Repair the fence when the damage sits in one area and the other posts are firm. Replace it when the repair price gets near half the cost of a new fence, or when posts are failing from one end to the other.
A simple way to decide
- Repair: one damaged spot, firm posts everywhere else, boards and rails in good shape.
- Rebuild one section: a few posts in a row have failed, and the rest of the line stands straight.
- Replace the fence: posts rock or are soft at the ground along the whole line, or the repair quote is close to 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 you decide. If three or four are soft in a long fence and the rest are firm, replace those posts and keep the fence. If most of them move, the fence is at the end of its posts, and paying for a few now means paying for more next spring. In Downriver clay, posts give out well before the boards do.
The repair quote is $1,400 and a new fence is $5,200. Which makes sense?
The repair, as long as the posts that stay are sound. $1,400 is about a quarter of $5,200, well below the half-cost line. The risk is a second repair in a year or two. Ask the contractor to test the posts that are staying and tell you in writing how many are firm.
Half my pickets are rotting and the gate will not close. Fix it section by section?
Yes, if the posts and rails are solid. Pickets rot from the bottom when they sit in soil, mulch, wet leaves or snow piled along the fence. Fix the gate first, because a gate that will not close usually means the hinge post has moved. Then replace the pickets one section at a time, and keep the new ones a few inches off the ground, as Lincoln Park suggests.
How long does a wood fence last in Lincoln Park?
There is no fixed number. The type of wood, the post depth and the upkeep all change it. Cedar boards outlast pine boards. A fence that is sealed and kept clear of soil and leaves outlasts one that is not. In our freeze and thaw cycles, the posts usually decide when a wood fence is done.
The only real price is one measured on your lot. Call (313) 723-2710 for a free on-site estimate, or text a photo of the fence line to the same number.