About fence repair
Wood fences almost always fail in the same place first: at ground level, where wet soil meets open air. Everything above that can look perfectly sound while the post holding it up has gone.
Posts, pickets and rails are different jobs
Pickets and rails are straightforward replacements — they unfasten and new timber goes on. A post is the fence’s structure, and a rotted one has to come out and be reset, which means digging, concrete and cure time. That is why a leaning section costs more than a broken one, and why replacing pickets on a rotted post is money spent twice.
Why gates go wrong
A dragging gate is usually not the gate. It is the post it hangs on leaning under the weight, or hinge screws that have lost their grip in softened timber. Planing the gate to fit treats the symptom and it comes back, because the post keeps moving. Fixing the post or the fixing is what lasts.
Storm damage versus age
A fence blown over in a storm often has sound timber and simply needs resetting and refastening. A fence that has been slowly leaning for two seasons is usually telling you the posts have rotted at grade, and that is a different conversation. Photographs of the base of the posts say more than photographs of the fence line.
What moves the price
- How many pickets, rails or posts are affected
- Whether posts need digging out and resetting in concrete
- Fence height and style
- Access for the run — slope, planting and machinery access
- Matching existing timber, or a full section replacement
This is why a photo prices most jobs without a visit.