Leaning posts and rotted posts
A post leans for one of three reasons. It was set too shallow and frost has lifted and tilted it a little more every winter. It was set in a concrete collar with no drainage and has rotted off at grade, so the concrete is fine and the wood above it is swinging. Or the ground around it is wet in spring and it has simply loosened. The fix for the first and third is to pull the post, dig the hole deeper, put gravel at the bottom, and reset it plumb with concrete or tamped gravel. The fix for a rotted post is a new post, and if one is rotted off at grade, we check the ones on either side, because they went in the same day into the same ground. A fence with one rotted post is a repair. A fence where every third post is rotted is a replacement waiting for the right storm.
Snow load and winter damage
Winter is hard on fences here. Snow sliding off a metal roof lands on the fence below it with enough weight to snap rails and shear boards. Plowed snow piled against a privacy fence pushes on it all winter, then the thaw leaves the posts standing in mud. Drifts bury the bottom foot of a fence and the boards wick water for two months. The repair is usually rails and boards on a section or two, and resetting any post the load rocked loose. The longer fix is a conversation about where the snow goes: a gap under the boards so drifts do not sit on them, a snow guard on the roof, or moving where the plow stacks. We will say so if the fence is going to get hit the same way next year.
Panel, rail, and board replacement, and chain link
On a cedar fence we replace the rails that sagged or split and the boards that broke or rotted, matching the width and the top cut. New cedar is a different color from cedar that has grayed for five years, and it stays that way for a season or two before it catches up. We can stain the new section to get closer if the whole fence has been stained. On chain link the problems are bent top rail, loose tension bands, a stretched or cut mesh, and posts bent by a vehicle or a fallen tree; those are straightforward to swap or re-tension. Split rail and welded wire fences mostly need rails replaced and posts reset. Gates are their own subject, and a sagging gate is more often a post problem than a hinge problem.
When repair is not worth it
We would rather tell you now than after we have taken your money for a repair. If more than about a third of the posts have failed, the rest are close behind, and the money is better spent on a new fence with the posts done right. If the rails are rotting along with the boards, the fence is done. If the fence is over twenty years old and was never stained, the boards are brittle and every repair loosens the next one. And if the fence has been leaning long enough that it has settled into the lean, straightening it usually breaks more than it fixes. In those cases we quote the replacement and let you decide.
What drives the cost
Fence repair is priced per section and per post from a look at the fence. These factors move it.
- How many posts have to be reset or replaced. Posts are most of the labor in any repair.
- Whether the old post comes out clean or is set in a concrete plug that has to be dug out.
- Ground. Resetting a post in river sand is quick; digging a deeper hole in cobble is not.
- Number of sections of rails and boards being replaced, and the style. Board on board and horizontal take longer than a standard privacy panel.
- Material matching: cedar versus treated, board width and top cut, coated versus galvanized chain link.
- Whether a gate has to come off and be rehung to get the section straight.
- Access to the fence line with tools and a post, especially on a shared line with a neighbor's landscaping on the other side.
When we would talk you out of it
- A fence where every third post is rotted or leaning. We would quote a replacement instead. Patching that fence buys a year, and you pay for it twice.
- A fence that turns out to belong to the neighbor, or sits on their side of the line. Sort out who owns it before anyone works on it. We can help you figure out which side the posts are on, which is usually the tell.
- Someone who wants the leaning section screwed back to the post that failed. It will lean again by spring. If the post is the problem, the post is the repair.
What you get
- The post gets fixed first, then the boards nailed to it
- Posts reset below frost with gravel under them so it does not lean again
- Rails and boards matched to the existing width, cut, and species
- Chain link re-tensioned and bent rail or posts swapped
- A straight answer when replacement makes more sense than repair
- Same crew builds new fence, so a partial rebuild matches the rest
How it goes
- 1
Send photos
Call or use the form with a few photos of the damage and the posts nearest to it. That tells us most of what we need before we visit.
- 2
Look at the fence
We check every post along the run, including the ones that look fine, push on the rails, and look at how the boards meet the ground. Then we tell you what is actually wrong.
- 3
Quote: repair or replace
You get a repair quote by post and section, and if the fence is far enough gone, a replacement quote next to it so you can compare.
- 4
Fix it
Posts pulled and reset or replaced, rails and boards swapped, gates rehung, scrap hauled off. Most repairs are a day.
Questions we get on the site walk
Can a leaning fence post be fixed without replacing it?
Often, yes. If the post is sound and just set shallow or loosened by frost and wet ground, we pull it, dig the hole deeper, add gravel at the bottom, and reset it plumb in concrete or tamped gravel. If it has rotted off at the ground, it gets replaced, and we check the posts on either side too.
Why did my fence posts rot at ground level?
Because the bottom of the post sat in water. A concrete collar with no gravel under it holds water like a cup, snow piles against the fence every winter, and boards that touch the dirt wick moisture up. Cedar and treated posts both last a long time when they can drain, and neither lasts when they cannot.
Will new cedar boards match my old fence?
Not right away. New cedar is tan and old cedar has gone gray, and the new boards take a season or two to catch up. We match the width and the top cut so the section looks right once the color evens out. If the fence has been stained, we can stain the new boards to get closer on day one.
Should I repair my fence or replace it?
Repair it if the posts are mostly sound and the damage is in a section or two. Replace it if a third or more of the posts have failed, if the rails are rotting, or if it is old and brittle enough that every repair loosens the next board. We will look at the whole run and give you both numbers.
Related work
Where we do this work
Fence repair on both sides of the Washington and Idaho line: Newport, Diamond Lake, Cusick, Usk, Deer Park, Oldtown, Priest River, Blanchard, Spirit Lake, and the county roads between them. See the full service area.