Fences are important to keeping out pests, keeping children and animals safe, and ensuring that your home or backyard has adequate privacy. It’s important to maintain your fence in order to protect both structures – like your home or nearby trees – and children and pets. 

Although fences are built to be strong and durable, over time, they often fall into disrepair or suffer damage. Wood doesn’t last forever – it might rot or become warped as water seeps in. Vinyl fence panels can crack. Aluminum fence rails can bend. It’s normal for a fence to suffer damage and require repair or replacement. 

When a fence begins to fall into disrepair, however, it may be difficult to know whether to simply patch-repair the portion of the fence that has broken, or to repair the entire structure. The question is really one of cost-benefit analysis: sometimes, it may be easy to repair your fence in a one-and-done manner, while other times, you may just continue repairing your fence over and over again. In those cases, it most likely makes the most sense to go ahead and replace the entire fence. There are also other considerations to take into account: is the fence an up to date style? Is it the most durable material? Will it last?

Below, we review common fence problems by type in order to give you an idea of whether it makes most sense to replace or repair your fence. Every type of fence has a different set of advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to take those into consideration when deciding what type of fence you want in order to plan for the future.  

Common fence problems by type: 

Wood

Though wood has a unique aesthetic look, it is also one of the fence materials most susceptible to damage and disrepair. Wood fences can rot due to water damage, particularly if they are not well maintained, and can become warped over time due to excess water damage, or can easily be impacted by falling branches or trees. Wood can also suffer from pest damage, like termites. 

Wood fencing requires a great deal of maintenance, which can lead to damage over time. In order to maintain a wood fence, you should seal it to prevent decay once a year, or when the wood begins to soak into wood rather than simply beading on the surface. This resealing process is especially important in more humid climates, where it may make sense to do it more often than once a year. If your fence is painted, you should repaint the fence every 2-3 years. A fresh coat of paint can obscure discoloration or other small elements of damage in the short term, especially if they’re isolated or small. 

In order to determine what kind of repair a wood fence might need, conduct a visual self-inspection of your fence. Check the bottom of the fence for rot, as rotting generally begins towards the bottom of a fence, where there is the most exposure to water. Then, circle the perimeter of the fence and check for obvious cracks or holes, splintering, warping, pest damage, leaning, or signs of stress and discoloration (usually yellow or gray). All of these signs are indications that your fence is in need of repair. 

Small, isolated problems can be corrected with spot treatment. If you see any small holes or cracks, those can be filled with putty and wood filler. Be sure to paint the fence afterward to cover up these repairs. 

However, it’s important to remember that if more than 20% of your fence is damaged, it is better to replace the entire fence than to repair it. This rule is particularly true when it comes to wood fencing, because if one part of the fence is suffering from a particular type of damage (rotting, for example), the rest of the fence will likely follow as soon as you patch-repair the damage. 

Wood fences don’t last forever. In fact, they’re the least durable fencing material. Spruce fences last about 4-7 years, pine lasts 5-12 years, cedar last 15-30 years, and treated lumber lasts 20 years. These time frames are important to keep in mind when choosing whether to repair or replace a fence. If a spruce fence is already four years old, it is likely most cost-effective to go ahead and replace the fence, rather than repairing it just to replace it in the next few years. 

If you have a wood fence, you might also consider alternatives to wood. Although the initial cost of a vinyl or aluminum fence is higher, it will pay off over time both in terms of lifespan and durability. There is also significantly less maintenance required, which lowers costs. 

Vinyl

Vinyl is a very durable fencing material and requires the least maintenance of any type of fencing.

However, if there’s a significant portion of the fence that requires replacement, it will make the most sense to replace the fence entirely. Even if not all panels are showing it, they may also be suffering damage from the heat or sun, and may just be slower to show it. If your fence posts are damaged, however, it’s time to replace the fence. A long-lasting vinyl fence requires that posts be in good repair and properly engaged in order to hold the vinyl fence over time. Replace just one of the posts is difficult and time-intensive, so it makes more sense to fully replace. 

 

Aluminum

Aluminum fences are extremely durable and require little to no maintenance. There are a number of different damages that can befall aluminum fences. Over time, the coating can become damaged or scratched. The frame of the aluminum fence can become dented if it is bumped by a car or if a tree falls upon it. The movement of soil can cause aluminum fencing to shift position over time, which can result in drooping in the fence. 

Most cosmetic damages to aluminum fences are fairly easy to repair. Simple scratches can be repaired by being cleaned with soap and water, and then painted over with aluminum fencing paint. Dents or major bending, however, is very difficult to fix. You cannot hammer aluminum back into place, so you will likely need to replace that section of the fence entirely. If you are experiencing soil movement, you can steady the posts by rooting them in concrete. However, if they were placed in the ground with concrete to begin with, you may need to use a sledgehammer to dig out the original concrete in order to place more in the ground. 

Is It Time to Replace?

As always, it’s important to remember the 20% rule when deciding whether to replace or repair a fence: if more than 20% of the fence is damaged, you should replace it. However, you should also analyze whether or not you should replace or repair based on the fence’s material. Fences can last between 20 and 50 years, so it’s worth taking seriously your options—it could protect your family and home for a long time. 

If you decide to replace your fence, take into consideration the durability of the material that you choose: what type of fencing material is the best choice for you? Choose a fencing material that you are able to adequately maintain in order to ensure that it lasts as long as possible. 

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