Repair the fence when the trouble is limited to one stretch and the posts stand firm. Replace it when fixing it would cost around half the price of a new one, or when most posts have given out.
A simple way to decide
- Repair: damage is in one place, posts do not move when pushed, and the panels or boards are still worth keeping.
- Rebuild one run: that run's posts have failed while the others are straight and tight.
- Replace all of it: posts are loose, rusted off or hollow on every side, wood is split and brittle throughout, or the repair bill approaches half of a new fence.
My fence is about 15 years old, a few posts are rotted and it leans. Posts or whole fence?
Test the posts one by one and let the count decide. Lean on each and inspect the base. On wood, look for soft fiber and termite mud tubes. On steel, look for rust flaking at the soil line. Three or four bad posts in a long fence is a post job. A majority means a new fence. After fifteen Scottsdale summers the boards deserve a look too, since they may be too dry and cracked to re-hang.
The repair quote is $1,400 and a new fence is $5,200. Which makes sense?
The repair does, as long as the posts being left alone are good. $1,400 comes to about 27 percent of $5,200, far short of half. Find out how many of the other posts the estimator actually checked. If a handful more are nearly gone, you could pay for a second repair after the next storm season and end up near the half mark anyway.
Half my pickets are rotting and the gate will not close. Fix it section by section?
That works when posts and rails are still strong. Wood in the desert rots where water is put on it and almost nowhere else, so find the emitter, sprinkler or planter that is wetting those pickets and move it. Deal with the gate before anything else, because a gate that will not close is telling you about its post. After that, replace pickets section by section as budget allows.
How long does a wood fence last in Scottsdale?
No single number is honest. Decay is slow in dry air, but ultraviolet light and heat are severe, and they crack and warp unprotected boards while termites work below ground. Cedar stands up to insects and decay better than untreated pine. The wood fences that last here are sealed on a schedule, kept away from irrigation and carried on steel posts.
A real price needs someone to stand on your lot and measure. That visit is free. Call (480) 530-6409, or text a photo of the fence line to the same number.