Wood Fence Installation
Wood fencing in Encino, California
Cedar or redwood privacy fencing is the classic Encino backyard boundary: warm across a flat estate lawn north of the Boulevard, handsome behind a hillside home south of it. Ours are built to hold a straight line through clay soil, follow a graded slope, and keep their distance from the house wherever the fire zone asks for it.
The case for wood here
Most Encino backyards were designed around a warm, natural look, and no other material carries it. Cedar or redwood delivers full six foot privacy, works across the flat estate lots north of the Boulevard and the custom homes on the slopes south of it, and prices under vinyl or iron across a long run. It is also the material that takes a custom detail most easily: a lattice cap, a board-on-board face, a clean horizontal slat.
The cost of all that is upkeep. A stain or seal every two to three years is what holds the color against hard summer sun; left bare, wood silvers, then checks and cups. Anyone who never wants to touch the fence again ends up in vinyl. Anyone who wants the warmth and can spare a weekend with a can of sealer stays in wood.
Cedar, redwood, and the styles
Nearly all Encino wood fence goes up in western red cedar or construction-heart redwood. Both hold off rot and insects far better than pine, both take stain evenly, and neither decays the way a cheaper wood does in dry heat. Four styles cover most requests.
- Dog-ear or flat-top privacy. The standard six foot backyard run, boards butted tight so nothing shows through.
- Board on board, good neighbor. Overlapping boards that finish on both faces, which matters on a shared boundary.
- Lattice or trellis top. An open cap over the privacy panel, adding height and light without more solid wall.
- Horizontal slat. A cleaner, flatter face that suits the newer custom builds.
Style aside, the post decides how long the fence lasts. Pressure-treated or steel posts go into concrete footings sized to the run and the wind, because wood fences fail at the post long before the panel gives out.
Clay on the flats, grade on the hill
The flat estate lots north of the Boulevard sit on expansive clay that swells in winter and shrinks through the dry months. That movement is what heaves a badly set post, so footings there are sized to reach past the active soil and keep the line straight for years. These are not difficult lots to fence. They are easy lots to fence badly.
South of the Boulevard the ground climbs. A wood run crossing a graded hillside is either stepped, each panel held level and dropping in stair sections, or racked, the panels angled to follow the slope so the bottom stays near the ground. Drainage gets planned on those parcels too, keeping canyon runoff from undercutting posts, with the posts themselves carried into firmer ground below the fill. Which method suits a given lot comes down to the fall, read on the estimate visit.
Wood and the fire zone
Solid wood burns, and the hillside lots south of Ventura Boulevard sit in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone under the LA Mountain Fire District. So on those parcels it stays off the structure. The stretch of fence within a few feet of the house belongs in tubular steel, iron, or block, with wood held back for the side and rear runs out in the yard. The warm look stays where you actually live with it, and the defensible space the brush-clearance rules expect stays intact. North of the Boulevard, away from the interface, wood throughout is entirely reasonable.
What wood costs in Encino
| Run length | Typical installed range | Common on |
|---|---|---|
| 75 linear ft | $2,250 to $4,500 | A side yard, or a short back line |
| 150 linear ft | $4,500 to $9,000 | A typical estate backyard |
| 250 linear ft | $7,500 to $15,000 | A bigger lot, or the full perimeter |
Each range takes in posts, panels, hardware, and labor. Old fence removal, hillside footings and drainage, a lattice or board-on-board upgrade, and gates all move upward through it. Full numbers sit in the Encino fence cost guide.
A written price on the wood
Someone measures the run, works out what the clay and the grade will demand of the footings, and leaves a fixed written quote. No charge, no obligation.
Request an estimateWood fence questions
How much does a wood fence cost in Encino?
Wood fencing in Encino installs at about $30 to $60 per linear foot. A 150 foot run of six foot cedar or redwood privacy generally lands between $4,500 and $9,000, moving with the wood chosen, whether an old fence has to come out first, and how much footing and drainage work the lot demands.
Is a wood fence a good idea south of the Boulevard in the fire zone?
On the hillside lots inside the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, solid wood stays back from the house and iron, tubular steel, or block takes the few feet nearest the structure for defensible space. Wood belongs on a back property line, and on the flat lots north of Ventura Boulevard, just not pressed against a home near the brush.
What wood holds up best in the Encino heat?
Western red cedar and construction-heart redwood. Both resist rot and take the hot, dry inland summers far better than pine, and both hold a stain or seal well. Sealing every two to three years keeps the color and slows the checking that strong sun causes on any wood fence.
Can a wood fence follow a sloped Encino lot?
Yes. On a hillside lot south of the Boulevard the panels either step down the grade in level sections or rack to follow the fall, with posts set deeper so the run stays plumb and no gap opens underneath. Which one suits depends on how steeply the lot drops, which we read on the estimate visit.
Keep reading
If you are still weighing materials, the overview of fence and gate installation in Encino covers every option side by side.