A Tree Fell on the Fence: What to Do First

Safety first

Before you walk out to look, look up. If a power line is down on the fence, touching it, or hanging near it, stay away from the whole area and call the utility. Treat every line as live, including one that looks like a cable or phone line, because they run together on the pole. A fence with a live line on it can hurt someone from the far end of the yard.

If a tree or a big limb is still lying on the fence, that is a tree job first. A limb that is holding a fence down is also holding itself up; cut the wrong branch and it rolls. A tree service clears it. We repair the fence after it is gone. A small branch you can lift with one hand is fine to move once you have your photos.

Keep children and dogs inside until the yard is safe. A storm-damaged fence has nails and splinters where there were none yesterday.

Photos before anything moves

Take the photos before you touch anything, for two reasons. Your insurer wants to see the damage as the storm left it. And we read the photos to quote the repair, so the more they show, the closer the quote.

• The whole fence line from a few steps back, so we can count the posts and see which ones moved.
• Each place a limb landed, from the yard side and from the other side if you can reach it.
• Each post that leans, with a close-up at the ground line.
• The gate, pulled shut, with both posts in the frame.
• Anything else the storm hit: the shed, the deck, the neighbor's side.

Then, the one thing not to do: do not pull a leaning section back upright. The rails are screwed to the posts. A section that leaned slowly can be stood up slowly by taking it apart; one that is yanked upright snaps the rails and splits the pickets, and a one-post repair becomes a section rebuild.

The five things to check

• 1. Are the posts still plumb? Walk the line and push the top of each post sideways. A post that rocks or stays leaned took the hit even if the boards look fine.
• 2. The post that moved. Wind on a 6 foot privacy fence is a lot of force, and it goes into the posts. A post that tipped in its concrete, or whose concrete cracked, needs to be reset. A rotted post that was already weak often breaks at the ground line in a storm.
• 3. The boards under the branch. Count the broken and cracked pickets. A cracked board that still hangs is a broken board; it will not survive the next wind.
• 4. The rails at the posts. Look where each rail meets a post. A rail that pulled its screws, or split along the grain, is the usual reason a section droops after a storm.
• 5. The gate. Pull it shut. If it no longer latches, the hinge post moved or the frame racked. Read why gates sag for what a photo shows.

Most storms leave a fence with damage in two or three places: a few boards, one rail, one post that moved. That is a repair. A storm that pushed a whole run over, with most posts snapped or loose, is a bigger decision, and repair or replace is the rule we use.

How a storm repair is priced and scheduled

A storm repair is priced like any repair: $225 to $600 per repair visit, installed, plus tax, confirmed after the final measure. A few boards sit at the low end. A post reset in new concrete, or a whole section rebuilt between two posts, sits higher. Several repairs in one visit are quoted as one job, which after a storm is the normal case.

We quote from your photos, in writing. There is no free visit to quote; if the damage needs a visit before we can price it, we tell you up front, before anyone drives out. When you accept the quote, the work day goes in writing with it. After a big storm everyone calls at once, so the sooner the photos reach us, the sooner your place in the line.

A new post set in concrete needs the concrete to cure before the panels go back on, which can mean a short second visit the next day. The quote says so when it applies.

Insurance, pets and the days in between

Most insurers ask for two things: photos of the damage before it was moved, and a written quote for the repair. You will have both. Keep the photos in their original form, with the date your phone put on them. Do not throw away broken boards until the claim is settled, in case an adjuster wants to see them.

For the days between the storm and the repair, a dog needs a yard. A few screws through a loose panel into the nearest sound post, a sheet of lattice or plywood across a gap, or a section of temporary wire fence from the hardware store closes the hole well enough for a week. A leaning section that still stands can be left alone; a section lying flat is better moved aside, after the photos, so nobody trips on it.