Fence questions, answered

Most fences here are priced by the foot, installed. Six-foot wood privacy runs about $22–34 a foot, 4 ft chain link $13–19, 4 ft aluminum $30–42 and vinyl privacy $30–44. Gates, taking out an old fence and a sloped line add to that, and jobs start at $1,200. The cost guide shows the math.

It depends on where the fence stands. The City of Seneca’s building permit application lists fencing as a type of work, so check with the city first. Outside town limits, Oconee County builds to the 2021 International Residential Code, whose model text exempts fences up to 7 ft; the county’s building codes office can confirm. A pool barrier always goes with the pool permit. The permit guide covers each town.

Yes. South Carolina’s dig law counts augering and driving posts as digging, and SC811 needs notice at least three full working days ahead, not counting the day you call. The only exception is a homeowner with hand tools going less than 12 inches deep, which a fence post never is. We file the locate for every job we build.

Oconee County lets a fence stand in a setback as long as it stays on your property, and Pickens County sets no minimum fence setback. Clemson allows fences on side and rear lines but keeps them 18 inches back from a street. Since “on your property” is the rule everywhere, find your corner pins or get a survey before the line is set. More on property lines.

Most yards take one to three days on site. The SC811 locate needs three full working days first, and posts set in concrete cure before panels go on. Installs are usually booked two to four weeks out.

Usually, with conditions. Many HOAs approve fences first: Keowee Key’s covenants, for one, need its review committee to sign off on any fence along a property line. On Lake Keowee, Duke Energy does not approve fences inside its project boundary, and on Lake Hartwell a fence on Corps land is an encroachment. Bring your HOA’s rules and we build to them.

Aluminum and vinyl, by a distance: both commonly last 20 years or more and never need stain. Galvanized chain link lasts 20 years or more too. Pressure-treated pine lasts roughly 10 to 20 years, and the posts at ground level go first, which is why ground-contact posts and good drainage matter in our clay. Compare the materials.

The finished side, with the posts and rails on your side, is the usual courtesy and in Clemson it is the rule: the city’s code says the finished side of a residential fence faces the exterior property line. We build it that way everywhere unless you ask otherwise and your town allows it.

Yes, and around the lakes most lines slope. Wood privacy and board fences are usually stepped, each section level and dropping at the post. Aluminum, chain link and some vinyl panels can be racked to follow the ground. Tick the slope box in the estimator and the range widens to cover the extra digging.

Yes. Tearing out and hauling away an old fence runs about $3 to $5 a foot, more where old posts were set in heavy concrete. It is a box to tick in the estimator.

Yes. South Carolina enforces the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which calls for a barrier at least 48 inches tall, openings that stop a 4-inch sphere, and gates that open outward and close and latch on their own. Our 5 ft aluminum pool fence is priced with that hardware. The pool fence rules.

Yes, $1,200. It covers the crew, the truck and the auger for the day, so a short run of fence costs the same as a slightly longer one. The estimator says so when the minimum is what sets your price.

Yes. Leaning and rotted posts, broken boards and pickets, sagging gates and storm damage, on wood, chain link, vinyl and aluminum. A photo by text usually gets you a price. Fence repair.

Usually. A walk gate means two new posts set in the line and a section cut out; a drive gate needs heavier posts set deeper. Gates are priced on their own in the estimator, so you can see what one adds.