Failing Fence Replaced With Cedar in Eugene, Oregon

Fences almost never fail at the boards. They fail at the posts. This one was leaning in three places, and every lean traced back to the same thing: wood posts set in the ground, rotting at the exact line where soil meets air.

Before

We pulled the whole run and rebuilt it in cedar. The posts are the part worth paying attention to — set deep, in concrete, plumbed one at a time down the run rather than strung and hoped for. Cedar rails and pickets on top of that, with consistent spacing and a straight top line that follows the grade instead of fighting it.

After

Cedar weathers to a soft silver-grey if you leave it alone, or holds its colour if you seal it. Either is fine. What matters is that the posts are still going to be plumb in fifteen years.

Why do wood fences start leaning?

Almost always because the posts have rotted at ground level, where wet soil meets air. The pickets and rails above are usually still sound. That is why a leaning fence is a post problem, not a board problem — and why, when you price a fence, you should price the posts first. Everything above them is only as straight as what is holding it up.