Fence Post & Panel Estimator

Why Your Fence Posts Rotted (And How Gravel Fixes It)

Pull an old rotted post and look at where it broke: almost always right at the ground line, where water sits. The post did not rot because it touched dirt. It rotted because water pooled against the end grain and never left. The classic concrete collar makes this worse when the concrete sits above grade with a lip around the post — the lip catches rainwater and holds it against the wood like a cup.

The fix is drainage. Four inches of gravel at the bottom of every hole gives the water under the post somewhere to go. Set the post on the gravel, keep the concrete collar at grade with the top sloped away from the post, and cap the end grain on top so rain has nowhere to enter. Do all three and posts last decades. Skip the gravel and you are scheduling a rebuild in five years. Where the fence line meets your landscaping, keep mulch from piling against the posts — and if you are planting beds along the run, our garden bed spacing calculator helps you plan beds that sit clear of the posts.

The “Frost Line” Rule: Why Your Fence is Leaning After Winter

In freezing climates, water in the soil freezes and expands, and it lifts whatever is buried in it. A post set above the frost line gets pushed up a little every winter, and never comes back down. After a few freeze-thaw cycles the line posts lean, the gates stop latching, and the only real fix is resetting posts deeper.

The rule: dig below your local frost line, and never shallower than 24 inches for a 6-foot fence. Corner and gate posts go six inches deeper still, because they carry the tension of the whole run. If your fence leans after winter, the posts were set too shallow — no amount of bracing fixes a heaving hole. If you are also pouring near deck footings, keep the frost depth consistent across both projects.

How to Stop a Wooden Gate from Sagging and Dragging

Every wooden gate sags eventually, because gravity pulls on a rectangle and the gate only hangs from one side. The sag starts at the hinge post: if that post leans even slightly under the load, the gate drops and drags in the grass. That is why gate posts get 6×6 lumber, deeper holes, and more concrete than line posts — they carry many times the load.

Build the sag out before it starts: hang the gate with heavy-duty adjustable hinges, keep the gate under 4 feet wide for walk gates, and add a diagonal brace or a steel anti-sag kit on anything wider. For a custom gate built to fit a weird opening, our woodworking cut list calculator sizes the lumber, including the diagonal brace length.

Wood vs. Vinyl: The True 20-Year Cost and Maintenance Reality

Wood is cheaper on day one and expensive every few years after: stain or seal every two to three years, replace the occasional split board, and re-set the post that leans after a hard winter. Over 20 years you will pay for that stain cycle four or five times, plus the boards. Vinyl costs two to three times more up front, never needs stain, and cleans with a hose — but it gets brittle in hard freezes, cracks on impact, and a panel replacement has to match the original run, because profiles change yearly.

Run the 20-year math honestly for your climate: wood purchase plus stain cycles and board swaps versus vinyl purchase plus the occasional panel. On a shady, wet lot wood rots faster; in hard-freeze country vinyl cracks. If you choose wood, stain it — our exterior paint and siding estimator sizes the stain for the fence and the paint for the siding behind it.

Why You Should Never Attach Fence Panels Directly to Your House

The house and the fence move differently. The house sits on deep footings; the fence posts heave and shift with frost and wind. Bolt the fence to the siding and every movement pulls on the house, cracking the finish and opening a water path into the wall. Codes in many areas also keep fences off the structure, and the fence usually still has to meet setback rules at the house corner.

The right detail is a freestanding end post set in its own hole a few inches off the house, with the gap covered by a post or a small return run. Where the fence meets a deck is the same story: the deck and the fence each carry their own load, so build the deck frame first and let the fence stand on its own posts beside it — our deck board and joist estimator sizes that deck frame. And keep the first panel off the siding far enough that you can still paint and inspect the wall behind it.