Repair the fence when the damage is limited to one area and the remaining posts are solid. Replace it when the repair price climbs toward half the cost of a new fence, or when posts are giving way along the whole line.
A simple way to decide
- Repair: damage in one place, posts firm elsewhere, rails and boards still sound.
- Replace a section: several neighboring posts have gone, often the downhill stretch, while the rest stands true.
- Replace it all: posts wobble or are soft at ground level along the run, or the repair quote is near half the price of new.
My fence is about 15 years old, a few posts are rotted and it leans. Posts or whole fence?
Push on every post before deciding. If only a handful are soft, new posts will give the fence more years. If most of them move, the fence has reached the end of its posts and patching buys little. On a Pittsburgh hillside, check the downhill posts hardest. They carry the most load and sit in the wettest ground.
The repair quote is $1,400 and a new fence is $5,200. Which makes sense?
Repair, as long as the posts that stay are sound. $1,400 is about 27 percent of $5,200, well short of half. What can spoil the math is a second repair a year later. Have the contractor test the remaining posts and put the count of good ones on the quote.
Half my pickets are rotting and the gate will not close. Fix it section by section?
You can, provided the posts and rails are solid. Pickets go at the bottom first, where they sit in damp soil, leaves or ivy. Deal with the gate before anything else, since a gate that will not close means its post has shifted. After that, replace pickets a stretch at a time as the budget allows.
How long does a wood fence last in Pittsburgh?
It varies too much for one number. The species, the post depth, the drainage and the care all count. Cedar boards last longer than pine boards. Fences kept clear of soil, vines and wet leaves last longer than ones buried in them. Here the posts fail before the boards, because the ground stays damp and goes through many cycles of freeze and thaw.
The only real price is one based on your own yard. The estimate is free and done on site. Call (412) 851-6524 or text us a photo of the fence line.