Repair or replace a leaning wood fence?

Start at the posts, not the pickets

A fence is only as straight as what holds it up. Walk the line and push on every post. One that moves at the ground has rotted at the soil line or worked loose, and the lean you see is that post giving way. Pickets that look rough are a cosmetic problem; posts that move are a structural one.

Count how many move. That number decides the job more than anything else.

When repair wins

• Most posts are solid and only one or two move.
• The damage sits in a few sections: a handful of split pickets, a cracked rail, one gate that drags.
• The boards are weathered but not splitting through.

Plenty of fences that look rough only need a couple of posts reset on steel, some boards and a coat of stain. Replacing a rotted wood post with a steel post set in concrete is the single biggest upgrade an older wood fence can get, and it is a repair, not a rebuild.

When replacement wins

• Posts move all along the line.
• The rails are cracking at every post.
• The pickets are grey and split from one end to the other, or the fence is pine that has rotted at the ground.

At that point a repair buys a season. Replacement means pulling the old posts, concrete footings and all, and building new cedar on steel posts on the same line. It is also the moment to change what you have: a taller fence, a wider drive gate, or a switch from chain link to cedar costs less to do now than to add later.

What Blake does on the estimate

He pushes on the posts, checks the rails where they meet them and tells you which way he would go. If it is close, he prices both, so you can put the repair number next to the replacement number and decide with both in hand. Estimates inside Lubbock are free, and no fencing job is too small.

The gate is its own question

A gate that drags is usually the hinge post, not the gate. Push on it: if it moves, the post is the problem and the gate will keep dragging no matter how many times the hinges are adjusted. If the post is solid, the frame has racked out of square. Our new gates go on metal frames so they cannot rack. The gate page covers both fixes.

Written by the A+ Fence Repair & Installation team from the way our crew builds and repairs fences around Lubbock. It is general guidance; Blake looks at every fence in person before a bid.