Most fences fail in one place, not everywhere.

What actually breaks

Almost every fence failure we get called to is one of four things. A post has rotted at grade or lifted out of a hole that held water. A gate has racked out of square and no longer latches. A section has been hit by a limb, a vehicle or a storm. Or the fence was built wrong to begin with and has been leaning a little more every year since.

Only the last one is usually a whole fence problem. The other three are section work, and the first question worth asking is how much of the run is actually bad. Standing at the ugly bit, it feels like all of it.

So we look at the whole line, not just the part you called about, and we tell you which posts have time left in them. Replacing four posts this year and four next year is a legitimate plan and we would rather say that than sell a fence.

• Whole run assessed, not just the section you called about
• Posts checked at grade, where they actually fail
• Gates squared and rehung, or rebuilt if the frame is gone
• Matched material where we are patching an existing fence
• Straight answer when the honest fix is replacement

Fixing somebody else's install

A fair amount of our repair work is correcting a fence another company put in. Posts too shallow, no concrete, spacing stretched too far, rails fastened in a way that was never going to hold, or a gate hung on a line post.

That work is harder to quote than a new fence, and a lot of companies simply will not look at it. One customer wrote that their fence had been installed incorrectly by another company, that many companies would not even give them a quote to repair it, and that we came out on a Sunday to look. They wrote that the quality of the work and the level of care were outstanding.

We will look at it. Sometimes the answer is that the original install cannot be saved and it is better for you to hear that from somebody who will also give you a number for doing it right.

Storm damage and what to do first

After a storm the useful order is: make it safe, photograph it, then get a number. A leaning section with a live gap in it is a dog problem and a liability problem before it is a repair problem, and a temporary brace costs nothing.

Photographs matter if there is any chance of an insurance claim. Take them before anything is moved, including the wide shot that shows what hit it. It is much harder to make that case from a tidied yard.

Then call. Storm work runs in waves around here and the honest thing is to tell you where you are in the line rather than promise a day we cannot hold.

Keeping a fence going

A pressure treated fence does not need much, and most of what it does need is about water. Keep mulch, soil and grass piled away from the bottom of the boards, because anything holding moisture against wood is where rot starts. Trim the shrub that is growing through it before it lifts a rail.

Gates want an eye once a year. Hinge screws back off slowly, and a gate that is tightened while it is still square stays square. A gate that has already dropped needs the leaf brought back to true first, which is a bigger job than turning a screwdriver.

Staining or sealing is optional on treated wood and it is about looks more than life. If you are going to do it, wait until the wood has dried out properly rather than sealing water into a new fence.