5 Signs Your Fence Needs Replacing (Before It Falls Over)

Fences fail slowly, then all at once — usually in the first big windstorm of the fall. If your fence is showing any of these signs, it's worth getting ahead of it before winter.

1. Leaning posts. The posts are the whole game. If they're tilting, the concrete footing has failed or the post has rotted at ground level, and no amount of new boards will fix it.

2. Soft, spongy wood. Press a screwdriver into the base of a post or the bottom rail. If it sinks in, rot has set in and that section is living on borrowed time.

3. Gates that won't latch. A gate that's dropped or binds is usually telling you the post it hangs on has shifted — a small problem now, a bigger one soon.

4. Widening gaps and cupping boards. As boards dry and warp, gaps open up and privacy disappears. A few boards is a repair; a whole run is a sign the fence is near the end.

5. It's just old. Most pressure-treated fences give you 15–20 years, cedar a bit less without upkeep. If yours is in that range and looking tired, replacing it now is cheaper than an emergency fix after it comes down.

A note on what we do now: Zavrick Contracting no longer builds or replaces fences, so for a new fence a dedicated fencing contractor is the right call. Where we can help is the rest of the outside of the house, with exterior painting and carpentry repairs like rotted trim and fascia, across Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Burnaby and New Westminster.