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You know that moment. You're enjoying a cuppa by the back door, maybe tidying up the garden a bit, and your eyes land on the fence. And you think, "Blimey, that's looking rough."
Maybe one panel's leaning at a worrying angle. Maybe the whole run has that grey, tired look. Maybe the last storm took a chunk out of it and you've been meaning to "get around to it" for... well, let's not count the months.
The question that follows is almost automatic. "Should I just replace the whole thing?" It feels like the proper answer, doesn't it? A clean slate. All new. No more worries.
But here's the thing about that instinct. It's expensive. Really expensive. And more often than not, it's completely unnecessary.
Let's talk about why wooden fence repair is usually the smarter play, and when you might actually need to go the whole hog.
Let's be honest—fences are one of those background features of your home. You don't really notice them until they're not doing their job. And when they fail, it's annoying. Privacy goes out the window. The dog can see next door's cat. That nice boundary line you had suddenly looks like a war zone. The natural reaction is to want it sorted, properly, and a new fence feels properly sorted.
Here's what I can tell you from watching this play out dozens of times. Wooden fence repair isn't just cheaper in most cases—it's faster, less disruptive, and often leaves you with a result that's just as good as a full replacement. The key is knowing what you're fixing and who's doing the fixing.
Let's get into the weeds a bit. Real numbers. Real situations. Real reasons why repair wins.
The Numbers Game Nobody Talks About
Right, let's talk money because that's what everyone's really asking.
A full fence replacement for a typical garden—say, a 15-metre run—will set you back somewhere between £1,500 and £3,000. Depends on materials, where you are, how easy it is to get to the back garden. That's new posts, new panels, new gravel boards, new everything. Plus getting rid of the old stuff. Plus the labour to rip it all out and start again.
Now look at repair.
Here's the thing most people don't realise. Fences rarely fail everywhere at once. It's almost always specific bits. A post that's rotted at the base. Two or three panels that blew out in a storm. Gravel boards that have turned to mush but the panels above are absolutely fine. A targeted wooden fence repair deals with exactly what's broken and nothing else.
One rotten post replaced properly? £150-£200, done. Three storm-damaged panels swapped out? £300-£400, maybe less. Even a fairly big repair—half a dozen panels and a few posts—rarely touches a grand.
Do the maths. You're looking at saving 40%, 50%, sometimes 60% compared to ripping everything out. That's not small change. That's a holiday. That's a new sofa. That's money in your pocket for doing nothing more than asking the right question first.
The Bit About Your Garden They Don't Mention
Here's something that never makes it into the glossy fencing brochures. A full replacement is a massive pain in the backside.
It takes days. Multiple days. There's noise, there's mess, there's people traipsing through your garden with heavy boots. Your plants get trampled. Your lawn gets muddy. That nice border you spent two years cultivating? Squashed.
And the neighbours. Oh, the neighbours.
If it's a boundary fence—and most are—you can't just go rogue. You need to talk to them. Legally, you might need permission. Practically, you definitely need cooperation. Who's paying? Who's choosing the style? What about their shed that's right up against the fence on their side? It becomes a whole conversation you never wanted to have.
Wooden fence repair sidesteps most of this. It's targeted. It's quick. A decent repair crew can often be in and out in a single day. Your plants stay put. Your lawn stays intact. Your neighbour barely notices anything happened beyond a bit of banging for an afternoon.
And if the boundary line is one of those vague, disputed things? Repair keeps the peace. You're maintaining what's there, not staking a claim with a brand-new structure.
"But Won't It Look Like a Patch-Up Job?"
I hear this one a lot. People worry that repaired sections will stick out like a sore thumb. New wood against old. Different shades. Obvious where the work happened.
Fair enough. But here's the thing a good contractor knows.
A proper wooden fence repair isn't just slapping in a new panel and calling it a day. It's matching materials. It's understanding how timber weathers. It's sourcing pressure-treated wood that'll age the same way as what's already there.
Sometimes they'll rob boards from a less visible bit of fence to patch the visible bit, then fill the hidden spot with new timber that can weather naturally without anyone noticing. Sometimes they'll give the whole run a coat of something afterwards to unify it all.
The result? A fence that looks like a fence. Not a patchwork quilt. Not a "you can see where they fixed it." Just a fence.
And let's be real—even a brand-spanking-new fence looks "new" for about six months. Then it weathers. Within a year, a good repair and a full replacement are indistinguishable to anyone walking past.
The Stuff You Can't Buy New
Here's a thought that stopped me when someone first pointed it out.
Your fence has been there for years. It's weathered. It's settled. It's part of the garden. Those climbing roses you trained along it? They'd be destroyed by a full replacement. The ivy that's been softening that harsh boundary for a decade? Gone. The little gaps at the bottom where the hedgehogs get through? Dug up and lost forever.
Wooden fence repair keeps all of that. It works around your established planting. It maintains the character your garden's taken years to develop. You're not starting from scratch; you're just strengthening what's already working.
And there's the sustainability bit, if that matters to you. Every year, thousands of tonnes of perfectly good timber get dumped in landfill because someone assumed replacement was the only option. Repair keeps that wood in use. It's the most environmentally sound choice by a mile, and you don't have to be particularly green to appreciate that.
When Replacement Actually Makes Sense
I promised to be straight, so here's the other side. Repair isn't always the answer.
If your entire fence is uniformly knackered—every post spongy, every panel delaminating, every gravel board collapsed—then yeah, you're probably looking at replacement. If the thing's been neglected for a decade and there's more failing timber than sound, repair becomes whack-a-mole. Fix one bit, another falls over.
If you genuinely hate the style and want something completely different—taller for privacy, lower for light, solid instead of slatted—then replacement's the only way to get what you want.
And if your fence is leaning because the whole run was badly installed in the first place, with shallow posts and not enough concrete, repair might just be rearranging deck chairs. Sometimes you need to start over with proper foundations.
But here's the thing. These situations are the minority. Most fences fail in specific places. Most have years of life left in the bits that aren't broken. And most homeowners, when they see the cost comparison side by side, pick repair.
What a Proper Repair Actually Looks Like
So you've decided repair is the way. What should you expect from someone who knows what they're doing?
First, a proper look. Not just at the obvious damage. They'll check the posts below ground—because that's where rot starts. They'll test the stability of neighbouring panels. They'll look at drainage around the post bases. They'll figure out why it failed, not just that it did.
Then they'll talk you through options. Maybe concrete spurs—steel supports that bolt onto existing posts below ground, saving you from digging out the old concrete entirely. Maybe replacing individual posts with new ones, set deeper and better drained. Maybe swapping damaged panels while keeping the frame intact.
The work itself should be tidy. Posts set in concrete that's properly mixed, not just slopped in. Panels fitted square and true. Fixings that won't rust in two years. Gravel boards replaced to keep future rot away from the panels.
And when they leave, your garden should look like they were never there. No rubble. No muddy footprints. Just a fence that stands straight and does its job.
Your Questions, Answered Properly
Q: How do I know if my fence posts are actually rotten or just weathered?
A: Get a screwdriver. Poke the post near ground level. If it's soft and the screwdriver sinks in easily, that's rot. If it's firm and resists, you're probably fine. Also look for fungus, cracks, or woodworm holes. A decent wooden fence repair person will do this as standard.
Q: Can you repair a fence if the posts are concrete but the panels are wood?
A: Absolutely. Concrete posts are actually easier in some ways—they don't rot. The fixings might need attention, or the panels themselves might need swapping while the posts stay put. This is often the most cost-effective scenario. You're just replacing the bits that wear out.
Q: My fence is leaning but the wood looks sound. What's happening?
A: The posts are probably moving in the ground. Happens if they weren't set deep enough, if the concrete's cracked, or if you're on clay soil that expands and shrinks seasonally. A repair specialist can often re-bed the existing posts or add supports without replacing anything.
Q: Will a repaired fence last as long as a new one?
A: Yes—if the repair fixes the actual problem. A new post, properly set in concrete with decent drainage, will last 15-20 years whether it's part of a repair or a new fence. The key is treated timber and correct technique. Don't let anyone tell you repairs are automatically temporary.
Q: What's the most common fence problem round here?
A: Depends where "here" is. On clay soil—which is huge chunks of London, Birmingham, the South East—it's post movement. Ground expands and contracts, loosening posts over time. In wetter, low-lying spots, it's rot at the base of posts and gravel boards. A local wooden fence repair person will know exactly what your area throws up.
Q: Can you match old, weathered timber?
A: Good ones can. They'll source pressure-treated timber to match, and might swap boards from less visible sections. If colour's critical, they can unify the whole fence with a stain afterwards. It's not magic—just experience.
The Conversation Worth Having
Before you pick up the phone, do this. Walk the fence line. Note which bits are actually failing and which are fine. Take some pictures. Ask yourself honestly: is this one problem area, or is the whole thing on its last legs?
Then call someone who does wooden fence repair—someone who lists it as a proper service, not just "we also do repairs sometimes." Ask them to quote for fixing what's broken. Then ask them to quote for a full replacement. Compare them side by side.
Nine times out of ten, the repair quote wins. Not just on price, but on speed, on convenience, on keeping your garden how you like it. The tenth time—where replacement genuinely makes sense—will be obvious. The contractor will tell you straight.
But you'll never know unless you ask.
Look. Here's the Truth.
I get the appeal of a brand-new fence. It feels decisive. It feels like you've really sorted it. Like you can tick "fence" off the list and never think about it again.
But fences don't work like that. They're just structures. They keep things in, keep things out, mark where your land stops. They don't need to be new to do those things well. They just need to be sound.
Wooden fence repair gives you sound. It gives you straight posts, secure panels, a boundary that works—for thousands less than replacement, and without the upheaval of a full strip-out.
The smart money isn't on ripping everything out and starting over. The smart money is on fixing what's broken, keeping what's good, and getting on with your life.
And the really smart money? That's on finding someone who knows how to do it properly. Someone who's done it a hundred times. Someone who looks at your tired, leaning fence and sees not a problem, but a solution.
That's the person you want. That's the person who'll save you money, time, and stress. That's wooden fence repair done right.
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