What fence repair costs around Portland: posts, boards and gates

Board and rail repairs in the Portland area run $275 to $1,200 a job, typically around $625, and that's labour only. Swapping a rotted post typically costs $150 to $400 per post with the post and concrete included (market data, November 2026) . What pushes the bill up: how many posts are soft at the ground, old concrete footings, access, and gate or storm damage.

If you already know what's broken and just want it fixed, our fence repair page explains what we take on and how to book. Everything below is about the money.

How much does fence repair cost in the Portland area?

Every fence figure we work from, side by side: market numbers read in November 2026, not our quote. Watch the last column.

Two of these rows leave the lumber out and the rest put it in. So don't add a labour-only line to a with-materials line and call it your total; you'd be mixing two kinds of number. The post row comes from national data, and the gate, storm and restain rows are built from hours at Portland labour rates, so treat those as rougher than the board row. National cost sites print other figures because they blend cheaper regions and don't always say whether lumber is in.

Over in Bethany, plenty of houses went up during the 1990s and early 2000s, and their original fences are now old enough that posts start giving out.

What does replacing one fence post, or several, cost?

One rotted post runs $150 to $400 with the post and concrete in, typical $275, per November 2026 market figures . The "calculator" version is below: post arithmetic from one market row, not a quote:

Real bills don't climb in a straight line like that. The first post carries the drive out, the setup and the wait for the utility locate. The second and third in the same run go quicker because the tools are out and the holes sit next to each other. So a single post tends to land near the upper end of the range, and five posts on one visit can come in under five times the price.

The hours on a post go into freeing the rails, breaking out the old concrete plug, digging, setting and bracing the new post, then fastening the boards back on . Here a post nearly always fails at the soil line, because the dirt around it hardly dries out between October and spring.

You'll also see steel repair brackets and post spurs on the shelf. A bracket can hold up a post that's still solid above the dirt. It won't save one that's gone soft higher up, and you can see it from the yard .

Five posts at the high end hits $2,000. Past that number, Oregon wants the deal on paper (more on that in the last section).

What does replacing fence boards or rails cost?

Swapping out fence boards and rails costs $275 to $1,200 a job, typical $625, going by November 2026 market figures. That's labour only: the boards, rails and fasteners get billed on top .

What moves it is how many boards and rails are bad, and whether the rails pulled loose from posts that are still sound (the cheap case) or the posts themselves moved, which turns it into post work. Then there's whether both sides can be reached, whether plants or a shed sit tight against it, and whether it's one section (some people call it a panel) or a long stretch.

New boards next to grey ones will stand out for a while. Restaining the run is its own line, $500 to $2,000 per fence with materials, same November 2026 data , and our deck and fence staining page covers it.

On a painted fence, we won't scrape the old paint: disturbing lead-based paint is one of the jobs on our not-offered list.

What does a sagging gate cost to fix?

Gate work runs $250 to $1,500 a job with materials, typical $600 (market data, November 2026) . The bottom of that band is new hinges, a latch or a brace. The top is a gate rebuilt from scratch, or a new gate post.

When a gate drags on the ground, the post it hangs from is often the real culprit, since that post takes all the weight of the swing. New hinges on a leaning post buy a few weeks. Building gates is part of our fence installation work; the figures here are for wood gates.

What does storm damage to a fence cost, and will insurance pay?

Fixing a fence after a windstorm runs $300 to $3,000 a job, typical $1,000, labour only, per November 2026 market figures . New posts and boards from the rows above may come on top. Keep the bases straight: that storm figure has no lumber in it, while the post figure does.

A tall board fence with no gaps acts like a sail in a strong wind. On the west side, where Cedar Mill's 1960s and 70s houses often sit under big Douglas firs, a winter storm can also drop a limb straight onto a run. Taking down the tree or hauling the limb away isn't our work; the not-offered list says who to call.

As for insurance, whether it pays comes down to the wording of your policy and the cause of the damage, and the insurer decides, not the person fixing the fence. What helps whoever reviews it is simple: photos taken before anything gets cleaned up, and a written, itemised price .

When is a new fence cheaper than repairing the old one?

A new wood fence of roughly 150 feet runs $1,700 to $7,500 with materials, typical $3,200, by the same November 2026 data. The fence installation cost guide breaks that number down.

Now put two of those rows together. Six or seven posts at the typical $275 come to roughly $1,650 to $1,925, already near the bottom of a brand-new 150-foot run. That's arithmetic on two market rows, not a quote. Past a certain number of soft posts, you're paying new-fence money for an old fence .

New starts to make sense when most of the posts give at the ground, boards are split along the whole run, and rails have rotted through rather than just pulled off. One or two of those on a short stretch is still a repair. If you're wondering which fence type is cheapest, that turns on material and length, and the installation guide goes through it.

What adds to a fence repair bill that a quote might leave out?

Ask about each of these before you sign.

• Old concrete footings. Breaking a concrete plug out of the ground is often the slowest part of a post swap .
• Getting to the fence. A tight side yard, ivy grown into the boards, or a shed against the fence all add time. Clearing plants is landscaping, which we don't do, so you'd clear it first or have a landscaper in.
• Debris. We don't haul. Ask every bidder where the old posts, concrete and boards end up, and whether that's in the price .
• The utility locate. It costs you nothing but time. Anyone digging in Oregon, owner or contractor, has to call 811 two business days or more before the first hole, and the service is free.
• Permits, if the height changes. Putting a fence back at the same height is the normal case. Oregon's Building Codes Division lists chain-link, wire-mesh or wood fences under 7 ft as needing no building permit. Inside Portland city limits, wood over 7 ft, chain link over 8 ft, masonry or concrete over 4 ft and any pool fence need one, with height taken from where the posts enter the ground. Unincorporated Washington County requires a building permit over 7 ft, plus setbacks. In Beaverton, check with the city's building staff before you raise a fence, and read your HOA rules too.

We also don't do chemical moss treatment on fences.

Can a handyman repair a fence in Oregon, and how should you compare quotes?

Then line the two quotes up against the same scope:

• how many posts, and which ones;
• how many boards and rails;
• any gate work;
• who supplies the lumber;
• concrete or gravel at each post;
• removing the old footings;
• where the debris goes;
• staining or no staining.

Check the basis on every line too: labour only, or with materials. That's usually where two "$600" quotes turn out to be two different jobs.

Once a job tops $2,000, Oregon requires a written agreement, and for most initial home repair contracts the owner can cancel in writing until midnight on the following business day. Our guide to Oregon contract rules has the details. No warranty is stated on this page . For how hourly work and minimum visits are billed, see our pricing page .