Fence, deck, lighting and irrigation franchises ranked on FDD Item 19 data: Superior Fence's $2.6M median, Archadeck's $1.4M, and the seasonality catch.
Quick answer Superior Fence & Rail discloses a median of $2,598,212 across 93 franchisees against a $134,400 to $278,300 Item 7 range, 12.6 times the midpoint. Archadeck reports $1,398,994, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives $649,157, Conserva Irrigation $545,872. Most of those franchisees run three territories, so check the denominator first.
Superior Fence & Rail’s 2026 FDD reports median gross revenue of $2,598,212 across 93 franchisees. Opening one territory, per its Item 7, costs $134,400 to $278,300. The median is 12.6 times the midpoint of that range, and of the 422 systems in our database that disclose an Item 19 median on a sample of at least 20, only 15 clear a higher ratio. Most are staffing, logistics, and master-cleaning models where the owner books work somebody else performs.
Now the denominator. Those 93 franchisees operated 285 territories, and 66 of them report several as one business. The median describes an owner holding roughly three territories.
| Brand | Item 7 range | Fee | Item 19 median | Who is in the sample | Median ÷ midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superior Fence & Rail | $134,400 to $278,300 | $59,500 | $2,598,212 | 93 franchisees, 285 territories | 12.6x |
| Archadeck | $215,400 to $239,300 | $59,500 | $1,398,994 | 40 franchisees open 24+ months | 6.2x |
| Conserva Irrigation | $125,800 to $159,500 | $49,500 | $545,872 | 51 franchisees open 2+ years | 3.8x |
| Outdoor Lighting Perspectives | $180,700 to $226,500 | $59,500 | $649,157 | 55 franchisees open 2+ years | 3.2x |
| Top Rail Fence | $177,444 to $333,944 | $59,900 | $784,124 | 21 first-year locations, 70 territories | 3.1x |
| Mosquito Squad | $162,380 to $220,375 | $35,000 | $330,985 | 217 territories | 1.7x |
| Mosquito Shield | $120,525 to $162,420 | $54,500 | $235,812 | 66 franchisees, 5.4 territories each | 1.7x |
Superior’s Item 19 is unusually generous. It publishes a three-year ramp and a full expense benchmark alongside the headline table. The ramp covers first full years from 2019 through 2025: a median of $1,654,651 across 101 franchisees in year one, $2,331,715 across 90 in year two, $3,249,617 across 44 in year three.
The benchmarking study deserves the afternoon. Forty-four franchisees in 97 territories, all open at least two years, averaged $3,497,555. Materials took 36.0% and installation labor 19.0%, so cost of revenues ran 58.6% against a 41.4% gross margin and 31.3% in operating expenses. What survived was $353,232, or 10.1%, before the owner takes a dollar. One definitional catch: Superior counts gross revenue as the value of installation contracts sold, not work completed and collected, and Item 7 budgets only $10,000 to $50,000 of additional funds against that cash cycle.
Archadeck’s headline table covers 55 franchisees in 93 territories. The $1,398,994 median comes from a narrower cut: the 40 open at least 24 months as of December 31, 2024 who volunteered income statements. Their average was $2,024,296 against a $7,727,027 high and a $402,451 low, and only 33% beat that average.
Cost structure explains why the ratio to Item 7 is half of Superior’s. Materials are 30.0% of revenue, construction labor 20.0%, other construction costs 9.8%. After operating expenses and an owner-expense adjustment, the disclosed bottom line is $204,559, or 10.1%. Two trades, two Empower Brands filings, the same margin. Adjacent categories on the same method: our handyman shortlist, our lawn care breakdown, and the full Home Services field.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives discloses $649,157 as the median for 55 franchisees in 96 territories open two full years. Its all-franchisee table is broader and lower: 76 franchisees, 133 territories, median $525,654, bottom-quartile floor of $41,795. Conserva Irrigation reports $545,872 across 51 reporting franchisees, 45 of whom hold multiple territories.
On revenue those two look like a different sport. On the comparable expense line they do better. Outdoor Lighting leaves $172,902 on $818,812 of average revenue, or 21.1%. Conserva leaves $168,933 on $813,066, or 20.8%, though its table excludes payroll while Outdoor Lighting’s includes $63,623 of overhead salaries.
Mosquito Squad discloses by territory rather than by owner: 217 territories operating all of fiscal 2025, average $493,200, median $330,985, top quartile starting at $679,499. Because the unit is a territory, that median is closer to what a first territory produces than anything in the Empower Brands tables.
Mosquito Shield runs the other way. Its 66 reporting franchisees average 5.38 territories each, so the $235,812 median is spread thin. What it discloses instead is the recurring-revenue engine: 36,884 customers, 82.5% retention, $756.54 average revenue per customer against a $267 acquisition cost. Our mosquito control buyer’s guide covers that subcategory.
A data note. Two Mosquito Shield entities appear in our database under different FDD years, but both are the same franchisor: the 2025 filing is indexed under Mosquito Shield Franchise Corporation, the predecessor name used before the company became an LLC in February 2022. One brand, listed twice.
Superior Fence & Rail, Archadeck, and Outdoor Lighting Perspectives all list a $59,500 initial franchise fee. Item 1 of each FDD explains it: all three were acquired in 2021 by Empower Brands Franchising, LLC, formerly Lynx Franchising. Conserva Irrigation shares that parent but prices at $49,500 against a smaller 300,000-person territory cap. Blingle Premier Lighting charges $59,500 under a different parent, and its Item 19 covers 18 franchisees, too few to rank here.
Common ownership shows up past the price. All four use a tiered royalty that steps down as revenue climbs, the same discretionary seasonal abatement clause, and a mandatory local advertising investment: $40,000 per calendar year at Superior and Conserva, $50,000 per territory at Archadeck, $55,000 at Outdoor Lighting. That last one is 8.5% of Outdoor Lighting’s own median, and none of it appears in Item 7.
Item 19 reports twelve-month totals. The fee tables are where these franchisors admit the year has a shape. Archadeck’s $2,000 minimum royalty applies during the months of March through November, abatable in winter weather states at the franchisor’s sole discretion. Outdoor Lighting carries that clause against a $1,400 monthly minimum, Conserva against $1,000. Mosquito Shield puts its primary selling months at April 1 through October 31.
Read those clauses as a cash flow forecast. In a northern market, four months produce little revenue while insurance, vehicle leases, and any retained crew keep billing, and the abatement that would soften it is discretionary rather than contractual. Superior Fence’s Item 6 has no abatement language at all. Our seasonal revenue planning guide covers modeling that trough.
Every disclosure in this category points at one constraint. Superior spends 19% of revenue on installation labor, Conserva 28%, and Archadeck’s second-largest line after materials is construction labor at 20%. An owner who cannot staff a second crew cannot move from the $1.5M band to the $3.5M band no matter how many leads arrive. That is the mechanism behind Superior’s ramp to a $3,249,617 third-year median, and behind Top Rail Fence’s $784,124 first-year median in a much younger system. Territories do not produce that curve. Hiring does.
Put the sample definition next to the investment range for every brand on your list before any of these medians goes in a model. Our AUV leaderboard ranks disclosed unit revenue with sample sizes attached, and the labor reality check asks what these Item 19 tables are quietly answering.
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best outdoor living franchisesfence franchise costdeck building franchiseoutdoor lighting franchiseirrigation franchise opportunityexterior home improvement franchiseSuperior Fence and Rail franchise
About this analysis The franchise data in this article is drawn from VetMyFranchise's structured analysis of 2,300+ Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with U.S. state regulators. See our data & methodology.
Superior Fence & Rail, by a wide margin. Its 2026 FDD discloses a $2,598,212 median across 93 franchisees against a $134,400 to $278,300 Item 7 range. Archadeck is second at $1,398,994. Both cover owners who mostly hold several territories, and both are revenue: Superior's benchmarking table leaves 10.1% before the owner is paid.
Superior Fence & Rail estimates $134,400 to $278,300 for one territory, including a $59,500 franchise fee. Top Rail Fence estimates $177,444 to $333,944 with a $59,900 fee. Neither range includes the mandatory local advertising minimum, which runs $40,000 per calendar year at Superior for a single territory.
Yes, and the fee tables admit it more plainly than the marketing does. Archadeck's $2,000 minimum royalty applies March through November and may be abated in winter weather states at the franchisor's discretion. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives and Conserva carry the same clause against $1,400 and $1,000 monthly minimums.
No brand here requires it, and Archadeck's model is design-build management rather than field work. What you need is licensing and crews. Fence and deck work triggers contractor rules that vary by county, and Superior's benchmarking table puts installation labor at 19% of revenue.
Mosquito Shield at $120,525 to $162,420 and Conserva Irrigation at $125,800 to $159,500 carry the lowest Item 7 ranges here. Conserva also has the lowest fee among the Empower Brands systems at $49,500. Low entry tracks with lower revenue: their medians are $235,812 and $545,872.
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