Wood privacy fence installation in Peachtree City

What does a wood privacy fence cost in Peachtree City?

$18 to $38 per linear foot, installed. Pressure treated pine sits at the bottom of that range and cedar at the top, and the gate is priced separately.

If you are replacing an old fence rather than building the first one, add $3 to $5 per linear foot for removal and haul away. In the older villages that is most jobs, and it is the line item people forget when comparing two quotes.

The other number worth asking for is the measured run rather than the boundary length. On a lot backing onto a cart path those are not the same figure.

How tall can a wood fence be?

Six feet along the side and rear of a typical lot. Eight feet applies only outside the required setback, which on most residential lots is not where the privacy fence goes. Decorative features on top may reach seven feet.

People quote the eight foot maximum a lot. It is real, but it describes a part of the lot most homeowners are not fencing, and building to it in the setback is not an option however much the neighbour’s hedge overlooks you.

Near a street the number drops again. No fence taller than four feet may stand within 40 feet of the right of way of an arterial or collector street, so a corner lot can find its front and side runs capped at four feet while the rear boundary allows six.

Do I need a permit for a wood fence?

At four feet in height and above, yes. Under four feet, no.

Almost every privacy fence clears that threshold, so in practice a wood privacy job is a permitted job. Planning and Development wants an application describing the material and the height, a site plan drawn on an official plat or survey, and a photograph of the fence you intend to build.

Find the plat before you call anyone. It is the document that answers where the easements sit, and it is what a good contractor will ask for first.

Why do wood fence posts lean in Peachtree City?

Red clay. It holds water against the post and swells and shrinks as that water comes and goes, and over a few wet winters it works the post loose.

This is the single biggest difference between a fence that stands straight for fifteen years and one that is visibly out of true by its third spring. It has almost nothing to do with the wood and almost everything to do with what happens below ground.

Peachtree City takes about 50 inches of rain a year against a national average nearer 38, so there is more water moving through that clay than in most places the national how-to articles were written for.

How deep should the posts go?

Thirty to 36 inches for a six foot fence, with a gravel base of six to eight inches under each post.

The gravel is the part that gets skipped. Its job is drainage: it gives the water somewhere to go instead of sitting against the bottom of the post and freezing there. A post set straight into wet clay with a concrete collar and no drainage traps the water rather than shedding it, which is precisely the failure you are trying to avoid.

Ask a contractor what depth they set to and whether they use a gravel base. The answer tells you more about how long the fence will last than the grade of timber does.

Cedar or pressure treated pine?

Pine is cheaper and cedar lasts longer in ground contact. That is the whole trade-off, and in this climate it leans further toward cedar than it would in a drier place.

Fifty inches of rain a year and clay that stays damp are hard on timber. If the budget only stretches one way, spend it on the posts and the depth rather than on the picket grade. A cedar fence on shallow posts fails before a pine fence on deep ones.

When is the best time to install?

Autumn. September through November brings moderate temperatures and lower rainfall, which puts the clay at a workable moisture content.

Spring works too. What does not work is setting posts into saturated clay immediately after heavy rain, and July is the wettest month of the year here. A crew that offers to start the morning after a downpour is not doing you a favour.

How are gates priced?

Separately from the run, and a wide gate costs more than its width in fence.

A gate needs heavier posts, hardware, and a frame that will not sag once it has swung a few thousand times. A single walk gate is the cheap case. A double drive gate wide enough for a mower or a golf cart is where the number moves, and on a lot with a cart path at the back that second gate is often the one people actually want.

Decide how many gates you need before asking for a price. Adding one afterwards means new posts, not just new hardware.

Which side of the fence faces my neighbour?

Theirs. Where the fence has structural supports on one side only, that side must face the interior of your property, so the finished face looks outward.

It costs nothing and it settles an argument before it starts. Say it out loud when you agree the job.

What if my lot backs onto a cart path?

Then a second rule applies. No fence may be installed within four feet of the edge of a paved cart path, measured from the pavement rather than from your property line.

It shortens the run and adds two corners where the fence turns in and back out again. On the whole it lowers the total, but it changes the shape of the quote, and a price worked out from the boundary length will not survive contact with the site.