From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2026 FDD
SBA-eligible · directory code S2285 since 2017
Superior Fence & Rail
Fencing · parent company: not identified
Superior Fence & Rail is a fence installation franchise selling and installing wood, vinyl, aluminum, and chain-link fencing for homes and businesses. A franchisee operates a sales-and-installation business with estimators and crews working from a small office and yard, serving homeowners, builders, and commercial clients.
Superior Fence & Rail net unit count grew 29.0% over 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.
Our rating · opinion
Strong disclosed record
Enough units and history to judge, and the operating record is good. Units grew 29% (2023–2025: 241 → 311); the fiscal 2025 exit rate was 3.9%, below the 7.4% median across 82 comparable systems (home services).
Exit rate · fiscal 2025
3.9%
vs 7.4% median across 82 comparable systems (home services)
Cost to open
$134K–$279K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses
Too few to rate
2 seasoned resolved loans; 30 needed
Market density · Ohio
Thin market
29% thinner than the national average
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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from Superior Fence & Rail's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2026, extracted 2026-07-22) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.
What each source says
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
The sources broadly agree, and the verdict follows the FDD's operating record.
FDD record · Item 20
Strong operating record
Units grew 29% (2023–2025: 241 → 311); exit rate 3.9% (fiscal 2025) vs 7.4% median.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
Too few seasoned loans
2 resolved loans approved by FY2020; 30 needed.
Modeled risk
Moderate
Directional only — too few seasoned loans to check it.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Clean opinion
Unqualified audit, 2026 FDD. Says nothing about franchisee results.
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 11 of 282 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 3.9% (fiscal 2025), vs a 7.4% median across 82 comparable systems (home services). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 76 | 241 | 284 |
| Opened | 165 | 52 | 38 |
| Transfers | 0 | 23 | 13 |
| Terminations | 0 | 9 | 11 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 241 | 284 | 311 |
| Net change | +165 | +43 | +27 |
The franchisor's own finances
FDD ITEM 21 · AUDITED STATEMENTS · 2026 FDD
Smith and Howard PC gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue rose 22% from FY2023 to FY2025.
This is the company selling the franchise, not any franchisee. A clean opinion means the statements are fairly presented — not that the business is healthy.
Revenue · FY2025
$96.8M
extracted · not cross-checked
Net income · FY2025
$17.3M
extracted · not cross-checked
Where FY2025 revenue came from
37% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
Show the statement figures ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Fiscal year | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $79.5Mextracted · not cross-checked | $102.2Mextracted · not cross-checked | $96.8Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Royalty revenue | $21.5Mextracted · not cross-checked | $31.6Mextracted · not cross-checked | $35.7Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Net income (loss) | $10.0Mextracted · not cross-checked | $20.6Mextracted · not cross-checked | $17.3Mextracted · not cross-checked |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 59 SBA-backed loans to Superior Fence & Rail franchisees since 2019. Only 2 of its loans approved by FY2020 have resolved — fewer than the 30 we need to compare it fairly with other franchise loans, so we don't rate it.
All-time, 0 of 10 resolved loans charged off (0.0%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 2019 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score. 83% of the brand's loans have not resolved yet.
—
2 seasoned resolved · 30 needed
0.0%
0 of 10 resolved, every approval year
—
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$283,104
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
shown with 10+ defaults
18 vs 3
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO SUPERIOR FENCE & RAIL BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical Superior Fence & Rail buyer since 2020 borrowed $283K through SBA — about $37K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $2.6M, that is 1.4% of the revenue the business takes in, before payroll, vehicles, supplies, insurance, and royalty.
This estimate is computed by software from the brand's public filings and any inputs you enter. No CPA prepared it for you and no assurance is provided on it. Actual results will differ, and the differences may be material.
Who finances it
The Huntington National Bank
36.2% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.0% of its resolved SBA loans to other franchise brands in the FOIA file, vs 14.8% nationally — a read on that lender's portfolio mix, not a finding about the bank.
Who buys it
48.0%
borrowers with no other franchise SBA loan on record
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators have charged off less often than brands sold mostly to newcomers (see methodology).
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 59 SBA 7(a)/504 loans matched to Superior Fence & Rail by SBA franchise code in the SBA FOIA file. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. Owner-level splits rely on borrower-name matching and may misclassify. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $59,500 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $134K–$279K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$134K–$279K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$59,500
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Starts at the Item 19 median of $2.6M from Superior Fence & Rail’s latest FDD. Read which units built that figure, then check it with current and former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$156K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$1.6M
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This estimate is computed by software from the brand's public filings and any inputs you enter. No CPA prepared it for you and no assurance is provided on it. Actual results will differ, and the differences may be material.
This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on labor, vehicles, supplies, insurance, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).
Build a real pro-forma for Superior Fence & Rail with a buyer-paid CPAHow the earnings claim is built
FDD ITEM 19 · BASIS · 2026 FDD
The headline figure is Gross Revenue for 12 months ended September 30, 2025, leaving out licensees, commenced operations during reporting period, territories that ceased operations and others. It is not an annual per-outlet figure, so we don't treat it as unit revenue.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
Show the basis ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| What is measured | Gross Revenue (gross sales; not an annual per-outlet figure) |
| Period | 12 months ended September 30, 2025 |
| Whose results | Franchised outlets |
| Units included | 93 (total for comparison not stated) |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | printed, but not an annual per-outlet figure |
| Median | printed, but not an annual per-outlet figure |
| Met or beat the average | 42 (45%) |
| Costs shown | Some cost items only |
| Where | p. 46 (Item 19 runs pp. 45–55) |
| The filing's words | “The information provided in the table below was compiled from 93 Superior Fence & Rail franchisees (operating in 285 territories) that were operational during the Reporting Period.” |
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
The model puts this brand in its moderate band — but this brand has too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score against, so read it as a band, not a number.
Risk percentile
Moderate
Directional · no point estimate
Modeled · vs same-year loans
band only
too few seasoned loans to check
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Share of buyers who are first-time operators (raises). Too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score — read it as a band. A linear scorecard trained on brands' vintage-adjusted SBA loss records; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Public records
Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored
We have no verified public-record signals published for Superior Fence & Rail. This is not evidence that no events exist. Check PACER, the FDD's Item 3 (litigation) and Item 4 (bankruptcy), and recent news yourself.
10 questions to ask a Superior Fence & Rail franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These questions come from what Superior Fence & Rail has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
Superior Fence & Rail’s own Item 20 shows 11 of 282 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 3.9%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 02
13 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2025. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Item 20 counts transfers as neutral, but a transfer can be a good sale or a reluctant exit — the filing does not say which.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 03
Item 7 puts the cost to open at $134K–$279K, yet the average recent SBA loan to Superior Fence & Rail franchisees was $283K — above the whole range. What did those loans pay for: new units, resales, real estate, several units at once? And what did you actually spend to open, all in?
A loan above the disclosed range can mean buyers routinely overspend Item 7, or that SBA money in this system funds resales, property or multi-unit deals. The filing doesn't say which; an owner can.
FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+
- 04
You pay 6.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 05
Superior Fence & Rail makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
Item 3 discloses 2 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 08
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 09
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 10
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
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A broker is usually paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid only by you, never by a franchisor you're considering — and the job is pressure-testing Superior Fence & Rail’s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
Superior Fence & Rail franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many Superior Fence & Rail franchised outlets left the system last year?
In Superior Fence & Rail's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 11 of 282 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 3.9% — compared with a 7.4% median across 82 comparable systems (home services) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.
How much does a Superior Fence & Rail franchise cost?
Per Superior Fence & Rail's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $59,500 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $134K–$279K (Item 7).
What royalty does Superior Fence & Rail charge?
Superior Fence & Rail charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Superior Fence & Rail disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Superior Fence & Rail makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $2.6M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.