Fence repairs

What it is

Fence repairs cover the jobs that sit between “fence is fine” and “fence is gone”. A post that’s rotted at the ground line and snapped. An arris rail that’s broken at the notch and the feather-edge is dropping. A panel blown out in a gale. A capping rail lifted off after years of weather. Storm damage where a tree or a limb has gone through the line.

Done honestly, a repair is often the right call. Done as a bodge, it buys you three months and you pay to do the job again. The honest assessment at the quote stage is what decides which is which.

When a repair is the right call

• Snapped post, everything else sound. New properly treated post concreted in, rails and panels re-fixed. A few hours work, fence is back for years.
• Broken arris rail. Old rail out, new arris rail notched in, feather-edge re-fixed. Standard repair on an otherwise good run.
• Panel swap. One or two panels out after a storm, posts and gravel boards fine. Replacement panels to match, fitted in a morning.
• Capping rail lifted. Capping re-fixed or replaced along a run. Stops water getting into the end grain of the feather-edge.
• Storm-damage triage. Tree or limb through the fence, make-safe first, then a proper repair or rebuild depending on what’s survived.

When a rebuild is the better call

• Multiple posts rotted. If more than about one post in three has gone at the ground line, the repair becomes a rebuild, and it’s cheaper to do the line properly in one go.
• Cheap posts throughout. If the original spec was the cheap grade and the whole run is at the same age, patching one post means you’re back in six months for the next one.
• Feather-edge fundamentally rotten. Capping off, boards soft, rails gone. At that point you’re rebuilding in parts anyway.
• Line has moved. If the fence has twisted or leaned from a failed post plate, the run usually needs lifting and re-setting, not patching.

How we do it

• Site visit and honest assessment. We walk the run, tell you which bits we’d patch and which bits we’d rebuild, and quote both options where it’s a close call. No pressure to go up a tier.
• Properly treated posts and proper fixings on every repair. Even a single replacement post goes in properly treated, with postcrete and a post cap. Patching with cheaper kit is a false saving.
• Match the existing run. Feather-edge timber, arris rail sizing, capping profile, all matched to what’s there so the repair doesn’t stick out.
• Storm-damage claims. If you’re claiming on the house insurance, we can provide photos, a failure report and a written quote the insurer can work from.

What it costs

Priced per repair after a site visit. Single post, single panel, arris rail or capping run all have different scopes. Storm damage is quoted on arrival because we can’t price what we haven’t seen. We put a written quote in front of you within two working days.

What we won’t do

We won’t nail a rotten post back together and tell you it’ll last. If a post is gone, it’s gone, and the neighbouring posts are usually not far behind. We’ll say so, and price the job honestly for what it actually needs, even when that’s less work than you expected.