Do you have a broken gate or fence in Elgin, Texas? You have come to the right place. I am your local Elgin handyman, and I can get your privacy fence back in order and your gate swinging correctly.

Most Common Fence and Gate Repairs in Elgin, Texas

residential fence repair elgin, texas — Warped fence in need of repair

#1 Broken Fence Posts

One of the biggest issues with wooden fence posts is that they eventually rot and break. Broken fence posts are caused mostly by wood rot around the base where it is in contact with soil, concrete, and water.

If your posts are set in concrete, moisture can sit on top of the concrete and drastically increase how fast your wood post will rot, making the fence lean and eventually fall over. This is why many cities, including Elgin, Tx, require metal posts on new fences inside the city limits.

https://www.elgintexas.gov/1064/Fences#:~:text=Privacy%20Fence%3A,wind%20load%20of%20the%20fence

In order to fix the problem, I will come in and dig out the old post, and concrete if you have it, and replace it with a new post. When installing concrete, I am sure to slope the new concrete away from the post so water does not sit against the wood and rot it out again.

Once the new post is installed the fence will be sturdy again.

#2 Missing or Broken Fence Pickets

Many times, some of the pickets in a fence are missing or broken or warped. This is usually caused by normal wear and tear. Harsh weather conditions, large animals, or an “oopsie” while mowing the lawn can break these old and worn out pickets easily.

Replacing these pickets is relatively easy to do. You simply find the pickets you need at a local lumber yard, find some screws or nails, and take the old boards off to replace them with new ones. Read my short article on Fences Screws VS. Nails here.

#3 Unstable Fence, Moves When you Push on it

If your fence moves more than a couple of inches when you push on it, it is on its way to falling over. This is most likely due to one or more posts failing.

Post can fail for a number of reasons, wood rot being the main cause as mentioned above. Posts can also fail if they are not installed deep enough or if the soil around the post is not well compacted.

In some cases, the post can be straightened and the soil recompacted, but like mentioned earlier, this fence likely needs new posts installed to fix the problem long term.

Fence and Gate Repair, Elgin, Texas — Leaning Fence

#4 The Gate is Dragging and Sagging

Gates can receive a lot of wear and tear. Rain, sun, and wind can damage them over time as well as constant use. As this wear and tear occurs, gates begin to sag and drag on the ground and sometimes won’t close at all.

This can usually be fixed by replacing some screws on the hinges that have loosened, or adjusting the gate bracing to resquare the gate. In a worst case scenario, the post the gate is attached to may be leaning due to the weight and need to be replaced.

All these problems and more I have fixed several times. I can get your gate back in working order.

#5 The Gate won’t Latch

If you have ever had a gate on your property, you have most likely had issues with it latching properly.

Gates that won’t latch can be caused by a number of things including the temperature outside. Materials expand and contract relative to how hot or cold it is outside, so your gate may work great in the summer, but not so great in the winter.

Wooden fences are often built with wood that is not completely dried out and it will continue to dry out and shrink over time. This will eventually affect the way your gate works. You may also see larger gaps in between your pickets.

Fortunately, most of these issues with latching are easily addressed without having to replace a gate.

The most common solutions that a handyman like me will give are as follows: adjusting the latch to the current gate position (if the gate is stable), adjusting the hinges to fix the swing of the gate, recommending a better latch that allows the gate to work even if it moves a little from its original setting.

In combination with this, you can seal your fence to minimize the effects of the wood drying process. This will also protect your fence from weathering as quickly.

How much do fence repairs cost in Elgin, TX?

Complete fence replacement can be pricey, due to the cost of materials, but if your fence is beyond repair, it can make a big difference for curb appeal and security. Although a repair can temporarily fix an issue, it may not be a good long term solution.

Other fence repairs can range from around $100 for a simple gate repair to $1,000 to replace multiple broken posts or completely rebuild a gate.

Money Saving Tip:

As mentioned above, sometimes fence repairs can seem pricey when the work that is being done doesn’t take that long to accomplish. To save some money, find some other “to-do” list items around your house such as hanging pictures/mirrors/tv’s, adjusting doors, or putting up a shelf. The fence repair and these items can be coupled into the same trip at a lower price and you get more bang for your buck.