myself, so on the last day and a half, they sent one of my grandson’s to help.
Day 3
Not only was it easy, but it replaces a chain link fence that was rusting and falling apart here at the beach. The hardest thing I had to do was remove the old fence and posts buried in concrete.
Now I am just sitting back having a little wine and cheese and watching Duke beat Michigan in the NCAA tourney with my grandson Ben.”
Congrats to Mr. Allen, WamBam's oldest known customer!
Here’s a big pat on the back to Mr. Allen of Salter Path, NC, for single-handedly putting up a WamBam Fence at the age of 75! You really do deserve that glass of wine.
…and as fellow state residents, we’re cheering for Duke with you.
One of our recent customers gave us a glowing review that can be found here. He put together a neat picture collage that was too good not to post.
Not only is he great at installing a fence, but he knows how to put together a cool picture collage!
(May we boldly suggest that his neighbor with the white picket fence to the left should have also chosen a WamBam Fence?)
Thanks Ryan, for choosing WamBam Fence. We’re grateful for customers such as you!
We’re going to launch our ornamental aluminum line next month, and we’re excited to offer these products to our do-it-yourself customers. Our ornamental aluminum is maintenance-free and easy to install because it’s digless and the panels are screwless. For now, here’s a sneak peak showing how it works:
Know of anyone who loves sales and people and has an entrepreneurial spirit?
We’re excited for what WamBam Fence has cooking for 2011. To help facilitate this, we need to hire an inside sales person to help grow our company. To see the job description, click here.
Candidates should email denise@wambamfence.com with a resume and answers to the following questions:
• The best personal growth book he or she has ever read, and why.
• An example of when he or she came up with a creative solution to a problem.
• The worst experience with a customer he or she ever had, and how it was handled.
• Why this person is interested in working at WamBam Fence.
Candidates are encouraged to spend some time on our website and learn all about our digless, easy to install vinyl fence.
We’re using some outsourcing to help the search engine optimization of our site. Part of what they do is write articles that pertain to fencing and WamBam Fence, and then release them online. It’s safe to say that said articles probably aren’t read too much. However, being nervous about people writing articles on our company when English isn’t their first language, I had one criterion: I wanted to proof read every single article written, even if it supposedly wasn’t going to be read by anyone. Part of what came back was enough to make me cringe. I rewrote the thing, and gave revised article a green light.
They released the original one. I don’t even know where they came up with this; they must read the blog or something. But this was one of the paragraphs of the article leaked for a few torture-some hours before I caught it and had it revoked immediately.
Even though the name of our company is pretty strange but our company is absolutely authorized and legal, handling jobs that are appropriate and tailor marked to the best of our client needs. The company is run by Steve and Denise along with two bondage employees Ben and Scott who started the entire concept of easy to fix fences
Easy to fix fences? And what the heck is a bondage employee? What kind of outfit do we have going on here anyway?
(The real story is that we provide easy-to-install vinyl fence that is digless. And our employees are here by choice. Promise.)
So what’s with the blog, Twitter, and the WamBam Facebook page?
I get asked this question every so often, and my answers are weak. They vary from:
Everyone’s doing it.
The latest issue of Inc. magazine said it was the new rage.
I read a book on Social Media marketing and it made sense.
We’re trying (pretending?) to be a real business.
Ok, so I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really have a clue about it. I’m just trying it out. I’m not a Harvard educated Marketing Mongrel. Not even close.
The blog is important to us for a few reasons. The most shameless is search engine optimization. But there are other benefits, too. We can log our story (and another marketing book said it’s all about the story…) and it’s a great container to put little tidbits of information in that would only clutter our site.
But Facebook and Twitter? Hmmm….I’m not convinced. But I’m not giving up, either. After all, I’m sure my 6 Twitter followers (mostly personal friends of mine) wait for updates with baited breath.
So would you help me out in my marketing efforts by becoming a fan of WamBam Fence on Facebook? I promise we won’t inundate you with marketing BS in your newsfeed. You can also follow us on Twitter. I can’t promise an endless supply of witty and clever tweets, but Clever Joe is kinda loveable, right? If you would do this to help us in our marketing efforts, I would be eternally grateful. After all, I can’t afford Harvard. And I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t accept me, either.
Click here to become a Facebook fan and click here to follow us on Twitter. And why should you? Well, we offer digless vinyl fence that’s fun and easy to install. It doesn’t get much better than that, right?
I haven’t made any attempts to disguise the fact that we do some outsourcing at WamBam Fence. For those of you who live and work in North America, you might derive some satisfaction from the fact that it’s not always smooth sailing.
Take, for instance, my instructions to a web developer in India for the following part of the site:
Basic Instructions to this Page
1. Change Title font (The WamBam Journal) to “Gloucester MT Extra Condensed”. It should say “The WamBam Journal” at the top and the bottom.
2. In the new page as per our discussion, the copy should read (I typed out the whole paragraph for him).
The end result when I went to the site the next morning? (Yes, the changes were live.)
Maybe I Need to Give Clearer Instructions?
Let’s just say that after several incidents, we’ve mostly reverted back to North America for outsourcing.
Here at WamBam Fence, we provide digless vinyl fence that’s easy to install because it’s designed for the do-it-yourself market.
We wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Being Canadian, it’s a new experience to celebrate Thanksgiving at the end of November. We’re actually heading back to Canada for these holidays, even though in Canada it’s not Thanksgiving.
Check out our home page to see Clever Joe’s Thanksgiving cheer.
“How strong is your fence?’
It’s a question we get asked often. The truth is that our fencing is very strong because the posts are reinforced with pipe anchors whereas a traditionally installed vinyl fence has hollow posts. But we don’t want you to take our word for it.
We did a sort of redneck strength test using a come-along winching device between our panel and a common traditionally installed panel. We didn’t know what to expect ourselves, but it was fun to watch. Check it out:
Not only is our digless vinyl fence easier, cleaner, and more fun to install, but it’s also stronger!
The latest addition to our video collection:
See, WamBam’s digless vinyl fence system is not only way more fun to install than traditional fence, but it’s much easier and cleaner too!
Clever Joe is in the Halloween spirit this year, and he’s even adorned a costume for the occasion. Click here to see what he’s up to on our homepage.
Our digless vinyl fence is fun to install, so we don’t see any reason why we can’t have a bit of fun with Halloween. Speaking of, make sure you have fun dressing up this year and indulge in a bit of extra candy. It’s what Halloween is all about, right?
Be safe!
EDIT: Halloween is over and Clever Joe took off his costume, but here it is:
But sometimes it’s just inevitable. We try to minimize hold times as much as possible at WamBam Fence, but sometimes if someone has a question that needs a bit of looking up or consultation with a coworker, we have to put a customer on hold.
We elected to do away with annoying “on hold” music and instead got Clever Joe and Frank Wambamalino to engage in a bit of dialog about how annoying it is to be put on hold. This way, when a customer is put on hold, hopefully we can at least make them smile a bit.
Here it is.
WamBam On Hold Message
It’s WamBam, digless vinyl fence that’s easy to install.
BJ’s is another formidable name in retail, and we are pleased to announce that they have partnered with us to offer part of our line on their website www.bjs.com.
With partners like BJ’s Wholesale Club, we’re bringing digless vinyl fence that’s easy to install to the do-it-yourself market.
Menard’s is the third largest home improvement chain in the States. We are proud that they have partnered with us and are now offering WamBam’s full line online and in-store special order.
Within 24 hours of being live, Menards sold one of our fencing jobs. We followed up with the customer who said he was very impressed with both the ease of installation and look of the vinyl fence. His wife chimed in that when the UPS driver dropped off the boxes, he said something like, “WamBam Fence! What the heck did you folks order?” And chuckled his way back to his brown truck.
We’re happy to have Menards on board- not to mention customers who have had good experiences with our digless vinyl fence that’s easy to install.
Steve goes on a shopping binge
When Steve gets something on the brain, it’s stuck there like flies on sticky tape. I’ve been a witness (victim?) of this many times, because when inspiration hits him in the late day, this means my phone will be ringing all night as he continually wants to discuss his new thoughts/ideas/discoveries. “Just one more thought, Denise.” “Oh, sorry to bug you again, but…” “You know, I was just thinking…” “Ok, this will be the last time I’ll call.” “Ok, really, for real, this is the last time I’ll call.” (Thank goodness his bedtime is usually around 9pm.)
I actually don’t mind. Most of the time it’s a good source of amusement.
But I confess that I am relieved when he gets what I call “Post Pounder-itis” early in the day, because I know that while he will continually approach me all day with his latest thoughts/ideas/discoveries, my phone should, for the most part, remain quiet that evening.
Our digless vinyl fence is installed by pounding pipe into the ground with a manual post pounder, and we currently had one in our line, which is a lot nicer than most out there.
But one day Steve was struck with the epiphany that perhaps he didn’t do enough research on post pounders, and this realization is what infected him with Post Pounder-itis. To someone as fanatical about product development as he is (and darn good at it too), this didn’t bode well with him and he went into overdrive. After a bunch of research online, he subsequently ordered every single post pounder he could find online. The poor UPS drivers were delivering pounders for days. It was like Christmas here with metal pounders instead of gift baskets and chocolates. It’s not like we had a “Post Pounder” line in our budget, either.
The Basic Betty Post Pounder
The Big Bertha Post Pounder
The Springy Suzy Post Pounder
Fortunately because we’re small we can react quickly to new ideas and endeavors. Within one week, two more pounders were introduced to our line. Ben had to go crazy with drawings and renders. We had to get the drawings to China so they could manufacture them. We needed to market the pounders, so called up our video guy and asked him to shoot a video demonstrating the differences (watch it here). We needed to retune the website to make room for these changes. We got logos done for all the pounders. We named them zany WamBamy names (The Basic Betty, The Springy Suzy, and The Big Bertha). I decided to go way out and put lips, noses and eyes with big eyelashes on them, but reigned it in after deciding that Post Pounder-itis doesn’t need to be contagious.
Between Steve’s online binge and our own offerings, we now have enough post pounders around here to win a nunchuck-style battle should our competitors ever send the fencing mafia our way.
But hey, it’s for a digless vinyl fence install. Nothing wrong with giving our customers options to make an easier way to install fence even easier, right? It’s WamBam’s digless vinyl fence designed for the do-it-yourself market.
Last Friday I flew to Detroit with about 20lbs of paperwork to renew my working VISA in the US. I’m not gonna lie- I was a bit nervous despite the fact that my lawyer assured me that everything should be smooth as a freshly paved highway (something not too common in Detroit). Still, having grown up in a border town and crossed US customs hundreds of times, I have learned that a customs officer having a bad day can make your life miserable for no apparent reason.
.
Upon landing in Detroit, I get into my rental car and drive to the Detroit/Windsor crossing like my lawyer told me to. I cross into Canada (legally required for some reason) and then turn right around to cross back into the States and pull up to customs.
“Citizenship?”
“Canadian.”
“Purpose of your visit?”
“I’m here to renew my L1 VISA.”
“Hmmm…the guy who processes those isn’t here today.”
Uh oh. I know the guy because he processed my VISA last year, and just processed Steve’s a couple months ago. My lawyer has dealt with him for years and years. He’s familiar with our case. I should also note that you can’t make appointments with these guys.
“Shall I come back on Monday?” I ask.
“There’s no guarantee he’ll be there on Monday. You need to go to the next border crossing.”
So I turn back around and go back into Canada. I drive to the next border crossing and go back into the States, sighing at the long line. I have the brilliant thought to call my lawyer to ensure that this is the right course of action. Voicemail. I leave a message telling him of my intentions.
I finally get through the line and enter the secondary customs area and go to sign in where I am told to, but there is no pen. There is a lady dressed in a customs uniform on the phone, and she doesn’t look happy as she barks at the person on the other end. Someone’s having a bad day, I think to myself. Finally she gets off the phone and with a scowl hands me a pen. I ask if I should fill out the rest of the form and she snarls, “No, of course not.”
Sorrrrrry.
I am told to wait for my name to be called, so I sit with my magazine in the next room. I am engrossed in an article when I hear someone bark what sounds like my name. I startle, but I think I must be hearing things. It sounded like an almost inhumane growl.
“Denise!” Again.
I jolt up and say, “Yup, right here!” as I go to the counter where I see the snarky woman. Uh oh. She appears to be the one processing my paperwork. Once again she doesn’t smile or greet me, merely holds out her hand for my paperwork. She grabs it and starts to go through it. I want to greet her or ask her how she’s doing but I am afraid she will think I’m sucking up (maybe I am) and she seems like the type who wouldn’t be down with that.
But I’m a little nervous. All my paperwork should be there. I mean, my lawyer has been doing cases like mine forever with a flawless track record. Still, this woman’s sour demeanor alone puts the fear of God in me.
She continues to go through the paperwork and when she sees the marketing material for our parent company, manufacturer of beautiful arbors and trellises, she pauses. She goes through the brochure slowly and mutters, “Wow, this is nice stuff.”
I exhale. Finally, some common ground. I milk this for all I can and start talking to her about the product and ask what kind of decor she has in her yard. I end up hearing about her gardens and landscaping and murmur the appropriate amounts of sympathy and rage when she tells me how the neighbor boy poisoned the beloved goldfish in her pond. No wonder she’s so hostile. (I suggest one of our privacy screens and she tells me she just might look it up online.)
I am feeling better about this now that she has warmed up to me considerably. But my confidence is over-optimistic. After our small talk, she informs me that I’m missing a piece of paper and that some numbers are wrong on another form. I am perplexed that my lawyer seems to have dropped the ball. She assures me that once I have that sorted out, my case will be fine. This causes me a small measure of comfort; after all, I can certainly get what she’s after, but it’s still a pain because I’m in Detroit needing to retrieve paperwork that I don’t have.
I get to my car to a voicemail from my lawyer that goes something like this: “Do not go to that border crossing. She will not approve your VISA because she requires paperwork that you don’t have because it’s not legally required. I would suggest waiting until the other officer is around, even if you have to stay in Detroit for a couple of days.”
Phew!
I sigh and head to Port Huron, MI where I cross yet another border into Canada to visit my family for the weekend. On Monday morning I leave early and cross back into the States to drive to Detroit, then go back into Canada only to turn around back into the States, vaguely aware that I have just blown over $30 in border crossing tolls over the past couple days. Much to my relief, the officer I need to speak to is there. He greets me with a smile, asks how I like living in the States, reviews my paperwork, asks me a few questions pertinent to the business, and then approves my 2 year VISA with another smile as he says, “Welcome to America!”
The process takes 20 minutes.
So I’m still here legally, much to my relief. The red tape of being a foreigner here is pretty inconvenient, but it’s worth it, because we’re changing the world of do-it-yourself digless vinyl fence. With our vinyl fence you don’t need to dig holes or pour concrete. It’s WamBam fence, the only fence that’s fun to install.
We are pleased to highlight one of our partners who is reselling our product: http://diy-vinyl-fence.com/.
This company is intensely focused on do-it-yourself vinyl fence, has worked relentlessly to merchandise our products, has a nice ecommerce site that is both user-friendly and easy to use, and is knowledgeable in the world of SEO. We’re pleased to have them on board.
Our partners are helping us bring the concept of digless do-it-yourself vinyl fence to homeowners all over. It’s WamBam Fence, the only fence that’s fun to install.
Generally we’re not into press releases, but they do serve a purpose and I think it is fitting to release one announcing the launch of our product. The press release will be distributed on Monday, Sept. 20 by PRWeb Network.
I apologize that it’s quite boring and sterile, which sort of goes against the “WamBam spirit”. I promise this won’t become a habit. You may need toothpicks to prop your eyes open. Here it is:
New Do-It-Yourself Vinyl Fence Eliminates Digging Holes and Pouring Concrete
Forget about digging holes and pouring concrete with WamBam Fence’s innovative new vinyl fence system. Designed for the do-it-yourself market, installing a WamBam Fence eliminates much of the hassle associated with traditionally installing fence and can be shipped via UPS to a customer’s home.
Cornelius, NC (PRWeb.com) September 17, 2010 – WamBam Fence is a new company that has developed an innovative vinyl fence system that enables homeowners to install fence without the hassle of digging holes and pouring concrete. Developed for the do-it-yourself market, the entire fence system is designed to be shipped UPS. This allows a customer to order the fence system online and have it delivered to his or her home in conveniently sized boxes.
Currently fence installation is a time-consuming and difficult process for homeowners as they must rent augers, tear up the yard, and pour hundreds—if not thousands—of pounds of concrete. WamBam’s digless vinyl fence system eliminates these headaches because their fence is installed by driving pipe anchors deep into the ground. The pipe anchors work in conjunction with some patent-protected pieces to ensure a strong, lasting, and easier install. A short technical video demonstrating the concept can be found here.
With a tagline that boasts “The only fence that’s fun to install”, product videos featuring sock puppets, and fence panel names such as “The Curious George Privacy Fence“and “The Nervous Nelly Pool Fence“, it’s apparent that WamBam Fence likes to have a little bit of fun.
“We take the product very seriously, but don’t take ourselves too seriously,” says Denise Esser, one of the founders. “Fencing is a boring category and we want to liven it up a little. Buying and installing a fence can be an involved process, and we want to make it as fun as possible for our customers.”
WamBam Fence offers 9 styles of vinyl fence, including privacy, picket, pool and ranch rail. They also offer an assortment of gates and other fence accessories. The product is available online at www.wambamfence.com and other select dot com companies.
A spin-off from vinyl arbor manufacturer New England Arbors in Sarnia, Canada, WamBam Fence relocated to Cornelius, NC in 2009 to be closer to their target customer base. The product was in research and development stages for more than two years before launching.
The concept of the digless fence system has been used successfully by professional fencers all over Western Canada for more than twelve years. WamBam Fence is the first company to develop a full product line to take the concept national to the do-it-yourself market in a boxed program. To find out more about WamBam Fence, visit www.wambamfence.com .
About the Company:
WamBam Fence is the first company to offer a do-it-yourself digless vinyl fence system that can be entirely shipped UPS. Located in Cornelius, NC, WamBam Fence was founded in 2009 as a spin-off from vinyl arbor manufacturer New England Arbors.
Contact Information:
Denise Esser
10616 Bailey Rd. Unit H
Cornelius NC 28078
877-778-5733 x12
denise@wambamfence.com
WamBam Fence website
Follow WamBam on Twitter
Find WamBam on Facebook
Find WamBam on Youtube
www.wambamfence.com is finally live!
Here are some stats:
1 scrapped website
3 stress-induced cold sores
9 revisions of the fence calculator
12 videos
38 SKUs
52 Clever Joe illustrations
69 PDFs
72 product images
89 web pages
146 images not pertaining to product
279 instruction illustrations
317 pages of instructions
Countless sleepless nights
We want to celebrate, but we’re so tired we feel like napping instead.
Plus, now I need to start selling our do-it-yourself digless vinyl fence.
Our digless fence is installed by pounding a pipe into the ground with what’s called a post driver or pounder. Skeptics abound regarding how hard it is to drive a pipe into the ground- and those skeptics included us at one time. The truth is that while it requires exertion, it’s generally not as difficult as you might assume. We can say this with confidence because we have driven lots of pipe into the ground. (Ok, I’ve pounded one or maybe two pipes into the ground, but Steve has pounded in thousands from his former fence days and Clever Joe tens of thousands.)
And let’s face it- driving pipe into the ground on a bad day is still way easier than renting augers and drilling holes on a good day. Plus, drilling holes is just the start of your problems. After that you need to mix hundreds of pounds of concrete, pour it into the holes, and clean up all your excavated dirt and mess. I’m sometimes prone to exaggeration, but this time I promise you I’m understating the truth by a country mile.
We’ve manufactured 3 manual post drivers to give our customers options to make their post driving experience as pleasant as possible and you can see them in action in this movie.
Thinking of renting an auger to install a vinyl fence?
We don’t like to make grown men cry. This is why with our vinyl fence you don’t have to dig holes, pour concrete, or make a mess of your yard.
“So what’s going on at WamBam?”
This is a question I get asked often by vendors, clients, friends and business contacts.
Without a public product line and a website, it’s a valid question. I guess one might suspect that we’re taking too much advantage of the nap room or gorging ourselves on Steve’s well-stocked cupboards.
Behind the scenes, a lot has been happening. The amount of work involved in a startup is mind boggling. We have more than 40 SKUs we’re getting ready to launch, and that doesn’t include our ornamental aluminum program. Each fence design needs more than just product design, development and testing. It also needs a 20+ page installation guide, line drawings, images, detail shots, box contents, UPC codes, barcodes, etc.
Then there’s the compilation of 50+ pages of web content. There’s 7 videos. I’m setting up customers which requires copious amounts of paperwork and copy to merchandise the product, not to mention vendor agreements with lots of red tape.
And of course, as in the nature of every startup, things don’t always go as planned.
The Product
Our first container of product arrived late July. The product was to spec and with the exception of a few minor issues, everything looked great.
But there was a problem that became apparent to us when the first container was on the water. Of our 9 fencing styles, 4 were not performing to our satisfaction in final testing. This was not our fault, and not our factory’s fault either. It was a calculated risk we took. Steve knew this issue might creep up, but it was a low risk—around 20%– so it was a risk worth taking. Unfortunately the 20% got us.
Essentially, it became apparent that a few of our vinyl fence panels had bottom rails that would sag (or begin to smile) over time. While some manufactures might let this slide, we couldn’t in clear conscience. Our vinyl fencing is Professional Grade with a limited lifetime warranty, so we want it to perform in 20 or 30 years like it did on the first day.
Back to the drawing board. Change the bottom rail of these styles. Test some more. Testing is good, thus the problem is solved.
However, we have 4 styles of vinyl fence that need upgrading and cannot be released for public consumption. Thus, we needed to order another container with the new products to replace the old. You can’t just order containers overnight- they take time. It is scheduled to arrive in early September so it won’t be until then that we have a full, rounded out line of product to sell.
The Website
The website is coming along slowly but surely. The reason it’s taking so long is that the old one was completely scrapped for reasons I won’t bore you with, and I subsequently hired new developers to redo the whole thing from scratch. So we’re on the second site–with the same design. I take full responsibility for this. I hired the guy who did the botch job on the first site, and in the end it was a big mistake. It slowly became apparent that if we wanted a tight site that we could work with well into the future, it had to be done properly, which meant scrapping a 2-3 month project and starting again.
Steve laughs long and loud at me every time I beat myself up over the site. “Looks good on you, Denise. I love it!” is what he usually says with a wicked cackle. I guess it’s better than yelling and screaming, right?
It’s never easy in a startup, but all things considered, while we’re slightly behind, in the grand scheme of a 24 month project, we’re really not doing too badly. It’s coming along, slowly but surely. And the great thing is that we don’t feel like we’re rushing things, which would mean releasing substandard product or a weak website. The motto around here is, “If you’re going to do something, just do it right.”
So in short, we’re busy. Some days we still feel overwhelmed and wonder if this fly wheel is ever going to get momentum on its own, because pushing non-stop for all these months (and for Steve, it’s coming up on 2 years) requires a lot of dedication, motivation, work, and patience.
But most days we’re still having fun, and that’s what matters.
Yeah, it’s wacky and zany, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. See sock puppet Clever Joe interview Firefighter Frank Wambalamo about what makes WamBam’s vinyl fence professional grade.
It’s WamBam fence, the only fence that’s fun to install.
Installing the fence the old way sucks, but don’t take our word for it. Clever Joe goes into the streets to ask people what it’s really like to install fence.
With WamBam Fence, you don’t need to mess around with digging holes and pouring cement. It’s digless vinyl fence for the do-it-yourself home owner.
This cartoon illustrates why you really don’t want to install fence the traditional way.
With WamBam’s innovative digless vinyl fence system, you don’t need to dig holes or pour concrete. It’s the only fence that’s fun to install.
All those videos I referred to a couple weeks ago? We’ve decided to start leaking them.
Here’s the next one. It’s not the most polished video in our reservoir, but it’s an important one. It features Joe, whom we affectionately call Clever Joe, and talks about how he came up with the idea behind digless vinyl fence. We have no real affiliation with Joe other than licensing his patents and a lot of camaraderie.
Joe is the mastermind behind the digless fence concept
Every once in a while someone comes up with a revolutionary idea that really changes things. Usually these ideas are so radical that they are met with resistance at first. After all, it takes time to start a movement.
Meet Joe. He is an idea man, an inventor- the sort of wild-haired guy who does crazy things. He’s cycled across North America, resided in Cuba off and on for years (no, he’s not a communist!), written a book and invented a solar-powered oven utilized in third world countries where power is scarce.
Joe is a hard working guy who loves to putter. A professional fencer by trade, a dozen or so years ago he was having a few issues installing vinyl fence. One, it took too long and was too messy. Two, the cold in Manitoba Canada was so intense that even if the posts were put in cement footings 3-4 feet into the ground, the frost would often heave them out of the ground.
So Joe put on his inventor hat and started to tinker.
First he started experimenting with driving pipe into the ground. It worked quite well, but there was a critical problem with this: it was virtually impossible to get every pipe perfectly straight into the ground, which resulted in slightly crooked fence posts.
Joe went to the drawing board and came up with a couple of simple devices that would compensate for the slightly crooked posts. What Joe came up with was not complicated or outrageous. It actually was really simple. But it worked, and worked well. In short, he invented a simple adjustable post collar to sleeve over the pipe so the fence would be easy to make straight and level.
Within a short amount of time, Joe was installing fence a new way. To old fencing friends who had invested in expensive equipment and were accustomed to installing fence the traditional way, this new concept seemed absurd. But when Joe’s fences went up much faster than theirs and performed just as well, his competitors eventually had to embrace the concept to keep competitive. Plus his reputation soon grew so that this new system was used to replace heaving fence posts that were concreted in the ground.
It’s now been 12 years and there’s a growing movement across Western Canada. Most professional fence companies are installing fence this way. We think it’s such a cool idea that we want to help spread the word.
Sure, it’s only fencing. It’s not going to solve world hunger problems or help mankind live on Mars. But time is important to everyone, and this idea is so clever that it will save homeowners a lot of time and hassle. In short, we’ve been lucky enough to stumble on a movement and we want to spread the good news. We want to change the world of do-it yourself vinyl fence.
Despite the lag on the website, we’re not sunbathing in the North Carolina sunshine. We are actually working hard behind the scenes on a lot of product development, marketing, and sales. Above is a technical demo of how our digless vinyl fence works.
If you’re a youtuber, check out the original video and give us a good rating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSLk6W7u2LY
And by the way, we have 5 other highly entertaining videos that we’re ready to launch, but you’re just going to have to be patient.
Confession. I’m in charge of the website and it was supposed to go live tomorrow.
But it’s not. It’s just not ready. I’ve been working on the copy, content and design for months. I’ve gone through 2 contractors and am now working with 2 more who are working hard with me on the site. I’ve been working evenings and weekends and fiddling with copy and Photoshop images for what feels like forever, but it’s still not ready.
Sure, I’m a perfectionist, but there is just so much work involved that even if I put my perfectionism aside, we couldn’t release it in clear conscience. I underestimated–waaaay underestimated– the amount of work involved. I didn’t realize that my ideals were bigger than website code. What’s funny is when you finally get to see it, you’ll probably think it’s a nice site, but you will wonder what the heck took so long because it doesn’t look that fancy or revolutionary.
Steve always says that everything costs twice as much, takes twice as long, and requires double the effort for half the results. I wanted to prove him wrong with our website, but in some ways I think I’m proving him wrong the other way: twice as much, four times as long, and quadruple the effort- for most of the desired results.
Yesterday Steve asked me, “When you agreed to this start-up, did you realize how much work was involved?”
My response? “I knew there was a ton of work required, but no, I had no idea just how much.”
I just try to remember what my father always taught me: “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” After all, we intend to change the world of do-it-yourself vinyl fence, and things like that take time.
Provided my sanity doesn’t go first, the website is coming folks, but please be patient. I can promise you that we’re not sitting around here smoking stogies and drinking scotch. (And the napping is limited.)
Here is a picture of a little room in the back of our office. It’s ideal for meetings or finding some peace and quiet from the open concept office to do some proofreading.
This little room is small and cozy and well used
But you know what we use it for most?
Napping.
That’s right. Stephen is like an infant. He gets tired easily and needs to nap. Every day after lunch at his desk, it’s like clockwork: He says good night, retreats to the back room, shuts the door, and we don’t see him for 20-30 minutes. When he finally surfaces, it’s mildly amusing. He opens the door, his hair sticking up all over, and stands there with squinty eyes while they adjust to the light. He usually says one of three statements: “Good morning,” or “Wow, that was a great sleep!” or “How long was I out for?”
Once in awhile Ben comments, “You were snoring pretty loudly today.”
Steve is always proud of this.
I can’t poke too much fun at Steve for his incessant napping, because I occasionally indulge in the nap room myself. It’s a dark room with a comfortable couch and fuzzy blankets. The first time I tested it out, it was a Saturday and I thought I would just lay down for 20 minutes or so to get a second wind. Two hours later I awoke with a jolt, unsure where I was. It was a lesson well-learned. Now when I retreat to the nap room for a siesta, I set an alarm. I will say that when I’m tired and take a 20 minute power nap, my afternoon is much more productive.
Other cultures fully endorse napping (the Chinese and the Spanish, for example), so why can’t we adopt it at WamBam? After all, experts claim that it’s very healthy.
Trying to bring this back to do-it-yourself fence that’s fun to install is going to be difficult. Maybe I’ll go to the back room and sleep on it.
Ben is an asset to our team
Say hi to Ben, a member of our WamBam team.
You might think that you need to be slightly crazy to work at WamBam Fence, but Ben is pretty normal and easy-going. I think it’s the easy-going part that makes him jive here. For instance, Steve’s 4 year daughter was in the office the other day. She walks up to Ben and shamelessly stares at him. Ben is a polite guy and doesn’t say anything. Finally I ask, “Kate, why are you staring at Ben?”
She gets all shy and responds, “Because I liiiiike him.”
Fortunately Ben doesn’t have to be a heartbreaker because a few minutes later she informs us that she won’t marry him because she’s too young to get married.
Anyway, Ben primarily works on our product development. He essentially takes ideas and transfers them to technical drawings and specs, mainly for our ornamental aluminum fence program. He’s also bailed me out of more than one jam with some great product renders. He’s a busy guy, because not only does he work 20-30 hours a week at WamBam Fence, but he’s also studying Engineering as a full time student at the University of Charlotte.
Ben is a man of few words. Steve will try to pull conversation out of him, and it works best when he asks questions about NASCAR or politics. Ben works out and every so often Steve asks him in jest to flex his biceps. He politely declines with a grin.
“Ben, do you have anything you would like to say on our blog?” I ask him.
He smiles and shakes his head.
We’re thankful for Ben and the work he does here. He’s an asset to our team. With his help we’re creating a do-it-yourself vinyl fence system that doesn’t require digging holes or pouring concrete. It’s fence that’s easy to install.
He may have turned down Steve's request to flex for the camera, but he's got a good sense of humor.
inforetailradio.com approached me at the Hardware Show and asked if they could steal a few minutes for an interview. I was surprised because they were interviewing huge companies like 3M and Char-Broil, but they said they were intrigued by the company name and wanted to feature us as well. They have released the podcast, which you can listen to here:
Info Retail Radio Interviews WamBam Fence
(If you don’t have time to listen, it’s all about our do-it-yourself vinyl and ornamental aluminum digless fence that can be shipped UPS.)
Injection Molding Machines at our Chinese Factory
We want to communicate something that is important to us, so here is an uncharacteristically serious blog entry:
It’s no secret that “Made in China” is a sticky subject. Here at WamBam, we want to be forthright with our customers, so we don’t want to hide or camouflage this fact. Would we prefer that our stuff was made domestically? Of course. But unfortunately, that’s not an option for us.
Our roots are in New England Arbors, a company that manufactures beautiful arbors, trellises and pergolas. Originally we manufactured our products domestically. We designed everything in Canada, manufactured all the components and pieces with our partners in the US, and packaged it all at our warehouse in Canada. It was “Made in North America” and we were proud of that fact.
Things started to change. Raw material costs went up. Packaging costs went up. Labor costs went up. By far and away the tipping point for us was when the US dollar weakened to the point of being worth slightly less than the Canadian dollar at one point in 2007. Currency losses were massive. We raised our prices to offset these challenges, but we were pricing ourselves out of the market and becoming uncompetitive. We had to make a tough decision. Either find a more efficient-faster-better way to manufacture and keep the business intact, or continue to raise our prices at a serious risk of further hurting our sales and business. We really didn’t have a choice but to find a more efficient way to manufacture.
Aluminum Powder Coating Line
Fully aware of all the challenges and potential pitfalls in dealing with China, we were resistant to the idea. We are passionate about quality and didn’t want anything to hurt our reputation. We started doing serious homework in China by visiting numerous factories—numerous times and over numerous years—to do due diligence in finding a good partner we could absolutely trust.
It wasn’t an easy process, but we did find a good partner. We chose a top notch factory with happy, loyal and well treated employees. Thus began a tip-toe, take-it-cautious approach to doing business in China. The factory was also passionate about high standards which was evident by their state-of-the-art quality control. Best of all, this factory had a partner living in the States so there were some solid links back to the homeland. They were already manufacturing for many large American companies and had a flawless track record and many happy customers. They offered us pricing that could keep us competitive which in turn meant that we could sustain our business.
Quality Assurance Lab
With this change, repercussions to employees were very minimal because we were still largely manufacturing domestically. A few things slowly changed. Some employees left for different opportunities, some were re-positioned, and one went on disability due to unfortunate personal health issues. But the best news was that the existing employees kept their jobs because sales started picking up again.
When we started WamBam we decided to move to the States to be closer to our customers. Here at WamBam, we do manufacture in China. But all our design, product development, sales, marketing, and customer service employs people in the States. If we manufactured domestically we wouldn’t be competitive and would probably be out of business and subsequently out of jobs.
Do we wish it was easier and more efficient to manufacture domestically? Of course. But the bottom line is that for us it’s not. Rather than resist this truth, we have chosen to work with it. Even though our product is made overseas, we’re confident in our factory’s capabilities and quality control. We are confident we are offering our customers the very best product at a very competitive price to give real value. And because we can do this, we’re creating jobs in America.
To sum it up, at the end of the day we believe that we bring better value and innovation to our customers by partnering with China.
Our booth at the National Hardware Show in Vegas
We showed our purple and blue colors to the world last week, launching our product at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.
The product was a hit, making the show a success. We had a lot of fun showing how our product works, seeing people’s reactions to our animated videos, and loved the positive feedback on our company name, branding, and literature hand-outs. We weren’t sure if we’d be too crazy for some, but almost everyone seemed to embrace the spirit of WamBam.
Our (admittedly unconventional) Show Handout
So world, meet WamBam, the first ever fence system to ship UPS, and the first digless fence system. It’s D-I-Y fence that’s fun to install.
Oh- and if you want your very own copy of The WamBam Journal, email me your address and we’ll mail you a copy. Warning: Don’t take it too seriously!
The WamBam Sandbox
Steve doesn't know he's about to encounter a bit of a snag...
First samples have arrived from China, horray!
We take our new treasures to the WamBam sandbox, which is actually just a piece of land down the street that we have rented from John, an 80 year-old businessman. We haggled with John to let us use a sliver of his land for grass roots quality control.
We show up to work in grubs, load up the pickup truck, and start WamBaming pipes into the ground. I want to try out the product myself, and despite my disciplined gym routine, it’s clear I need to pump more iron if I want to drive the anchors into the ground as quickly as Steve. It must be painful for him to watch because after a while, he says, “Give me that thing” as he starts WamBaming the anchors into the ground– quite effortlessly, I might add.
After one particularly successful blow, he remarks, “That’s easier. I must have just gotten past a rock.”
And within seconds we’re standing in a rapidly growing puddle. And it’s only getting bigger.
We’re really hoping that he hit an oil well, Beverly Hillbillies style. Visions of instant retirement with a lifetime of luxury without all the hard work of an endeavor like WamBam start flashing through my head. But then we realize with dismay that it’s water.
Yup, Steve broke a water line. (For the record, he did call the locates prior to driving the anchors and was given the clear.)
Water is gushing everywhere and we have to find John to confess our misdeeds. Things need to happen to rectify the situation: Turn off the water to the property. Dig up the ground to get to the pipe. Call a plumber. Write him a check.
A couple hours later, it’s all fixed.
I will say that I am impressed with our fence system. Sure, the anchors require some muscle to go into the ground. But it was pretty cool to see in practice, and the posts looked as even and white as a used car salesman’s smile. Yup, maybe I’m biased, but our digless vinyl fence system is pretty cool, innovative, and fun to install. Just as long as the water lines are kept intact.
It’s probably a combination of a bunch of things. Steve is a little larger than life and tends to live life by the mantra “go big or go home”. Or maybe it’s the influence of his Dutch father who survived the war and raised him to appreciate food because “you never know when you’ll go without.” Or maybe it’s the thrill of Sam’s Club, which must still be a novelty coming from a town where there are no wholesale clubs.
Whatever the case, whenever Steve goes to Sam’s Club to stock up on “lunch food”, it’s a little scary. The sheer amount of groceries he hauls in is enough to feed a small army. Plus, that means there will be no available fridge space for a couple weeks at least.
You think I’m exaggerating. But I promise these pictures were taken more than a week after his last excursion to Sam’s Club. Check it out:
The Cupboard Above the Fridge
- 2 “family size” bags of Tostitos
- 3 cans of Pringles
- 1 bag of Doritos
- 60 envelopes of hot chocolate in one big box
The Fridge
- 2 5lb bricks of cheese
- 1 “family size” bag of bacon bits
- 3 1/2 lbs of butter (or 3 boxes and 2 sticks)
- 3 jars of Tostitos cheese mix
- 1 jar of salsa
- 2 large jars of olives
- 4 boxes of grapefruit cups for a total of 32
- 2 “family size” bottles of salad dressing
- 3 extra large tubs of cottage cheese
- 1 large bag of clementines
- 1 large tub of spinach leaves
- 2 quarts of mushrooms
Main Cupboard
- 39 cans of soup
- 1 extra large jar of pickles
- 2 bags of chips
- 1 large jar of mixed nuts
- 3 boxes of fruit cups (48 cups total)
- 7 boxes of crackers
- 2 boxes of ice tea mix (for a total of 48 gallons of ice tea. He insists this was purchased in error- he thought it was regular tea.)
- 3 boxes of baked beans (24 cans total)
Bottom Cupboard
- 1 2.5 lb. bag of croutons
- 5 boxes of cereal
- 1 assorted box of apple cider packages (36 packages total)
I’ll stop now, but there’s still the freezer and the door of the fridge and a couple more cupboards.
When I raise my eyebrows and ask if all this food is really necessary, he replies, “If there’s ever a storm or war, you’ll thank me, Denise.” And in fairness to him, he is very good about sharing.
But just to reiterate, unlike me, he doesn’t usually eat all his meals at the office. He eats breakfast and dinner with his family at home. This is lunch food only.
And yet again, what does this have to do with fence or vinyl fence or privacy fence or do-it-yourself fence installation? I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but if you have any ideas, let me know.
Contrary to popular belief in their new middle school, Steve's kids never lived in igloos
Have you ever heard of Michael Jackson?
Do you have computers up there?
Do you speak Canesha?
And of course, the classic: Do you live in igloos?
These are questions that Steve’s 10 and 12 year old daughters actually get asked in their first couple days of school by new wide-eyed peers who have just found out that they are from (gasp!) Canada.
We practically think of Canada as an extension of the States, perhaps to the chagrin of Americans. But it quickly becomes apparent that many Americans think Canada is as foreign as Timbuktu.
Some stereotypes are true. Yes, we do say “eh” and get busted for the way we pronounce “about” all the time. And sure, we love hockey and I will echo the claims that our beer is far less watery than domestic American brands. Indeed our health care really is free and we like it that way.
But honestly, we don’t live in igloos. We get hot summers. And by hot, I mean it can creep up to 100 degrees. We’re really not that backwards.
At least Steve’s kid’s peers now know that Canadians don’t live in igloos, are aware of Michael Jackson and they do use computers all the way up there. And the primary language is English.
And hey, I admire his daughters for upping and moving to a new place so readily. They have adjusted remarkably well.
What does this have to do with digless, do-it-yourself fence that is fun to install? Not a whole lot. I guess I got a little off topic.
Right now I’m now working on at least a dozen projects with people from the following countries: Macedonia, India, Ukraine, Russia, China, California USA, Georgia USA, North Carolina USA, and Canada.
They don’t know each other and they are all working independently of each other.
Yes, time zone and language barrier issues occasionally arise. Yes, it’s a lot to manage sometimes. And of course there are problems. But it’s a very cool way to do business and I’m thrilled with the results so far.
I love technology. Sometimes the rapid pace of the world scares me, but I want to embrace it. And right now I’m happy to report that it’s working for me.
How can I relate this back to fence that’s fun to install? Um, let’s see…well, it’s good to embrace new ways of doing things. And the new WamBam way of installing fence is very cool, fun, easy, and overall a much better way for a do-it-yourself person to install fence.
Ok, that was a stretch. Sorry. But it’s all I got.
So we know WamBam is a zany, unconventional name. But it’s memorable and fun and since our product is digless, you do just sort of “WamBam” it into the ground.
I personally think it’s a great name and we wouldn’t have it any other way. (By the way, Steve gets all kudos for coming up with the name). But I realized quickly that there are a few minor problems with it.
For one, spam filters all over seem to be blocking our emails.
Two, trying to set up life here in the US as a Canadian is difficult on a good day. Getting credit, banking, utilities, etc. is a bit of a nightmare as we must deal with stuffy corporate businesses with so much red tape I wonder how they don’t strangle themselves. I am all professional when I talk to them. But when they ask the name of the company that I work at, there is usually a lull at the other end after I say, “WamBam Fence.” The lull is often followed by, “Excuse me?” I repeat myself and assure them it’s legitimate as I picture them flagging my file.
Three, it can get a little awkward in the social scene. I’m brand new here and trying to make friends pronto. Everyone here works for Lowe’s or Bank of America or other highly professional outfits. It’s a common question to be asked what I do for a living. “Sales and Marketing” doesn’t usually appease their appetite for my career-related information. The inevitable question that follows is, “What company do you work for?” I’ve tried the “Cough-cough-Wam-cough-Bam” approach but that doesn’t usually work.
Fortunately I don’t think I’ve lost any friends yet. And it is a great conversation starter.
Plus, the majority of people seem to like it.
So what do you think about this crazy name for a company that is changing the world of do-it-yourself fence?
(Bear in mind that our fence is easier to install than traditional fence, and a heck of a lot more fun. Forget digging holes and tearing up your yard- simply “WamBam” it into the ground. And yes, that was a shameless plug on some keywords for search engine optimization. At least I can admit it.)
We got a new sign today out front of our little business park. It’s exciting to get a real sign; it somehow brings legitimacy to our little start up here.
Unfortunately the landlords/sign people didn’t quite get it right: (If you can’t see it, it’s the middle column under “H”)
Maybe we need some animals in the office.
Maybe it would work if our target market was ranchers and farmers. But it’s not.
At least it’s good for a laugh.
What are we doing here at WamBarn Fence? We’re changing the world of do-it-yourself fence. Our fence is easy and fun to install.
Some days we feel a little overwhelmed. We sit back, look at each other and Steve says, “Do you think this is going to work?”
I do. I really do. But of course seeds of doubt are always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I can eliminate them, and other times they grow into vines.
Stephen says it best: 90% of me says we’re on to something. 10% of me says we’re cracked and whacked.
So we just put our head’s down, butts up, and get back to work.
After all, we want to change the world of do-it-yourself fence. We’re on a mission to bring the world an easier, better, and more fun way to install fence.
So Steve and I have worked within feet of each other—literally—for more than 7 years now. We get along really well.
But I have to confess that arguments occasionally erupt. There are three particular points of dissension between us that just won’t seem to go away.
#1 Office Disagreement
Hand’s down, office temperature. Steve is always hot. I’m always cold. He tells me to wear more clothes. I tell him that an undershirt and sweater should be sufficient for me and that clearly he needs to forgo his undershirt given his naturally high body temperature. He marches to the thermostat to turn it down. I sneak over and turn it up, then make myself a cup of tea and wrap a blanket around my shoulders, figuring I have only about an hour until he clues into the thermostat change. But it’s a nice, warm hour, until the process is repeated once again.
#2 Office Disagreement
Music. He likes to play classical music on the radio. I always thought I was cultured and appreciated classical music, but after several hours of Mozart droning me to sleep, I can’t do it anymore. I have learned not to comment on it, because every time I do, it’s a license for him to pull out the remote, conveniently within inches of his reach, and crank the screechy violins with an evil glint in his eye. Most of the time I just put on my headphones and play high energy music for the sake of productivity. When he’s not around, I throw my iPod in the stereo and blast it. Of course when he walks back into the office he gives me a strange look and says, “You wacko! Do you actually call this music?!” as he marches over to turn it down so low it might as well be off.
#3 Office Disagreement
The last thing we disagree with is my social life. Steve is an introverted morning person, which is completely my opposite (meaning I’m a highly extroverted night hawk). Now that it’s just the two of us in the office, he knows too much about my social life and thinks I am completely whacked to go out as much as I do.
“Why not sit at home and read a book tonight?” He asks.
“What?! On a Friday night?! You have got to be kidding me!”
I remind him that even after going out, I’m usually more functional in the morning then he is in the afternoon. He can’t dispute this fact so we share a laugh and get back to work…until he asks me if I have plans that evening and I give a squeaky little “yes” in response.
It’s all in good fun and if these are the biggest brawls we have, I think we’re quite lucky.
How can I bring this back to fence that’s digless and therefore fun to install? I really can’t, so I’ll just leave it alone.
Note to Steve: Don't call your graphics designer's wife a stooge
Steve sometimes says things without thinking. And other times things come out the wrong way. This is always a great source of amusement to me. For instance, yesterday he was talking to our graphics designer, Sid, on Skype.
Steve is talking to him about our instruction manuals. I hear his side of the conversation and it goes something like this:
“You know Sid, these instructions have to be really good. They have to be designed for the end user who doesn’t know a lot about fence. We need a total stooge to proofread them. You know, someone like your wife…”
From my end of the table: uncontrollable laughter followed by, “Um, Steve, do you realize what you just said?”
Of course Steve doesn’t think Sid’s wife is a stooge. He was just trying to communicate that he wanted someone who knew nothing about fencing to read our instructions to see if they made sense. But it came out all wrong.
Fortunately Sid is still doing work for us.
And those instruction manuals? They are all about fence. Digless fence. Do it yourself fence. Fence that’s fun to install. You know the drill.
Gotta Represent the Homeland
First twinge of homesickness since I got here. It’s Sunday afternoon and it’s an important day. It’s the gold medal hockey game between the Americans and Canadians.
Despite my lack of cable TV and friends who have any desire to watch hockey, I simply can’t miss this historical event.
What many Americans probably don’t realize is that for Canada, this game is at a whole new level. It’s just not just about winning. It’s about winning at our most prized sport. Hockey is practically a religion in Canada. Our national identity is pretty much at stake with this game.
So with a self confidence I do not feel, I walk into a bar heavy with blaring TVs and plop myself down in a bar stool. Everyone is watching the game intently, and it takes only seconds for me to get into it. It’s clear that despite the fact that I’m in North Carolina, a state not generally known for it’s love of hockey, there are some diehard hockey fans in the place.
It feels a bit strange to be what feels like the only one in there rooting for Canada, but I’m determined to support my country. After the first good play by Canada, I notice some happy exclamations two people down, and I realize there is indeed another Canadian fan in the bar, and a female one at that. We are instant friends.
Fast forward to the last 30 seconds of the 3rd period. It’s 2-1 Canada. It looks like we have won, but I remark to my new friend that you can’t always trust hockey. Things can change quickly.
And they do.
The wild cheers of “USA! USA!” from the Americans as their country ties up the game with only seconds to spare is depressing. My new friend and I put our heads down on the bar and groan. We’re anxious and nervous. The intensity is killing us. We simply can’t lose!
When Sidney Crosby scores the winning goal in overtime, there is a quiet, upset hush over the bar as everyone grows quiet and somber. Everyone, that is, except the two Canadian girls. We stand on the foot rests of our bar stools, and clap and cheer for our homeland, shamelessly and probably obnoxiously.
My cell phone rings. It’s an excited Steve calling. We Canadians have to share the moment, right? My phone lights up like a Christmas tree with text messages from elated friends back home.
Our cheers are not totally appreciated. Most people ignore us. Some shake their heads at us. A few give us dirty looks. One guy jokes that he is going to have us deported from the country. I find it amusing as I update my Facebook status from my phone: “Surrounded by bitter and angry Americans and loving every minute of it!” (Had the tables been turned, I surely would have been a bitter and angry Canadian, so no ill will towards my new American friends.)
It certainly isn’t the celebration it would have been back home; actually, quite the opposite. This makes me a little sad. But I am happy to make my own personal celebration in a sea of morose Americans as opposed to drowning my sorrows in their celebrations.
And not only are we up a gold medal, but I’m up a friend too.
Go Canada!
Oh yeah- this is supposed to be a blog about fence, right? Specifically digless fence and do-it-yourself fence and fence that’s easy to install. Well, our product is all that and more. I’m sure Crosby would endorse it given the chance.
Humble Headquarters
It’s a small and cozy office.
There are no desks. No offices. And certainly no cubicles.
There’s simply one huge boardroom table with some rollie chairs scattered around. Steve and I bring our laptops in the morning and set up camp.
Unconventional working space
I’m not going to lie. At first I didn’t love this idea, admittedly because I generally keep a messy work area.
One might think it's a day spa. Unfortunately it's anything but.
Steve loves this idea because he keeps a very neat work area, and I’m suspicious that he thinks this is one way of controlling my clutter (news alert: it’s not working, to Steve’s chagrin).
But I don’t mind it now. Sure, my stuff gets scattered around the table and Steve occasionally comes by and tries to be such a nice guy by asking if I need any help throwing anything out. (I usually politely decline. And sometimes not so politely.)
But our office is cozy and quaint. There’s lots of nice lighting and it’s peaceful. Steve has taken this ambiance to a new level with the purchase of a little fountain that sputters all day, leaking peaceful sounds of gurgling water.
He enjoys this, it drones me to sleep. But that’s okay because I plug in my headphones and get to work. It’s just that sometimes he has to wave his hands at me to get my attention.
Despite the unconventional bend, I like our little office and this is a good thing. After all, it is my home away from home.
And just in case you forgot what WamBam Fence is all about- we make fence of all kinds. Privacy fence, pool fence, vinyl fence, and aluminum fence, just to name a few. And our fence is fun and easy to install.
Singing Wishes
First business trip. We’re going to walk the annual fence show in Orlando. It’s 5am when Steve picks me up and we’re giddy that we can get to the airport in 20 minutes. No customs! No chance of bad weather! No driving through Detroit traffic! No 1.5 hour commute! We’re excited about this small pleasure in life.
Everything goes as smooth as Johnny Walker black on the rocks.
When we land in Orlando we’re parched and make a pitstop in one of the over-priced airport shops.
I plunk two bottles of water on the counter and after the smiling, middle aged man at the counter gives me my change, he looks me in the eye and belts out loudly in song:
“Thank you for the business, I hope you have a great day!”
His sing song voice rings through the quiet store like church bells and Steve and I are completely amused.
He looks at Stephen right in the eyeballs and repeats his song.
We’re loving it. I encourage Stephen– who enjoys breaking out in a bit of song himself, much to the dismay of his children—to return the song-like favor to this cheerful man who has just brightened our day. So there goes Stephen, standing in the airport store, singing this man a good-day wishes in a loud and slightly-strained baritone.
Rules Were Made to be Broken
In the interest of exercise and taking advantage of the Florida sunshine, Steve, our coworkers from our sister companies and I decide to walk from the convention center to the hotel after the trade show. Ironically we bump into our supplier who is driving a shiny Tacoma pickup truck, stuffed with a load of people in the cab.
He rolls down the window to say hello and someone jokes about scamming a ride from him.
“Hop in the back,” he says.
So the 7 of us in our business clothes throw our briefcases in the back of his truck, hop in, and get whisked around Orlando. The responses vary according to personality. For example, there is Guy, a rule abiding man, who is concerned about the illegality of the scheme. “We’re going to get fined, or worse, Denise here is leaning on the back of the tailgate. This is a Toyota! What if it’s been recalled and the latch comes loose and there she is, lying on the pavement? I’m sweating bullets, and there you are, loving this, aren’t you?” He asks me. My grin gives away my delight and the wind whips through my hair.
The latch stays intact and not long after we unload from the back into the hotel, thanking our ride and apologizing that his shocks might have just taken a bit of a beating.
More Singing
The next morning we take a cab to the convention center and our driver is a jovial African American man who loves to let out hearty belly laughs. There is a Bible on the seat next to him and Stephen asks, “Do you actually believe that book or is it there just for show?” With the confident orating ability of a black preacher, he enthusiastically replies that yes, he is a God fearing man and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Somehow him and Stephen get to talking about hymns. Within minutes they are belting out a hymn in unision, the black man singing and laughing at the absurdity of it. He is loving it. I’m loving it too, purely for entertainment value. These two characters sing their hearts out as we get dropped off at the convention center.
And um, yeah, let me try relating this back to fence, whether privacy fence, vinyl fence or just privacy vinyl fence. It was a fence trade show we attended. Promise.
So here Steve and I are, sitting in a little office in Cornelius NC, new residents in a new country, trying to launch a start up.
It’s not really that ad-hoc. It’s been about 18 months in the making and there’s some serious R&D under our belts. The product concept is really cool and we believe in it, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.
But it’s fence. And fence is usually a snoozefest.
We kind of like to defy the norm and convention. And we want to spruce up fence. Our product is fun to install. We want our marketing to be fun. We want our blog to be anything but stuffy corporate.
Having said that, what does an “anti-stuffy-corporate” blog look like?
I really have no clue, but I’m going to try. Hopefully it will at least be a bit entertaining. And hey, it can’t help our search engine optimization efforts either, right?
Suggestions are welcome.
Our goal is to change the world of do-it-yourself fence.
It’s the world’s first digless fence.
It’s the world’s first fully UPSable fence.
See the product launch at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, May 4-6, 2010 Booth #11975.
