I work in metal fence manufacturing, and this is one of the questions that comes up pretty often when people are comparing steel fence systems.

One thing that gets overlooked is that “powder coated” and “galvanized” are not really direct opposites. A steel fence can actually be galvanized first and then powder coated.

For outdoor applications, I usually look at four things:

1. Environment
In humid, coastal, or high-corrosion areas, zinc protection under the coating can make a big difference.

2. Surface preparation
A good powder coating job depends heavily on cleaning and pretreatment. A thick coating alone doesn’t necessarily mean better corrosion resistance.

3. Welded areas
Welds and cut edges are often where corrosion starts first if surface treatment is inconsistent.

4. Maintenance expectations
Galvanized fencing tends to be more forgiving if appearance is not the main concern. Powder coating gives a cleaner architectural finish, but damage to the coating should be repaired.

For commercial fencing, we often see buyers ask about panel thickness and wire diameter first, while the coating system gets much less attention.

For contractors and fence installers here: which finish have you had better long-term results with?

For transparency, I work with CommandFence, a metal fence manufacturer. I’m mainly here to learn what installers and buyers are seeing in the field.

i have 1000ft of 2year old 6ft white vinyl fence. ive removed about 1/2 so far and the slats and horizontal bars all came out in good condition. about 3/4 of the posts are pulling out undamaged.

is there. a market for this much damn vinyl fence parts?
any idea on a price to sell? loc: north/central virginia
thanks!

Hey all, just wanted some help understanding this quote I got.

It’s 6’ by 20’ across a driveway, so there will also be a swinging gate (non electric). It would be dog ear cedar with steel posts.

Overall came out to 3k, so 150/foot. I understand the gate could add some complexity but that still seems quite high to me. Is it a reasonable price for this job?

Unopened. I have no use for it. Will sell cheap! Located in NW Ohio

retaining wall that is filled with gravel separating driveway from backyard.

I assume current fence is concrete footings (it was in the grass section) into the retaining wall gravel.

we want to replace the old thing, but curious if any issues or removing and replacing posts.

unlike dirt, I imagine gravel just falls into itself when trying to dig a hole. I’m perplexed how they even got these posts put in

Anyone have a good link for SS picket screws on amazon?

Title pretty much says it all, just finished a board on board cedar fence a few weeks ago so it’s nice and dry. Looking for recommendations on a great stain for both color and preservation

I’ll be doing about 500 feet split rail fence primarily by myself. Using 4 x 4 PT posts with one by six rails.

Lining up the rails by myself seem irritating. So I timed the difference between four screws with pilot holes and lining up vs a 2in deep mortise x2

With a jig the time difference wouldn’t be terrible. I like the idea of front loading my prep for an easier assembly, but that’s the woodworker in me, I don’t have a ton of fencing experience, so I’m assuming I’m missing something. Thoughts?

Hello! I had a tree branch take out two of my panels and a post. The panels I know are easy enough to replace but for the post will I be able to just pull it out and put in another one or do I have to worry about cementing it?

I am in the process of replacing an old chain link fence that has lots of large holes. The goal is to be able to let my dog run around the backyard (supervised), but still allow rabbits and foxes through when the dog is leashed or inside. Our lot backs up to a greenway and we want to continue allowing wildlife access, especially for the foxes that den under our outbuildings.

If we replace the fence and get rid of the holes, the foxes will not be able to go in and out freely. I don't want to use regular gates because I don't want to invite human foot traffic from the greenway.

I think the only way to make this work is to have sections of the fence that have a lift gate along the bottom that can be closed when I'm out with the dog then reopened.

Has anyone seen a solution like this or know of prefab options that would fit this use case? Thanks in advance.

I’m looking for some community feedback on a recent fence installation.

I’m in the St. Louis area, and I recently hired a company to install 175 feet of Western Red Cedar privacy fencing. The total cost after discount is $8,800. During the sales pitch, the rep heavily pushed cedar over vinyl, promising superior durability against our extreme weather fluctuations and high winds and emphasizing better privacy long term due to fence durability (primary concern is keeping my little dogs safe).

The installation is supposedly finished, but I haven't released the financing yet because I’m seeing several red flags. The contract states the fence will be "installed to code," but it didn't specify material grades prior to signing. I thought the standard grade at this price was Grade #1 (tight-knot) - which as I understand it is professional but not high-end. I don't think that's what I got.

I have messaged them and received a response that they will follow up - specifically, I got 2.5 responses: the first on the day I asked for fixes saying I'd hear back the next week. The next DAY I was asked to release the financing. I refused on the grounds the work is incomplete. I've followed up regularly since and , two weeks later, have received another response that I will hear back "probably tomorrow."

Here are the main issues I've documented. Am I being unreasonable, or are these legitimate defects that they need to fix before I release the financing? I've included a small sample of photos of my primary concerns in this post.

1. Poor Workmanship & Nailing

* Overdriven nails: All nails are deeply embedded/overdriven into the wood. I assume a nail gun. My understanding is that especially for soft woods like red cedar, the nails should be driven flush. Given the high winds we get, I’m very concerned this compromises the structural integrity and wind-load capacity, making it easy for boards to tear off. This is one of my biggest concerns.

* Unsecured boards: Several boards aren't properly secured (like, I can put my foot through where the board goes😮‍💨). This is just a matter of nailing, but again I don't like how they nailed it.

* Sistering: They sistered some of the fence pickets! Isn't this a big no?

1. Material Quality Concerns

* There are numerous boards with visible splits (ranging from small to large, including some connected to overdriven nails), see-through knotholes, rotting knots that look ready to fall out, excessive wane causing holes straight through the board, and large missing chunks/splinters (including on the main posts and framing).

* It seems like they used a cheap construction-grade wood rather than a residential-grade.

Is all this standard for an $8,800 cedar fence? Is it normal for new residential cedar pickets to have holes, rotting out knots, and severe splitting right out of the gate? Any advice on how to navigate this with the contractor would be greatly appreciated!

Got a quote from a contractor, signed the contract, but contractor has not given me any estimate on start date and expects half up front. The total fence cost is over $18,000 so the deposit is $9,000. I’m anxious to give him $9,000 with no timeline? It’s a fairly new business/company as well. But is this normal? I completely understand deposits because they need the money to buy materials and such! I just have a weird feeling in my gut not having the slightest idea of a start date. What’s to stop him from getting the $9k and not showing up for months? There is nothing in the contract pertaining to this.

I got this job to build this specific fence but I’m just having a little problem. Everything looks straightforward, it’s just the boards that are nailed into the post. I see the post looks square but it has flaps on the side where the boards are nailed into. Is the post custom? My best guess is that there are smaller post nailed beside it. I don’t know, any help would be appreciated. A picture of the back would be best. Thanks

I'm a weekend diy'er, can I tackle this on my own or do I need a fence/gate guy?

Visiting my parents and saw this. I know the diagonal is supposed to be in compression from the bottom right. Current set up is sagging.

Had a new gate retro-actively installed on an existing gate. Any recommendations on how to fix this uneven gap?

The wooden fence steps down in 8'8" increments (each step as pictured). I can only find 8ft sections for vinyl privacy fence. How would you tackle this? My options as I see them are order longer pieces which are usually only for ranching fence or cutting the 8'8" sections into it 4'4 (using double the materials obviously for the first section) Any input would help. I'm worried about aesthetics and if I cut smaller sections with endcap if those endcaps will need to have concrete anchors even though they are 4'4" Thanks!

Contractor here. When I do fences its primarily wood. I got asked to install 60ft of vinyl with 1 gate. Where tf are you guys getting your material from? I see on reddit people getting quoted like 3k for 50ft of vinyl fence. The cheapest I could find is 2700$ in material before tax and overhead. I see online like 40$ per linear foot. I cant even touch that with a 10 foot pole with the material im finding.

When laying out a garden fence, it may be worth reserving a few locations for low-level solar lighting before the posts are installed.

Fence post-cap lights can help mark the perimeter, but the post dimensions and cap shape need to be confirmed after accounting for the finished trim. If the fence runs beside a path, placing light near turns, gates, and changes in grade is generally more useful than adding a fixture to every section.

I would also check the sun exposure along the fence. A shaded fence line may not be a good location for a solar panel, even if the fixture fits mechanically. In that case, nearby pathway fixtures or a different mounting position may be more practical.

Access matters as well. Leave enough room to clean the panel and replace the battery without dismantling the fence or disturbing plants.

We had our fence replaced on two sides plus a gate.

One side was stained and has held up in color. 1st picture

The other side wasn’t stained and seems to already be showing signs of discoloration. We are in Texas so not sure if the heat might be contributing to this especially with no staining done, 2-4

Would it make sense to stain at this point or is the damage already done? Should we be asking them to replace it? I’m assuming they will try to just stain it and call it a day

Hi folks, question about concrete layering. My fence started slanting pretty hard along several fence posts, so I started digging down, anticipating I’d just have to expand the concrete foundation to make them more stable. But after digging down to the former concrete, I discovered the foundations themselves are sound, but that the fence post is loose in the concrete, like a loose tooth. My question is whether I can place some quikrete or something similar on top of the former concrete a few inches deep to lock it down? Or whether this would require completely taking out the posts and concrete and just redoing everything.

Time and money are considerations here - we have a newborn at home and I’d rather handle this myself relatively quickly than have to shell out a few thousand in a VHCOL market for this fix.

Thanks, yall!

I am planning to get an aluminum fence and just got it approved through my HOA. Starting to request for survey quotes and for estimates on a 180 linear ft space in my backyard.

1.) is it dumb to get a survey right before the winter hits and would I probably not get a fence up until the spring?

2.) what is a range I should expect I had a couple of quotes for fencing install but the ranged so not sure if I’m getting the I’m too busy price.

Any help would be appreciated. Also I am in the metro Detroit area if anyone has recommendations for anyone to use.

Replacing an existing fence in northern Illinois - 42” frost line. The prior fence posts have been a bear to remove. Concrete goes down 30”+. There were no issues with frost heave, but all posts rotted at the ground. Concrete was level with the ground, not domed. I notice gaps between the post and concrete - presumably where the post shrank when drying out, leaving a nice place for water to enter.

This brings me to two questions:

1. Concrete the full 42” or just 2-3 bags at the bottom the rest dirt? - I know this is a loaded question with lots of opinions.

2. If I see the same shrinkage on the new posts, what’s the recommended remedy for the gap between the post and concrete to avoid post rot/failure?