Wood Fence Installation in Peterborough

A wood fence is still the most flexible fence you can build. It can be a solid privacy wall, a low picket run out front, or a lattice screen around a patio, and it costs less up front than vinyl or iron. We've been building them around Peterborough since 2003, in cedar and pressure-treated lumber.

The boards are the part you see. The posts are the part that decides whether the fence is still straight in ten years.

Why wood works in a Peterborough winter

Wood handles cold fine. What wrecks a wood fence here is the ground moving underneath it. Clay soil holds water, the water freezes, and a post that isn't deep enough gets pushed up a little more each winter. Budget fences with shallow posts often lean within 2 to 3 winters.

So every post goes below the frost line, which is about 4 ft around Peterborough and deeper in exposed or wet ground. Structural posts get concrete around them. Built that way, a cedar or pressure-treated fence typically lasts 15 to 25 years in our climate.

Cedar or pressure-treated

Both work. The posts underneath matter more than the boards on top.

	Pressure-treated	Cedar
Cost per foot	Lower	Higher
Finish	Takes stain well	Looks good untouched, weathers to silver-grey
Upkeep	Wash or stain every 2 to 4 years	Wash or stain every 2 to 4 years
Typical life with deep posts	15 to 25 years	15 to 25 years

Cedar costs more and looks good untouched. Pressure-treated costs less and holds stain well. Either one wants a wash or stain every 2 to 4 years to look its best.

Styles we build

• Board-on-board privacy: overlapping boards with no see-through gaps.
• Solid panel privacy: a clean, flat face on both sides.
• Lattice tops and caps: softens a tall fence and adds a finished edge.
• Picket and spaced-board runs: for front yards and gardens where you want a boundary, not a wall.
• Arched and utility gates: sized for a mower or a wheelbarrow, hung on posts heavy enough that they don't sag.

Wood is the easiest material for custom work. Lattice tops, capped rails and arched gates are all simple to build in lumber, which is harder to say for vinyl.

How we install a wood fence

1. Free on-site estimate. We walk your property lines with you, settle the height and where the gates go, and check the fence bylaw for your address.
2. Written price. Material and labour per foot, gates and extras, in writing before anyone picks up a shovel.
3. Posts first. Augered below frost, set in concrete, pinned or core-set where we hit rock.
4. Rails, boards and gates. Racked or stepped on slopes so there are no dog-sized gaps underneath.

Most residential privacy runs take 1 to 3 days once the materials are on site.

What moves the cost

Material is only half of it. A flat 120-ft backyard with one walk gate is the cheapest shape there is. A rocky slope in Lakefield with an old fence to haul away and two gates is not.

• Rock excavation and slopes
• Tearing out and hauling away the old fence
• Gates (a walk gate adds hundreds, a driveway gate adds thousands)
• Tight side yards a machine can't reach

Our fence cost guide ranks every material by cost.

Is a wood fence right for your yard?

A wood fence is a good fit if you want:

• Privacy from close neighbours
• A screen around a hot tub or patio
• To keep kids and pets in the yard

Think twice if:

• You never want to wash or stain a fence. Vinyl is the better fit.
• You want to keep an open view. Look at ornamental iron.

Related reading

• Wood vs vinyl for Ontario winters
• How tall your fence can be in Peterborough
• Privacy fences and fence repair
• We build wood fences in Peterborough, Lakefield, Lindsay and Cobourg

Want a price in writing? Book a free estimate or call (705) 977-2531.