Start with the posts
A fence is held up by its posts. Panels and boards are the part you see, but they only stay straight if the posts underneath are sound. Push gently on each post near the top. A little give is normal; a post that rocks at the base, or that you can see has gone soft or dark where it meets the soil, has rotted below ground.
Timber posts usually fail right at ground level, where they stay wet and get the most air. Concrete posts do not rot, but the concrete around their base can crack or the post itself can be knocked out of line. Either way, the condition of the posts across the whole run tells you more about what the fence needs than any single broken panel.
When a fence repair makes sense
Repairs are worthwhile when the problem is local and the rest of the fence has life left in it. Typical repairs include:
- Fence panel replacement where one panel has blown out but the posts held
- Replacing a single snapped or rotten post and resetting the panels either side
- Swapping rotten gravel boards at the base so the panels sit off the soil again
- Refixing loose rails and boards on a close board fence
- Rehanging or rebuilding a gate on an otherwise sound run
Replacing fence posts on their own
Replacing fence posts without replacing the panels is possible, but it is more work than it sounds. The panels either side have to come out, the old post and its concrete dug out, a new post set to line and height, and the panels refitted. If the old panels are brittle they often crack on the way out, so it is worth having a replacement panel to hand.
Where one timber post has gone, the others of the same age are usually close behind. If three or four along the run are soft, replacing them one at a time adds up quickly, and a full run on new posts is usually the cleaner answer.
Fence repairs
- Snapped or rotten posts dug out and replaced
- Blown panels refitted or replaced
- Rotten gravel boards and loose rails renewed
When fence replacement is the better answer
Fence replacement makes sense when the faults are spread along the run rather than in one place. Signs that it is time include several posts rotting at ground level, panels splitting or bowing along the length, the whole run leaning in one direction, and repeated repairs in different bays over the last few winters. A new fence also lets you change the style, height or post type, which a repair cannot.
On exposed boundaries that keep blowing down, a like for like repair puts the same weakness back. That is usually the moment to look at concrete posts or a close board fence, which our other fencing guides compare.
Fence blown down in the wind: what to do first
If a fence comes down in a storm, make the area safe and move loose panels somewhere they cannot blow again. Take photos of the damage and the posts before anything is cleared. Then check which boundary is yours on your deeds or title plan before arranging work, because a shared or neighbour's fence needs agreeing first.
When we come to look, we check every post on the run, not just the ones that fell. A storm usually finds the weakest posts, and the ones still standing beside them are often not far behind.
Getting the most from a repair
A repair lasts longest when it fixes the cause, not just the symptom. That might mean adding a gravel board so new panels are kept off wet soil, setting a replacement post a little deeper in an exposed spot, or clearing soil and planting that has built up against the base of the fence. We will tell you on the visit whether a repair is likely to hold or whether you would be paying twice.
Also worth reading: book a fence repair.