Repair the fence when the damage sits in one area and the posts on either side are solid. Replace it when the repair price climbs toward half the price of a new fence, or when posts are giving way up and down the line.
A simple way to decide
- Repair: the damage is in one place, the remaining posts do not move, and the rails and boards are firm.
- Replace one section: several posts in a row have failed and the fence beyond them is straight.
- Replace the fence: posts wobble or are soft at the ground along the whole run, or the repair costs close to half of a new fence.
My fence is about 15 years old, a few posts are rotted and it leans. Posts or whole fence?
Push on each post before you choose. If only a handful are soft and the others are firm, change those and keep the fence. If most give under your hand, the posts are done, and new ones here and there will only buy a year or two. Heat and humidity are what age a wood fence in Tennessee, and the damage shows first at the soil line.
The repair quote is $1,400 and a new fence is $5,200. Which makes sense?
Take the repair, as long as the posts being left are sound. $1,400 is about 27 percent of $5,200, well short of the half-cost mark. What you want to avoid is another bill of the same size a year later, so have the contractor test the remaining posts and say how many passed.
Half my pickets are rotting and the gate will not close. Fix it section by section?
You can, provided the posts and rails are still good. Pickets go soft at the bottom when they stay wet, from mulch piled against them, tall grass, a sprinkler or shade that never dries out. Deal with the gate first, since a gate that will not shut means its hinge post has moved. After that, replace pickets a section at a time.
How long does a wood fence last in Clarksville?
No honest single figure exists. It depends on the species, the treatment, how the posts were set and whether the fence is kept sealed. Cedar pickets hold up longer than untreated pine. Wood that is kept off the ground and out of constant shade does better. Here the usual order of failure is posts first, then the bottoms of the pickets.
The only real price is one based on your yard. Call (931) 293-9766 for a free on-site estimate, or text us a photo of the fence line.