FAQ
Fence questions, answered for Columbus
Twenty-six questions in three groups: what things cost, where a fence can go and how tall, and how fences are built. The guides go further on each.
Cost and quoting
- What does a fence cost per foot in Columbus?
- Chain link at four feet runs roughly $14 to $26 per linear foot installed. Six foot pressure-treated pine privacy runs roughly $30 to $48. Aluminum picket runs roughly $34 to $60, and six foot vinyl privacy roughly $38 to $65. Woven wire and farm fence cost far less per foot, which is why acreage is not fenced in panel.
- What does a whole back yard usually come to?
- A typical Columbus back yard needs about 150 to 200 linear feet. Against the ranges above that puts the same yard somewhere between roughly $2,100 in the cheapest chain link and roughly $13,000 in premium vinyl, before gates. The cost calculator on this site takes your own footage.
- How much does a gate add?
- A walk gate typically adds a few hundred dollars, because it needs oversized posts, deeper footings, a braced frame and hardware sized for repeated use. A double drive gate costs meaningfully more. An automatic operator adds the operator, an electrical run and safety devices, and that package can cost more than a hundred feet of fence.
- Is the quote really free?
- Yes. The measure, the walk of the line and the written quote all cost nothing, and there is no obligation afterward.
- Why do two quotes for the same yard differ so much?
- Because they usually describe different fences. Post rating, footing depth and diameter, post spacing, material grade and how gates are built all vary between quotes and all change both price and working life. Dividing each total by the linear footage, with gates set aside, gives a per-foot figure that can be compared like for like.
- What makes a quote go up?
- Slope, rock and heavy roots, poor access for a machine, removing an old fence, greater height, more gates, and a fence line that follows every jog in the lot rather than running straight. Material grade matters too: residential, commercial and industrial grades of aluminum and chain link differ in wall thickness.
Height, boundaries and neighbors
- How tall should a fence be?
- Four feet contains most dogs and marks a boundary without closing the yard in. Six feet is the privacy height, and it is what manufactured privacy panels are built around, so it is the cheapest way to buy privacy per foot. Taller than that costs more than the extra material suggests, because a solid panel catches wind and all of that force ends up in the posts.
- Can a fence sit right on the property line?
- Yes, and most fences are built that way. Many owners choose to set the fence a few inches inside their own line instead, which removes any argument about ownership and lets them maintain both faces without stepping onto a neighbor’s ground. The trade is that you give up those few inches in practice.
- Does a corner lot change anything?
- It changes the layout. A solid fence run right up to the intersection blocks the view across the corner for drivers on both streets, including you pulling out of your own driveway. Keeping the corner open, or using an open picket run there and saving the solid panel for the back, is what makes a corner lot work.
- What happens if a fence crosses a utility easement?
- It can be removed when the utility needs access, at the owner’s expense, and there is little recourse. Utility and drainage easements very often run along rear and side lot lines, exactly where fences go, and they are invisible on the ground. They are shown on the plat or survey, which is a reason to look at one before choosing the fence line.
- I am on an older in-town street. Does that change the fence?
- Usually it changes what suits the frontage rather than what is possible. Older Columbus streets tend to carry open fences at the front, low enough to see over, in wood or painted metal, with solid panel kept behind the house. Driving the block first and matching the pattern is what keeps a new fence from looking like an intrusion.
- Do neighborhood covenants control what I can build?
- Often, yes, and they are the constraint most likely to bite. Covenants are private agreements enforced through the neighborhood association, and many subdivisions north of the city set height, material and color limits, along with a requirement to submit a plan before building. Read them before choosing a fence rather than after.
- Do I need to tell my neighbor?
- There is no requirement to consult a neighbor about a fence built entirely on your own property, and it is generally worth doing anyway. A neighbor who knew it was coming rarely objects; a neighbor who came home to a crew digging sometimes does, and by then the posts are set.
- Is anything different across the river in Phenix City?
- Yes. Phenix City and Smiths Station are in Alabama, with a different body of state law behind everything, so nothing that applies on the Georgia side carries across automatically. Confirm what applies with the city or county office there. The bridge being short is what makes people assume otherwise.
- Do I need a survey?
- A current boundary survey with pins set is the single most useful document in a fence project, and it is close to essential on rural tracts where old fence lines, tree lines and deed calls frequently disagree. If the house was bought recently, a survey may already be in the closing package.
- Do I have to call Georgia 811?
- Georgia 811 states that Georgia law does not require notification for smaller, non-mechanized digging, and then encourages residents to call anyway, listing installing a fence as an example. The locate costs nothing, and on a professionally installed fence the contractor normally places the request as routine practice.
Materials and construction
- How deep do fence posts go?
- Roughly a third of the post length below grade is the working rule, so a six foot fence generally uses eight foot posts with about two feet in the ground. Depth here is set by wind load rather than frost, because winters are mild, and a solid privacy panel catches far more wind than a picket or chain link fence of the same height.
- Why do posts rot at the ground and not lower down?
- Wood decay fungi need wood, moisture and oxygen at the same time. Deep in the hole there is not enough oxygen; well above grade the wood dries between rains. At the soil line all three are present continuously, and Piedmont clay holds water there long after the rain stops.
- How long does a pine fence last here?
- Twelve to twenty years is the normal working range, and posts fail first. Ground-contact rated posts, gravel in the bottom of the hole, a hole about three times the post width and concrete crowned above grade are what push a fence toward the top of that range.
- When can a new pine fence be stained?
- Not immediately. Pressure-treated lumber arrives wet from treatment and will not take a finish until it dries, typically a few months after installation. The practical test is to sprinkle water on it: if it beads the wood is still too wet, and if it soaks in the wood is ready.
- Does vinyl fence turn yellow in Georgia sun?
- Quality vinyl does not and cheap vinyl does. The difference is co-extrusion, where the outer layer carries the ultraviolet inhibitors and titanium dioxide rather than spreading whatever additives exist through the whole wall. Two panels that look identical on the sample board can look very different after five summers here.
- What is the difference between racking and stepping?
- Racking pivots the panel so the rails follow the ground and the fence stays continuous with no gaps beneath it. Stepping keeps each panel level and drops it in stages, which leaves triangular gaps underneath. Racking suits steady grades and stepping suits abrupt changes, and wood racks further than manufactured panels because it is built in place.
- Will chain link hold a dog that digs?
- Not on its own, because the fabric stops at the ground. A bottom tension wire through the last row of mesh, a buried apron of fabric turned outward, or a concrete mow strip all close it. Any of the three costs far less than replacing the fence after the dog learns the trick.
- Why did my gate stop closing?
- Either the gate post leaned under the constant sideways pull of the gate, which points at a footing sized like a line post rather than a gate post, or the frame racked out of square, which points at a diagonal brace that is missing or running the wrong way. The brace has to run from the bottom hinge corner up to the top latch corner.
- What does a pool fence have to do?
- A pool barrier is judged on four things: tall enough that a small child cannot get over it, free of footholds on the outside face, tight enough that a small child cannot get through it or under it, and gated with hardware that swings away from the pool, closes itself and latches itself out of a child’s reach. The exact dimensions come from the authority that reviews the work locally, so get them confirmed before ordering a fence.
- Can one post be replaced without taking the fence down?
- Usually yes. The pickets and rails on either side are detached, the old post and footing come out, a new post goes in and the sections reattach. It is a normal repair. Worth looking at the neighboring posts at the same time, since posts installed on the same day in the same soil tend to fail on a similar schedule.
Something not covered here?
Call (706) 786-4625 or use the quote form. The glossary unpacks the vocabulary a fence crew uses.
Get a price on your fence
Call (706) 786-4625 or use the quote form, whichever is easier.