How Fantastic Fence Installs a Redwood Fence: Steps, Timeline, and Cost
Dominic Vella, Founder · CA C-13 License #979657 · Last updated October 2026
When Fantastic Fence installs a redwood fence, the job runs in a fixed order: a 15- to 20-minute estimate, a written flat-price proposal, your approval, an 811 utility ticket we file ourselves, and then one to two days on site where the crew tears out and hauls away the old fence, sets the posts, builds the redwood fence board by board in your yard, hangs the gates, cleans up, and walks the finished fence with you. Most redwood fences in the Sacramento region cost $40 to $60 per linear foot installed depending on style, and most of the year we are about four weeks out from approval to install day.
This page is for homeowners in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Nevada, Yuba, and Yolo counties who are about to hire out a redwood fence and want to know what actually happens, what they have to decide, and what is theirs to handle versus ours.
What Are the Steps When Fantastic Fence Installs a Redwood Fence?
Seven steps, and only two of them are the build itself:
- Estimate (15–20 minutes). An estimator measures the run, confirms the style, height, posts, and gates, and goes over the options with you. If you’re at work, we can do it remotely: the estimator goes to the house at the scheduled time and walks you through it by phone or video.
- Written proposal. One flat price for the full scope, in writing, with no hidden fees. On a shared fence it’s one proposal, and the invoice can be split between you and your neighbor.
- Your approval. This is usually the longest part of the whole project. Once you say “let’s schedule it,” the clock starts.
- 811 utility ticket. We file the USA North 811 ticket on our own account for every job, even a straight replacement, and the locators mark gas, electric, water, and telecom lines before we dig. Our crews hand-dig around the marks.
- Install day. The crew arrives in the morning, walks the project with you for about 20 minutes, tears out the old fence, sets the posts in concrete, builds the redwood fence on site, hangs the gates, and cleans up.
- Final walkthrough. If you’re home, you walk the finished fence with the foreman and sign off. If you’re not, walk it when you get home.
- Next-day call. We call the day after to make sure everything is right.
Everything before install day that is yours to handle, talking to a shared-fence neighbor, HOA or ARC approval, and knowing where your property line is, is covered on our fence installation prep steps page. We provide drawings and specs for an HOA application, but the property owner submits it and the property owner is responsible for the property line.
What Do You Decide Before Your Redwood Fence Is Installed?
Four things: the style, the posts, the height, and the gates. Your estimator walks you through all four at the estimate, and the proposal spells them out.
- Style. Dog-ear is the standard backyard fence in the Sacramento region. Cap & trim, board-on-board, horizontal, and lattice-top are the upgrades, and most homeowners who upgrade do it on the street-facing wings where the fence is seen. Cap & trim is the most common upgrade and is often only a couple hundred dollars more than dog-ear on a typical run.
- Posts. Pressure-treated wood posts or Bolt-Up Hidden Steel Posts. See the next section; this is the decision that decides how long the fence lasts.
- Height. Six feet is standard. We build to whatever your city or county ordinance allows, and heights differ by jurisdiction, so check yours on our Fence Ordinance Quick Links page. City of Sacramento backyards are capped at 6 feet.
- Gates. How many, where, and how wide. Details below.
One thing you don’t have to decide: panels or site-built. We never use pre-assembled panels. Every redwood fence is built board by board in your yard from full 3/4-inch-thick redwood pickets, rails, and kickboards, for the same price as a panel fence and with much better material.
Why Do Most Redwood Fences Go on Hidden Steel Posts?
Because when a redwood fence fails, it’s almost always the post, and steel doesn’t rot. More than 80% of the wood fences we build now go on Bolt-Up Hidden Steel Posts. The steel sits behind the redwood rails and pickets, so the fence looks like wood from both sides, and it holds alignment through wind and the clay-soil movement we get across the region.
Hidden steel adds about $7 per linear foot over pressure-treated wood posts. On a typical 70-foot backyard run that is a few hundred dollars for a fence that stays straight for decades instead of leaning in year ten. Every gate we hang goes on a steel post regardless of which post you choose for the fence line; pressure-treated gate posts twist, and that twisting is behind more than half the gate problems we get called out to fix.
How Long Does a Redwood Fence Installation Take?
One to two days on site for most residential fences between neighbors. A two-person crew builds about 80 feet of fence a day; rocky ground, a complex style, slopes, and long carries from the truck to a deep backyard add time.
From approval to install day, most of the year we are about four weeks out. In the quiet part of the season it can be a couple of weeks; after a big winter storm it can run a couple of months. If your project is urgent, tell us, and we can usually rush it.
On a replacement we only take down what we can put back up the same day, so a dog or a pool is never left unsecured overnight. Crews work through light rain, and on the hottest summer days they start at 6 a.m. and are done by early afternoon.
What Happens to Your Old Fence, Footings, and Sprinklers?
Tear-out and haul-away are included, and the old fence goes to a recycler in Placer County. You don’t need a dumpster, and you don’t need to be home for it.
Old concrete footings get pulled at the corners and the gates, because those posts have to go back in exactly the same spot. Along the rest of the line we set the new posts beside the old footings and leave the old concrete in the ground. Pulling every footing is slow, expensive work; in more than fifteen years exactly one customer has paid us to do it.
Sprinkler and drip lines run along fence lines on almost every job. We do our best to avoid them, and if we break one, we fix it. It happens almost every day and it is not a problem.
What Gates Come With a Redwood Fence?
Most side-yard walk gates are 3 to 5 feet wide, and most are 4 feet. Driveway gates run from 10 feet total as a double swing up to about 16 feet total (8 feet plus 8 feet) when they’re built on welded steel frames.
Any gate leaf wider than 5 feet gets a welded steel frame behind the redwood. It adds to the cost, but a wide wood gate on a wood frame sags, and a steel-framed one doesn’t. Wood gates ride on redwood frames up to that width, and every gate hangs on a steel post. Custom gates wider than about 8 feet can take two to five weeks to fabricate, so they are the one item that can move an install date. Our gate installation and repair page covers hardware, latches, and automation options.
How Much Does a Redwood Fence Cost to Install?
Most redwood fences we build run $40 to $60 per linear foot installed, and the average backyard job is about 70 feet of dog-ear on hidden steel posts at roughly $47 per foot. These are our installed prices for the six-county Sacramento region as of October 2026.
| Redwood fence option | Installed price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dog-ear (6 ft) | About $40 per ft | The standard shared backyard fence |
| Cap & trim | $50–$55 per ft | Most common upgrade; finished, contemporary look |
| Board-on-board with cap & trim | $55–$60 per ft | Looks the same from both sides |
| Hidden steel posts | Add about $7 per ft | Our recommendation on more than 80% of wood fences |
| 7-ft height where allowed | Add $8–$12 per ft | Depends on kickboard type and style |
| Rocky ground | Add about $4 per ft | Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rocklin, Gold River |
Gates, old-fence tear-out, and truck access are the other things that move the number. For a figure tied to your own footage and style, use the Fence Price Calculator. Financing is available.
What Do Customers Say About Their Redwood Fence Installation?
| “Superior Fence installed a beautiful redwood fence with metal posts for a reasonable price. The estimator came out one day and the date for installation was about 30 days later. The fence and gate were installed in one day.”
Karen Montero, Google review “Jesus and his crew just finished my new redwood fence today, and I love it! Especially the gate. I usually get a few quotes before selecting a business, but I could tell immediately this was the one.” Susan Perkins, Google review “Very happy with our new redwood gate. Martín and Julián did a very professional job. The gate looks awesome and works so effortlessly, and they did a terrific job of cleaning the area when they finished. Jeff, who did the estimate, was also great to work with.” Jonathan Taylor, Google review Superior Fence Construction & Repair, Inc. is Fantastic Fence’s legal name. |
| From the owner
“The biggest wait in a fence project is usually getting to ‘yes, let’s get this scheduled.’ Once you approve, the prep takes longer than the build. Most redwood fences between neighbors go up in one or two days, and we only take down what we can put back up the same day, so nothing is left open overnight. Be there for twenty minutes in the morning to walk it with the crew. It makes a real difference in getting the fence exactly the way you pictured it.” Dominic Vella, Founder, Fantastic Fence |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be home while the redwood fence is installed?
No, but we strongly recommend being there for about 20 minutes in the morning to walk the project with the installation crew. After that, go about your day. If you’re home at the end, the foreman walks the finished fence with you; if not, you walk it when you get back and we call you the next day.
How do you handle a redwood fence I share with my neighbor?
We won’t touch a shared fence unless both neighbors want us there, so talk to your neighbor first, then we’ll reach out to them too. It’s one proposal, and we can invoice each household separately. Most of the time our clients find out their neighbor has been hoping to get the fence replaced for years.
Do you install redwood fences year-round?
Yes. Light rain doesn’t stop a crew, and a soaked week only pushes a date. Fall is the quietest season and the shortest wait; summer and the weeks after a winter storm are the busiest.
Ready to Schedule Your Redwood Fence?
Book a free estimate online, or call or text the office nearest you: Rocklin (916) 790-7100, Sacramento (916) 248-5518, Elk Grove (916) 345-0142. Estimates take 15 to 20 minutes, and we can do them by phone or video if you’re at work.
