I’ve Repaired My Fence

About two weeks ago, I had to completely replace my fence in the backyard because it’s over 30 years old. Also, my house is bordering our subdivision’s retention pond and when the workers needed to clear it from the overgrowth they used my fence to access the pond by removing a part of the fence and never putting it back together in the same way. So it got really bad from the years of abuse and elements.

I had to hire a contractor to replace the backyard fence line and the front part with the gate. Omg, it was so expensive! I paid about $1,000 for materials only and $950 for labor. But the contractor built me the second, wider gate for the backyard line that gives me the access to the retention pond. So, overall I was pleased with his work and the outcome. You can see my new backyard fence line in the picture of the disassembled front line below.

The contractor had some pickets leftover and said that he could either take them back to Home Depot for refund or come later to replace some bad pickets on the neighbor's side. However, if they were replaced with the new pickets they'd look drastically different not only because of the color and worn-out factor but also because the new pickets are about an inch taller.

So I've decided to replace the fence on the other front line, to the left of the house. When the contractor came out the first time to replace the other front line after the gate was torn off by the wind, I helped him out some and figured out his process. There were some good pickets from that line that I salvaged and when the contractor left I replaced the bad broken pickets on the line with my neighbor on the right. So I had some practice already.

The hardest part of the job was to take off the old pickets because they were just nailed to the 2x4 bearing board. Long nails, two on each picket, both top and bottom, four nails total. Some of them were so rusted out that the head would come off when I tried to pull them. And getting them off without completely breaking the pickets involved wiggling them a little to loosen the nails and then pulling them out with the other side of the hammer. Not an easy process, and sometimes it required a lot of strength. My arms are still sore from this job.

I started to completely disassemble the front part of the fence yesterday (Aug.11, 2026) afternoon. I tried to do it carefully as I wanted to salvage some good pickets for the other line with the neighbor on the left.

I was replacing the old pickets with the new ones immediately as I didn't want the gaping hole in my fence if it started raining or when I had to run to Home Depot to buy 15 more pickets. And of course it started raining when I was half-way through. I took this picture right then, ran to Home Deport for 15 more pickets (cost me a little over $35) and came back to finish the job after the rain stopped.

It was relatively easy because I used my "girly" electric drill (that's what my contractor said when he saw it) to screw in the new pickets with the wood screws rather than nails. I was slowed down a little because I decided to caulk, prime, and paint the fence post next to the house wall because it was in a bad shape from all the elements and I had to wait for it to dry after every coat. But I was done installing the entire fence before it got dark.

And today, I finished the repairs by replacing badly rotten and broken pickets on the neighbor's side with the ones I salvaged yesterday. I am extremely happy with myself. Anyone needs their fence repaired?