Just wrapped up a fence project about 6 weeks back, figured I'd write it up.
We're in Warm Springs, 1970s ranch, backyard shares fence with two neighbors and one strip runs along the side of the driveway. Original fence was dogeared cedar the previous owner put in around 2012. It'd been on borrowed time for a couple winters, but this past March we had that stretch of heavy storms and one post in the back corner just gave up. Rotated maybe 15 degrees at the base, sagged the panel next to it, and the top rail cracked. Two other posts were spongy at soil level when I dug around them.
Sat down with the wife and did the math. Six posts looked marginal, two panels were shot, and the whole thing was gonna need re-staining again by summer. Patching came out to maybe $1.8k in materials plus labor for the posts. Full replace in cedar was around 5.5k for our run (roughly 60 linear feet plus a gate). That gap wasn't as big as I expected once I factored in another 6-7 years and I'd probably be doing this dance again.
Got three quotes. One guy pushed vinyl hard, one wanted straight cedar with pressure treated posts, and the third was a composite panel over a steel post system from Modern Yard out of Hayward. The composite one was the highest at 8.9k installed. Went with it, partly because I've pulled enough rotten wood posts out of this yard to be tired of seeing the same thing happen again. Getting the wood out of the dirt was what sold me.
Grabbed sample boards from their dealer and abused em in the garage for a week. Scratched, dropped a hammer on the edge, left one in direct sun on the driveway. Nothing dramatic happened.
Split the work. Contractor set the myPost posts since the depth and alignment felt over my head with a rented auger. I took a Saturday and Sunday off work to do the panels myself, contractor was fine with that and knocked some cost off. Panels went in from the top, took me maybe 4 hours per run once I had the rhythm.
The gate:
Gate was the fiddliest part of the whole project. Anyone who's spent five minutes on this sub knows gates are where DIY fences go to die (that pinned post is basically the bible). I read through it twice before ordering hardware.
Went with heavy duty T-hinges and a diagonal brace running from the top corner opposite the hinge down to the bottom hinge side, which is the direction sag actually pulls against. Standard practice but easy to get backwards, and I almost did on the first pass. Hung it plumb, latched fine, felt good.
Two weeks in I could feel it starting to bind on the latch side. Pulled the hinge screws and checked the post with a level. Post had shifted maybe a quarter inch off plumb. My best guess is I hadn't given the foam long enough to fully cure before hanging weight on it. Shimmed it back, added a small horizontal brace across the top of the gate frame, re-hung. Six weeks in it's holding, but I'm watching it.
Wait a full week after the post is set before hanging anything heavy. I didn't. Lesson learned.
Couple other things I'd do differently:
Should've walked the fence line with both neighbors before the contractor came out. East side neighbor turned out to be planning her own replace this fall and would've split the run with us. We'd already committed by the time we found out.
Should've bought two spare panels. Not because anything broke, but if a car ever backs into it or a tree drops a branch, matching color a year out is easier when you've got stock in the garage.
Handling the old concrete post bases was rougher than I planned. Two of the previous owner's posts had these huge concrete blobs down there, way bigger than needed. Half a day with a pry bar and a lot of cursing. If you're going DIY, plan for a full day just on demo.
