Fence repair or replacement?
4 min read · Reviewed 2026-08-21
A simple test that answers it in about two minutes in your own garden.
The two-minute test
Walk the run and do two things at every post. Push it firmly and watch the base. Then press a screwdriver into the timber just above ground level — if it sinks in easily, that post is finished.
Count how many posts fail. Under a third, with sound boards elsewhere: repair. Over a third, or timber soft along the run: replace.
The cost trap
Repairs feel cheaper because each one is small. The trap is a fence that produces one call-out every winter. Three separate repairs plus three call-outs frequently exceed the cost of replacing the run once, and you still have an old fence at the end of it.
Ask your contractor for both prices. Any honest one will give you both.
Reasons to replace even when repair is possible
You want a different height or style, you need dog-proofing or better security, the boundary is being landscaped anyway, or you are selling and the boundary is the first thing a buyer sees from the back door.