Repair the fence when the damage is in one area and the posts are still solid. Replace it when the repair would cost about half as much as a new fence, or when most posts are rotted at the ground or the boards are brittle from end to end.
A simple way to decide
- Repair: the problem is one section, the posts do not rock when pushed, and the boards still hold a nail.
- Rebuild one side: a full run of posts has gone, often the side the sprinklers hit, while the other sides are straight.
- Replace: posts are soft along the whole fence, boards are cracked and loose everywhere, or the repair comes to about half the price of new.
My fence is about 15 years old, a few posts are rotted and it leans. Posts or whole fence?
Check the boards before you decide. Push on every post and look closely at the pickets. If only a few posts are bad and the boards are still firm, new posts will buy you years. In Bakersfield, though, 15 summers of sun can leave boards so dry and split that they break when they are taken off the old rails. If that is what you have, a new fence is the honest answer.
The repair quote is $1,400 and a new fence is $5,200. Which makes sense?
The repair usually makes sense. $1,400 is about 27 percent of $5,200, well short of the halfway point. The catch is what the repair leaves behind. Ask how many of the posts that are not being replaced are sound, and whether the boards will survive being rehung. If more repairs are likely next year, add them up before you choose.
Half my pickets are rotting and the gate will not close. Fix it section by section?
You can, as long as the posts and rails are solid. Fix the gate first, since a gate that will not close is a post or frame problem. Then work through the pickets section by section. Find out why they are rotting. Here it is nearly always sprinkler spray or soil and mulch piled against the bottom of the boards, and it will ruin the new ones too if it is not changed.
How long does a wood fence last in Bakersfield?
It varies too much to give one honest number. The species, the board thickness, the type of post, whether the fence is sealed and how much sprinkler water reaches it all matter. In this climate sun and heat wear out the boards while irrigation rots the posts. Cedar or redwood boards on treated or steel posts, kept sealed and dry at the base, last the longest.
The only way to get a real number for your property is a site visit. The estimate is free. Call (661) 475-8961 or text us a photo of the fence line.