Horizontal cedar
Wide cedar boards running horizontally between black steel or wood posts. It is the look on rehabbed city properties right now, and it makes a narrow lot read wider than it is.
Wood Fence Installation in Chicago & the Suburbs
Cedar and treated pine — horizontal, stockade and picket, on posts set to hold.
Wood is still the fence most Chicago homeowners picture: a solid line of boards that closes the yard off from the alley and the neighbors. We build it in cedar and in pressure-treated pine — the wide horizontal style that suits a rehab or a new build, and the traditional vertical stockade that has been going up behind two-flats and bungalows for a century.
A wood fence is only as good as what holds it up. Posts go in deep, gates get their own reinforced posts and hardware, and panels are built to the grade of the yard instead of dropped flat on top of it. Tell us where the line runs and what the fence has to do — privacy, dogs, kids, curb appeal — and we will measure it and price it at no charge.
Options & styles
Ways we build wood fences
Stockade and privacy
Vertical boards set tight for a solid screen. The workhorse backyard fence: no sightline from the alley, no gap for a dog to find.
Picket and semi-private
Spaced pickets for a front yard, a parkway line or a garden. A boundary that marks the property without closing off the view.
Matching wood gates
Walk gates and double drive gates built from the same boards, framed in steel or reinforced timber so they keep their square.
What to expect
How the job runs
The same sequence on every project, from a forty-foot back-yard run to a commercial lot.
- 01
Measure and free estimate
We walk the property with you, measure the run, talk through height, material and where the gates want to go, and put a written price in your hands. No charge and no obligation.
- 02
Material and layout
You pick the material and style. We mark the line you want the fence to follow, and utility locates get called before anyone puts a shovel in the ground.
- 03
Posts and footings
Posts set to depth and plumbed, below the frost line where we are digging, or anchored to base plates where we are working on concrete. This is the part nobody sees and the only part that decides whether the run is still straight in five years.
- 04
Panels and fabrication
Panels are hung to the grade of your yard rather than dropped flat on top of it, and steel work is fabricated to the measurements we took on site.
- 05
Gates and hardware
Gates hang on their own reinforced posts. Hinges, latches and drop rods get adjusted until the gate swings clean and closes on its own line.
- 06
Cleanup and walkthrough
Old fence and debris hauled out, the work area swept, and a walk of the finished job with you before we leave.
Material notes
What to know before you buy
- Cedar weathers to a silver-gray if you leave it alone. A stain or sealer every few years keeps the warm tone and slows the checking.
- Pressure-treated pine costs less up front and takes stain well once it has dried out, which is usually a season after install.
- Freeze and thaw is what pulls a wood fence out of line. Post depth and a proper footing are the whole answer.
- Keep soil and mulch banked off the bottom board and the fence lasts noticeably longer.
Why people choose it
What you get out of it
- Usually the least expensive route to a full-height privacy screen
- Every board can be cut and racked to a sloping yard
- Stains or paints to whatever color you want, whenever you want
- Individual boards can be swapped out years later without rebuilding the run
FAQ
Wood Fences: common questions
Do I need a permit for a wood fence?
Most Chicago-area municipalities require a permit for a new fence, and many set their own rules on height, setback and which way the finished side has to face. The requirements differ from one village to the next, so check with your local building department before work starts — and if the property is in an HOA, check those rules too.
Cedar or pressure-treated pine?
Cedar is the better-looking board and is naturally more resistant to rot and insects, which is why it is the usual pick for horizontal work where the grain is on display. Pressure-treated pine is the value option and holds up well for a stockade privacy run. We will price both if you want to compare.
How close to the property line can the fence go?
On or just inside your line, depending on what your municipality allows. If you do not have a current plat of survey it is worth getting one, because that survey is the only thing that settles a boundary question later. Utility locates get called before we dig, every time.
How long does the install take?
That depends on the length of the run, how many gates there are, and whether an old fence has to come out first. We give you a realistic window with the written estimate rather than a number that sounds good over the phone.
Can you match a fence that is already there?
Often, yes — we will look at the board size, spacing and post style during the estimate and tell you honestly how close a match we can get with lumber that is available now.
Free estimates
Get a price for wood fences
Send us the details and we will arrange a time to come measure. No charge and no obligation — and if you would rather talk it through, the phone is faster.
Other services
What else we build
Where we build it
Wood Fences across Chicagoland
We install wood fences throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Pick your town for what the work usually looks like there.
- Chicago
- Cicero
- Berwyn
- Oak Park
- Oak Lawn
- Burbank
- Bridgeview
- Evergreen Park
- Orland Park
- Tinley Park
- Palos Heights
- Oak Forest
- Blue Island
- Alsip
- Chicago Ridge