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Fencing solutions
A fence that holds the line and stands up to the seasons
A fence is only as good as what you cannot see: the posts, their depth, and the boundary they sit on. Get the property line, the footings, and the material right for your climate and the pickets on top largely take care of themselves — get any of the three wrong and even the best panels end up leaning, disputed, or torn back out.
- Wood, vinyl, metal, and composite compared
- Property lines, permits, and HOA covered
- Posts set to frost depth in cold states
What this covers
Fencing work, end to end
The jobs that fall under fencing, and what each one actually involves.
Wood Fence Installation
Cedar or pressure-treated posts, rails, and pickets built as privacy, picket, or shadowbox, with posts set below the frost line and the base kept off the soil to slow the rot that always starts at ground contact.
Vinyl and PVC Fence Installation
Pre-colored extruded panels routed into posts and rails so nothing ever needs painting, with reinforced bottom rails on tall privacy runs where wind load and mid-span sag are the usual failure points.
Chain-Link Fence Installation
Galvanized or vinyl-coated mesh stretched tight between concrete-set terminal posts and tensioned with a top rail and bottom wire, so the fabric stays taut instead of bowing under a leaning dog or drifting snow.
Aluminum and Ornamental Fence Installation
Powder-coated aluminum or steel pickets that rack to follow sloped ground, detailed to meet pool-barrier spacing and self-latching gate rules wherever the run encloses a pool or spa.
Composite Fence Installation
Wood-plastic composite panels that keep the look of stained lumber without the sealing schedule, set on footings sized for the extra weight the heavier boards put on each post.
Gates and Hardware
Single walk gates and wide double-drive gates hung on posts braced for the swing load, fitted with self-closing hinges and self-latching hardware where a code or pool enclosure calls for them.
Fence Repair and Post Reset
Swapping broken pickets and rails, re-hanging sagging gates, and resetting or sistering leaning posts, which is often far cheaper than a full run when the failure is limited to a few posts.
Old-Fence Removal and Replacement
Pulling old concrete footings, hauling the existing fence away, and rebuilding on a clean layout, with property lines re-confirmed before any new post goes back in the ground.
Compare options
Choosing your fence material
Most homeowners are really choosing among a handful of well-established materials, and the right one depends on why you are fencing — privacy, security, containment, or looks — along with your climate, your terrain, and how much upkeep you are willing to do. Each option below trades cost against maintenance, privacy, or longevity in a fairly predictable way.
Why it matters
What good fencing work buys you
Real Privacy and Screening
A solid-panel fence blocks sightlines from the street and the yards next door and takes the edge off wind and noise at the property line. How much it actually screens comes down to height and style, which is where local height limits enter the conversation early.
Boundaries Confirmed, Not Assumed
Building off a survey rather than an old fence line, a mowing strip, or a neighbor's memory avoids the expensive fight of a fence that turns out to sit on the wrong side of the line. A couple of feet of error can mean tearing the whole thing back out.
Containment for Kids and Pets
The right height and picket spacing keeps children and dogs in and stray animals out, and a self-latching gate closes the gap that props most fences open. Pool enclosures carry their own stricter barrier rules on spacing, height, and latching.
Curb Appeal and Resale
A clean, well-matched fence defines the yard and can add to how a property shows to buyers. Matching the style and material to the house and the street tends to read better than the cheapest option that merely clears the line.
Built for Your Climate
Posts set to the local frost depth resist the heave that lifts and tilts a fence over a few freeze-thaw winters. Getting footing depth, drainage, and material right for the climate is most of what separates a fence that lasts from one that leans.
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How the work happens
From first look to finished job
Site Walk and Property-Line Check
The route is walked and measured, and the property line is confirmed against a survey or plat rather than an existing fence. Where the corner pins cannot be found, a licensed surveyor is worth the cost before anything is dug, since a misplaced line is expensive to correct once posts are set.
Approvals: HOA, Permits and 811 Locates
Many cities require a fence permit and cap front-yard height, and a homeowners association may separately dictate style, material, and color. Before any hole is dug, a call to 811 gets underground utilities marked, which is both a legal step in most states and the only way to avoid striking a gas or power line.
Layout, Post Holes and Frost Depth
Post locations are staked so panel spacing stays even and gates sit square. In cold regions the holes are dug below the local frost line and the posts set in concrete with gravel at the base for drainage, because posts that stop short of frost depth are the ones that heave and lean.
Rails, Panels, Pickets and Gates
Once the posts have cured, rails and panels or pickets are hung to a consistent line and height, and gates are set on braced posts with proper hinges and latches. The finished side generally faces the neighbors and the street, following the good-neighbor convention and, in many places, local code.
Cleanup and Final Walkthrough
Spoil from the post holes is hauled off, the site is cleared, and every gate is checked for swing, latch, and self-closing where required. Anything that still needs curing time, such as concrete or a fresh stain, is flagged so it is not stressed too early.
Fencing done properly is invisible
Good work on a home is rarely the thing you notice — it is the leak that never happens, the draught you stop feeling, the bill that stops climbing.
Budgeting
What moves the price
Fencing quotes vary widely. These are the variables that explain most of the difference between one estimate and another.
- Linear Footage and Layout
- Fencing is priced largely by the linear foot, so total run length is the single biggest driver. Corners, ends, and jogs each add a terminal post and bracing, so a broken-up layout costs more per foot than one long straight run of the same overall length.
- Material and Grade
- Chain-link, treated pine, cedar, vinyl, aluminum, and composite sit at very different price points, and within each there is a real spread between economy and premium grades. Wall thickness on vinyl and picket weight on metal are what separate the products that hold up from the ones that sag.
- Height and Number of Gates
- A 6-foot privacy fence uses far more material than a 4-foot picket, and going taller can also trip a permit threshold. Every gate adds hardware, bracing, and labor, and a wide double-drive gate for vehicles costs well more than a single walk gate.
- Terrain, Slope and Post Setting
- Rocky, root-filled, or heavy clay soil slows digging, and steep or uneven ground forces stepped or racked panels that take longer to build. Setting posts in concrete, and setting them deeper to reach frost depth in cold states, adds both material and labor to every hole.
- Removal, Permits and Survey
- Tearing out an old fence and breaking up its concrete footings is billed on top of the new build. Permit fees, HOA submittals, and a boundary survey where the line is unclear all add cost that a fence-only quote may have left out, and local requirements vary, so they are worth confirming directly.
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Questions
Fencing FAQs
Often on both counts. Many cities require a permit for a new fence and set height limits — commonly around 4 feet in front yards and 6 to 8 feet in back — along with sight-visibility rules near street corners and driveways. If you belong to a homeowners association, it may separately dictate approved styles, materials, colors, and setbacks, and building without that sign-off can mean being ordered to take the fence back down. Both approvals are worth securing in writing before any work starts.
Not from the old fence, the sidewalk, or where a neighbor believes it runs — any of those can be off by several feet. The reliable answer is your property survey or plat together with the iron pins set at the corners, which a metal detector can sometimes locate. If the pins are missing or the boundary is at all unclear, hiring a licensed surveyor before digging is far cheaper than moving a finished fence, and it protects you if a neighbor later disputes the line. Building slightly inside your own line is a common way to sidestep the argument entirely.
The convention, and in many places the local code, is good-neighbor etiquette: the finished side — the one without exposed posts and rails — faces your neighbors and the street, leaving the framed side on your own property. Some jurisdictions require this outright, and an HOA may as well. A true good-neighbor or shadowbox design avoids the issue by looking the same from both sides. It is also worth a conversation with the adjoining owner, since a shared boundary fence can sometimes be split in cost.
A common rule of thumb is about a third of the post's above-ground height in the ground, but in cold climates frost depth governs. Posts should reach below the local frost line — which can run a foot or two down in northern states and deeper still in the coldest ones — so the seasonal freeze-thaw cycle cannot heave them upward and tilt the fence. Setting posts in concrete with gravel at the base for drainage, and going deeper on gate and corner posts that carry more load, is what keeps a fence standing straight through the winters.
It comes down to how much has failed and why. A few cracked pickets, a sagging gate, or one or two leaning posts are usually a straightforward repair, and resetting a post costs far less than a new run. Replacement starts to make sense when posts are rotting at the soil line across the whole fence, when many panels are warped or broken, or when the structure is simply near the end of its expected life — patching a fence that is failing everywhere tends to be money spent twice. Age, the share of posts still sound, and whether the style still suits the property are the deciding questions.
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