Fences here fail from the ground up and from the sun down. Understanding both is what separates a fence that lasts fifteen years from one that leans in five.
What actually fails
Posts, almost always. Rot at ground level where wood meets soil, or movement as expansive clay swells and shrinks around the footing. The pickets are rarely the problem.
Planning something like this for your own yard? Our team does landscape design in Austin, TX, from the first sketch to the last plant.
That means post material, footing depth and drainage around the post matter more than the fence material you see. Concrete footings that trap water against a wood post accelerate rot rather than preventing it, which surprises people.
Cedar and pine
Cedar is the regional standard: naturally rot-resistant, weathers to grey attractively, and holds up reasonably in our UV. Expect roughly fifteen years or more with decent posts.
Pressure-treated pine costs less and lasts less. It also warps and cups more in our heat, which produces the wavy fence lines common in newer subdivisions. A common compromise is steel or treated posts with cedar pickets, which addresses the actual failure point.
Metal and composite
Ornamental iron and steel suit boundaries where you want visibility rather than privacy, and they handle sun indefinitely. Rust is manageable with coating; heat is not an issue.
Composite fencing avoids rot and needs no staining, at a considerably higher up-front cost. It also expands and contracts in our temperature swings, so installation tolerances matter more than with wood.
Practical decisions before you buy
Check your HOA rules and any city height limits before designing. Confirm your property line, ideally with a survey, because fence disputes are expensive and permanent.
Think about what the fence is for. Privacy needs height and solid infill. Containing a dog needs gap control at the bottom, which is where most escapes happen. A boundary marker needs neither. See fence installation and repair for how we handle posts, which is where the money should go.
Post depth, setting and the clay problem
Post depth is the single most important number in a fence build. A third of the total post length in the ground is the working rule, deeper on tall fences and in soft ground.
How the post is set matters as much. Concrete poured as a collar around a wood post, with the post sitting on soil at the bottom, creates a bowl that holds water against the wood. Setting the post on a gravel base so water drains away, or sleeving it, dramatically extends life.
On expansive clay, seasonal movement works posts loose over years. Deeper footings and wider bells at the base resist that. This is why fences in Hutto and Pflugerville lean sooner than the same fence built on the west side of the metro.
Gates, hardware and the parts that fail first
Gates fail before fences do, every time. They carry weight, swing repeatedly and rack out of square. Heavier posts on both sides of a gate, proper diagonal bracing and quality hinges are worth the extra cost.
Hardware in general is where cheap builds show first. Galvanized or coated fasteners resist corrosion; plain steel screws bleed rust stains down a cedar fence within a season and fail years earlier.
For dog owners, the bottom gap is the escape route. A gravel board, a buried mesh apron or simply setting pickets closer to grade prevents the most common failure of a fence that is otherwise perfectly sound.
Staining, neighbours and the boundary
Cedar left unfinished weathers to grey and lasts fine; staining preserves colour and adds some UV protection but commits you to redoing it every few years. Either is defensible; starting and then stopping produces the worst appearance.
Which side gets the finished face is a common source of friction. Convention puts the finished side outward, and some HOAs require it. Good-neighbour designs with pickets alternating on both sides avoid the question entirely.
Before building, confirm the property line. A survey costs far less than moving a fence, and boundary disputes over a fence built even slightly over a line are expensive, slow and permanently unpleasant.
Common questions we get about this
Three come up almost every time.
Can I do this myself? Usually part of it. The diagnostic work and the finishing details are where experience shows, and the preparation underneath is where shortcuts cost the most. Most homeowners who do it themselves succeed on the visible work and struggle with base preparation, drainage and timing.
When is the best time? In Central Texas, almost always autumn. Soil is still warm, air has cooled, and anything planted or installed has months to settle before summer stress arrives. Spring works but races the heat.
What does it cost? Any number quoted without seeing the property is a guess, because our two soils, the slope and the access change the work substantially within a few miles. What we can say is that the invisible preparation is where the real cost sits, and where the cheapest bid has usually economized.
Fence leaning or rotting?
Usually the posts, not the pickets. We will tell you which.